One of the most important ways you can serve your local church is by praying for the preaching of the Word. Here is a note I recently sent to a number of men in our church. Guys: I wanted to…
How will your problems be solved?
How much are you really praying about the challenges you face in life? Going through my Scripture memory system today (see these posts), I came across this verse that I started memorizing on September 3, 1993. So, he said to…
Devotions from the 10 Commandments
Justin Taylor gives a concise overview of how Luther encouraged people to pray through the 10 Commandments (See Exodus 20:3-17). Justin then points to another link. In A Simple Way to Pray, Martin Luther described how he uses the Ten…
Being Thankful to No One in Particular Is Like Being Married in General
Cornelius Plantinga: In one of his books, John Baillie tells of a time he attended a religious service conducted by a humanist. The service included a sort of prayer of thanksgiving, in which the humanist avoided saying, “We thank you,…
In Defense of “Audible” Prayers During Sermons
My friend Lamonte preaches in a different cultural context than I do. His congregation is more vocally interactive than mine. Way more interactive. For example, in his tradition if the pastor pauses while preaching, often someone will cry out, “Help…
“Often we feel today like our reservoir of strength is not going to last for another day. The fact is, it won’t”
John Piper: Part of saving faith is the assurance that you will have faith tomorrow. Trusting Christ today includes trusting him to give you tomorrow’s trust when tomorrow comes. Often we feel today like our reservoir of strength is not…
Mike Wittmer on the Prayer of Jabez
It’s probably been a while since you thought about Bruce Wilkinson and his hot selling book, The Prayer of Jabez. But, given the reception it received in evangelicalism, its reception tells us something about ourselves worth considering. And, I don’t…
Pray Someone Will Be Blessed and You May End Up Being the Blessing
Here is a thought worth meditating on: Sometimes when we pray someone would be blessed, we end up being the instrument God uses to bless the person for whom we prayed. God answers our praying by saying, “I will bless…
Secret Prayers
Ever pray for someone you’ve never met, say standing in front of you at the grocery store, will never see again, and who doesn’t even know you are praying? ———– Matthew chapter 6 begins with a principle. Jesus told the…
Open Our Eyes That We May Behold Wonderful Things in Your Word
Do you realize that we cannot understand and apply the Word of God on our own? If we simply read the Bible and try and apply it by means of our own insight and intellect, we are destined to fail.…