Tag Archives: Prayer

Prayer: Where the Battle Is Won

Posted on August 8, 2022 by salooper57

I don’t think I’ve ever begun a sermon with a quote from The Art of War before, but I did this one. Sun Tzu said, “Every battle is won before it is ever fought.” Jesus proved it true through life … Continue reading →

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Unanswered Prayers: The Rest of the Story (2 Cor. 12:6-10)

Posted on July 18, 2022 by salooper57

Here is the thesis of this message: When God says no, he does so because of love. When he says no, it is because saying yes would be unhelpful in the long run to you and to others. When he says no, it is to preclude some evil that would happen or to promote some good that would not happen had he said yes.

The evil that must be precluded and that good that must be promoted may not be apparent right now. They may not even be apparent in our lifetimes. That good or evil might be four generations away or twenty. We cannot see it, think it, or even imagine it – our minds are too limited; we are still babes in the infancy of humanity. There is so much we don’t know. Continue reading →

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Prayer: The Heart of the Matter

Posted on July 13, 2022 by salooper57

In this message on 1 John 3:18-22, we learn what role the heart plays in prayer and how it can sometimes hinder our prayers from being answered. Yet, there is hope, for “God is greater than our hearts.”

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The Prayer We Repeat Over and Over

Posted on July 9, 2022 by salooper57

In the church circles in which I have moved, and lived, and had my being, people sometimes speak of “a life of prayer.” They have in mind a person who prays more frequently than others. But beyond a life of … Continue reading →

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Don’t Lose Heart – Pray! (Humility and Prayer)

Posted on June 13, 2022 by salooper57

This is the first message in a series titled, Don’t Lose Heart – Pray! This message on James 4:1-10 explores the foundational link between effective prayer and humility.

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Soul Work: It’s an Inside Job

Posted on March 26, 2022 by salooper57

Once, when all my tinkering failed to restore the boiler to working order, we hired a repairman. I took him to the boiler room, showed him the control module, and waited around to learn what I could. He examined the controls for a short time, then turned to me and said: “Don’t ever touch that again.” Later, when I was coiling his extension cord for him, he took it away from me and did it himself. The look on his face said everything: “You’re an idiot.” Continue reading →

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The End of All Things Is Near (a sermon on 1 Peter 4:7-11)

Posted on March 7, 2022 by salooper57

“The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” Peter does not say, “Be alert and of sober mind so that you” can outsmart the bad guys and save yourselves. … Continue reading →

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An Alphabet of Praise

Posted on September 8, 2021 by salooper57

For years, I went to sleep repeating the alphabet and finding a characteristic of God for each letter. Sometimes it is a stretch – especially at 2 am! Many times, I have used the same exercise on a half-day of … Continue reading →

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The Convergence

Posted on June 7, 2021 by salooper57

God is working in our lives and world, but we are liable to miss it because we are expecting something else: something obvious, something “religious,” something extraordinary. But in Samuel we learn that God works through the mundane events of life, its pleasures and its pains. Continue reading →

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A Three-Point Sermon (in Nine Words)

Posted on March 24, 2021 by salooper57

In Romans 12:12, the Apostle Paul writes: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” There is a wonderful three-point sermon in those nine words.[1] Point one: there is a great future ahead of us, so be joyful in hope. Point two: there are great difficulties surrounding us, so be patient in affliction. And point three: there is a great God above us, so be faithful in prayer. Continue reading →

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