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Prayer, Plain and Simple

For thousands of years Jews have honored the command God gave them to set aside the Sabbath, the seventh day, as a time for rest, relationship, and worship. One of the most meaningful Sabbath traditions is the blessing over the children given on Friday night. There are many variations on how these blessing are given. The…

A prayer for the victims of and those threatened by the wild fires raging now across Southern California: God, have mercy on those living through this terrible threat of fire in Southern California. Protect the lives of the brave men and women fighting the flames. Give courage to all those who have lost their homes. Give wisdom to…

And what does Jesus think of children?   “One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, ‘Let the children come to me.…

A couple years ago I worked with Jennifer Schuchmann – my co-author in Six Prayers God Always Answers, and Nine Ways God Always Speaks – on a project to help parents pray for their children in school. One of our outcomes was 30 simple prayers – one for each day of September – targeting a…

My 12 year old son Michael began middle school today. It was a big day for him, and for Jill and me, his parents. By all accounts Michael had an awesome and carefree summer: little league baseball with his friends, sleeping until 9:00 AM, catching northern pike to his heart’s content. It was the vacation…

Jesus makes bold and audacious promises about the power and effectiveness of prayer.  If we ask, we will receive. But in the process of making claims Jesus also connects specific conditions to these promises.  Here’s one final dangerous “if/then.”   Special access: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever…

Children are not instinctively religious. Once when a preacher’s sermon dragged on beyond supposed 12:00 noon scheduled close one little girl leaned over to her mother and whispered, “Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?”  Irreverent, perhaps, but honest.    Paradoxically, it is this bluntness that makes children the most…

A nun once asked the students in her class to write a letter to God.  Here are some of the results. Lessons in honest and simple prayer:   Dear God: If you watch me in church on Sunday, I’ll show You my new shoes. – Mickey   Dear God: Did You mean for the giraffe to…

There’s a third Biblical condition to answered prayer. Jesus lays down amazing promises about the power of asking things from God. He promises to answer. You can check out Thursday’s post if you’d like to see a few of those commitments. Bottom line: God puts himself on the line to deliver what we pray for!…

There’s a second Biblical condition to answered prayer. Jesus makes some amazing promises about the power of intercession, then attaches some contingencies. You can check out Thursday’s post if you’d like to explore this more. Bottom line: God has put himself on the line with audacious promises!   Yet as bold as these promises are,…
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