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The welcoming heart of God is at the center of the gospel, and it’s at the center of a praying life. When Jesus offered the invitation, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), it was not a want ad for the pulled-together and the omni-competent. In A Praying Life, his classic book on prayer, Paul Miller expounds upon the verse this way: “The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy.”Read More →

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When we are in distress and life is full of problems, we can gain comfort from remembering who God is and giving him praise and thanks at the same time as we cry out to him.Read More →

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As we grow into adults, all too often the most we use our imaginations for is considering the what-if’s of life. What if I fail that test, miss my plane, get into a car accident, get lost, or I or my loved one get hurt? But what if we consider the positive side? What if we use our imaginations to think on what is lovely, pure and true? Read More →

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We may not even be aware of our reaction, but comparing how God is answering our prayer to that of someone else’s prayer can lead to our minds running away with all sorts of unhelpful thoughts and questions. Our response to the answers to our prayers, whether they are yes, no, or wait, should be to focus on God and his graciousness shown to us.Read More →

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Over the years I’ve learned to do three things when I’m furious with the man upstairs. It doesn’t change my circumstances, but it does take me off DEFCON 1 anger alert. I’m more able to cope and feel His peace and love. I can keep my head above water when life threatens to drown me. – Guest Niki HardyRead More →

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Sometimes when our prayers are answered with a “no” it can feel like God is not taking everything into account. Does he know how I feel? Does he know what this means? Does he really think there is good in what has just happened?Read More →

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My adult children live their own lives, which can drive me crazy. Maintaining a healthy relationship with them when they make wacky decisions is challenging. But I’m able to restrain myself from nagging or offering unsolicited advice when I talk about it all to Jesus instead of them.Read More →

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We live in an imperfect world and with prayers which are not always answered in the way we would like or how we think are best. So how should we react when God says “no” to our requests?Read More →

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When I looked back over the weeks that had preceded that day, I discovered that I had been living on spiritual cotton candy–listening to an occasional Christian radio program, sending up prayers on the run. These were good things in themselves but not sufficient as the primary nourishment of my spirit. I ended up with occasional short sugar highs but was malnourished inside. Read More →

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When we’re waiting for our prayers to be answered, we can behave like we’re in a doctor’s waiting room. We may be patient to begin with, but then impatience sets in. We ask God “why ” and “when.” The longer the wait, the harder it becomes. We don’t rest. We can’t relax. “If God answers my prayer, then everything will be okay,” we think. Read More →