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Prayer, Plain and Simple

  “Be quiet!”   “Be clean!”   “Be still!”   “Be free!”   “Be unafraid!”   “Be opened!”   “Be careful!”   “Be yours!”   “Be alert!”   Words of Jesus from The Gospel of Mark   Explore more in the free ebook Fight Like Jesus at www.markherringshaw.com  

We call it “the Lord’s Prayer.”  Actually, it is our prayer, taught to us by Jesus: a beautiful template to guide our conversation with our Creator.    Jesus begins with the two most radical words in human history: “Our Father.”  He’s revolutionary for two reasons: First, Jesus says “our” including each of us in his…

I learn best by modeling. I’m too old and too soon gone from the planet to learn all I need to know by trial and error. I’ll mimic my Master, and live by his experience. I’ll copy Jesus.   When Jesus shows up, things happen. When he comes, he speaks words and recreates the world.…

Hurricane Bill is not projected to do any real damage in the United States, but I still feel compelled to send up my prayers to those who may be in the midst of the storms that may ensue because of Bill and of course all of those who are living in parts of the country…

Today I’m walking uphill against the wind. I’m exhausted physically, my mind is skipping circuits, and I have the motivation of the banana slugs I used to collect as a child in the mountains above Santa Cruz. If I look beyond tomorrow, I can’t see imagine how certain perplexities will get solved. I don’t have…

Every day in great Cathedrals, in automobiles, restaurants and school libraries millions upon millions of people around the world recite “The Lord’s Prayer.”  I said it myself this morning. It is perhaps the simplest, most direct, most encompassing prayer ever cast in human language.    But while the simple words themselves provide a wonderful form…

Jesus prayed, but not always…   Jesus stayed constantly connected with God, his Father. This proved the source of his life and power. But Jesus didn’t always pray when facing challenges. Sometimes he just spoke words directly, and let the words themselves do the work.     When Jesus faced sick people he didn’t pray for…

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver from the evil one” (Matthew 6:9-13).   Reb…

Check out this story: Andrew Newberg argues in his new book “How God Changes Your Brain,” that meditation alters our gray matter, strengthening regions that focus the mind and foster compassion for others, and calming those areas linked to fear and anger. We already knew this, didn’t we? It’s nice to see science catching up…    …

I have a new spiritual director: the four year old daughter of a friend who confides her heart to God the way she whispers to her Teddy Bear and the way she giggles when her father whisks her off her feet. I don’t often put “play” and “pray” together in the same sentence; she does.…
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