James 4:3, 1 John 5:14, Matthew 6:8, John 15:7, Isaiah 55:8-9, Luke 11:11-13
Have you ever thought to yourself, "I'm glad I'm not God!" Too much responsibility! In the 2003 movie "Bruce Almighty," Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) gains God’s divine powers b...
Deuteronomy 1:6, Isaiah 40:11, Proverbs 3:5–6, Matthew 19:14, John 10:27–28, Psalm 23:1–3
Be kind to Your little children, Lord; that is what we ask of You as their Tutor, You the Father, Israel’s guide; Son, yes, but Father as well. Grant that by doing what You told us to do, we may achie...
Josephine Bakhita’s life is a testament of God’s faithfulness in the darkest circumstances. She was born in Darfur, Sudan, among the Daju people. Her first years were happy, but at age eight she was k...
Deuteronomy 6:16 , 1 Kings 18:20-40, Job 1:20-22, Matthew 4:5-7, John 20:24-29, Psalm 73:1-3, 16-17
Nine-year-old Leo Tolstoy , convinced God would help him fly, dove headfirst out a third-floor window and had his first major crisis of disappointment with God. Fortunately, Tolstoy survived the cr...
Brennan Manning recounts the story of an Irish priest traveling through a quiet countryside when he comes across an elderly peasant kneeling in prayer by the roadside. Struck by the man’s devotion, th...
2 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Samuel 1:9-20, Isaiah 64:6, Luke 18:9-14 , John 14:13-14, Psalm 51:17
I remember a story that R. A. Torrey told, growing out of a series of meetings he had held in Melbourne, Australia. He had been speaking on prayer. One day just before a noon meeting a note was placed...
1 Samuel 3:1-10, Exodus 33:11-23 , Job 38:1-7, John 10:27, Acts 10:9-16 , Psalm 42:7-8
One of my favorite mentors for listening prayer is Frank Laubach, the great missionary statesman and “apostle of literacy to the silent billion.” His books are simply littered with his experiences of ...
Isaiah 60:1-3, Exodus 13:21-22, Ephesians 5:8-10, Psalm 27:1, John 8:12
O Almighty Father, giver of every good and perfect gift, who has made the light of your truth shine in our hearts: Make us to walk as children of light in all goodness and righteousness, that we may h...
Psalm 80:1-3, Mark 4:35-41 , 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Isaiah 64:1-4, John 11:38-44, Luke 5:17-26, Romans 5:6-11
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ o...
Psalm 118:25a, John 8:31-59, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-11, Luke 19:36-44, John 12:16-19
Pastor: Heavenly Father, as Your Son humbled Himself for our salvation, give to each of us and to every member of Your Church a confident faith in Christ’s Passion for us, so that during this Holy W...
Psalm 118:26a, 25a, John 12:12-19, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-11, Luke 19:36-44, John 12:16-19
Pastor: O Lord, with the Palm Sunday crowd, we cry to You this day: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” People: “Hosanna! Save us, we pray, O Lord!” Pastor: Save us, ...
Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 12th chapter. People: Glory to You, O Lord. Pastor: The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was ...
John 14:14, Luke 11:9-13, Matthew 21:21-22, Matthew 7:11
Lord Jesus Christ, you have said to us “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” We admit those times when we fail to ask you for good things – that it can be easier to trust you wit...
John 8:12, Jeremiah 32:17, Matthew 19:26, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 12:15, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Psalm 119:10-11
God of Love and Lord of Hope: Nothing is too difficult for you ...while so much is beyond our abilities to understand, to do, and to care for. Therefore we turn to You knowing that you do all things w...
O Holy Spirit, come into my heart; By your power draw it to yourself, God, And give me charity with fear. Guard me, Christ, from every evil thought, And so warm and enflame me again With your mos...
Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 10:22, Ephesians 6:18, Psalm 19:14, John 4:24
Almighty God, the source of every good prayer, who pours out on all who desire it the spirit of grace and supplication; deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of m...
John 1:1-5, Psalm 86:1, Psalm 22:1-2, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 65:5
Prayer Service for Peace in Israel and Palestine This service is designed as an evening, outdoor prayer vigil using handheld candles. Feel free to modify the order of worship as needed, including...
Over the years, I have led hundreds of retreats that have at their center a few hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer. At one such retreat, one participant shared a conversation she had wit...
I’ve often shared the story of my first experience of solitude and silence at the beginning of 1990. It was led by one of my mentors, Wayne Anderson, as part of a class I was taking at Fuller Seminary...
Psalm 22:null, Hebrews 10:16-25, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, John 18:1-19:42, Psalm 22:, Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46, Psalm 30:5
Preaching Commentary What is “Good” about Friday? For the work-a-day world in the United States of America, Fridays are good. TGIF, “Thank God It’s Friday!” is an interjection we use to convey reli...
James 5:13-20, 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18, James 3:17-18, John 9:2-3
Summary of the Text What is the role of prayer on life’s journey? For James, its role is central. A letter that has been historically bashed for an emphasis on “works” over “faith” is immensely pract...
Ephesians 3:14-21, 2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14:, Ephesians 2:19-22, John 6:1-21, Colossians 1:16, Luke 11:2, Psalm 95:6, Galatians 5:
Questions for Consideration What does a prayer reveal about a person? What do you most often pray for/about and what might that reveal about you? A Beautiful and Compelling Gospel Prayer The...
James 5:13-20, James 5:1-13, Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22, Mark 9:38-50, Psalm 124:, 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18, James 3:17-18, John 9:2-3
Preaching Commentary Summary of the Text What is the role of prayer on life’s journey? For James, its role is central. A letter that has been historically bashed for an emphasis on “works” over “fa...
Ephesians 3:14-21, Ephesians 3:14-21, 2 Samuel 11:1-15, John 6:1-21, Psalm 14:, Colossians 1:16, Luke 11:2, Psalm 95:6, Galatians 5:null, Ephesians 2:19-22
Preaching commentary Questions for Consideration What does a prayer reveal about a person? What do you most often pray for/about and what might that reveal about you? A Beautiful and Compel...
Acts 16:30-33, Romans 8:38-39, Hebrews 7:25, John 5:24, John 15:6-8, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Ephesians 6:18, Jeremiah 33:3, Psalm 86:3, John 15:1-10
For the most part, when we think of saints or heroes of the faith, we think of people who are altogether different than we are. They seem to embody a quality of communion with God that is impossible f...
Psalm 51:17, John 4:23-24, Proverbs 3:5-6, Luke 18:13-14, 1 Samuel 16:7
There is a story told about a Jewish farmer, who ended up stuck in his field for the Sabbath. As the sun went down, the farmer realized he would have to remain in the field until sunset the next day, ...
Matthew 17:1-2, Matthew 17:5, John 4:1-42, John 4:28-30, John 4:39, John 4:13-14, John 1:29-34
There’s a story told in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers…Abba Lot said to Abba Joseph, “Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far ...
Matthew 7:7, Philippians 4:6, Jeremiah 33:3, 1 John 5:14, Luke 11:9-10, Mark 11:24, John 14:13-14
Steve Jobs was one of the biggest somebodies of our time. He said, "Most people never pick up the phone and ask, and that's what separates the people who do things from the people who just dr...
Acts 9:1-19, John 4:1-26, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 5:1-11, John 6:44, Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 4:19
We cannot will ourselves to accept grace. There are no magic words, preset formulas, or esoteric rites of passage. Only Jesus Christ sets us free from indecision. The Scriptures offer no other basis f...