Purposeful Prayer & More

I think God prefaced the sound of the gentle whisper with the bright noise to provide contrast and recall to Elijah the memory of how God spoke to him. Elijah knew the gentle whisper like an intimate friend. He had been seeing and hearing God through the gentle whisper for years. However, the stress and chaos became so loud he had a case of amnesia until…

Conviction. That is a powerful word. Conviction is a firmly held belief or opinion. It drives one’s purpose in life and directs one’s worldview. It undergirds the fortitude needed to stand for what you believe in when no one else shares that belief. It pushes through obstacles because something in you believes it’s worth fighting for. Conviction drove...

“Did I just dream that or did that really happen?” I thought to myself. That was so real! Everything I saw was colorful and like it was actually happening. Has this ever happened to you? A few weeks ago, I had a dream that I’ve often...

What makes ordinary people extraordinary? Recently, I read an article about the many qualities that do this. First on the list — aim, vision, and...

Please pray for me! I have been admitted to the hospital, and the surgery is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. Please pray for a successful surgery.

For most of my life here in the West, I’ve been surrounded by peace, not persecution. And I never really thought too much about what it might look like to suffer for my faith. One day, a number of months ago, as I thought about my own spiritual weaknesses, I started praying that God would prepare me...

Can you imagine what would happen if there was continual humbling of heart and supplication for the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit 24 hours a day for a whole month? During the month of December there will be 48 half hour sessions of earnest prayer 24 hours a day for the whole month!

As a nurse with many years of experience, I have sat at the bedside of dying patients. More than once, I was in the presence of families of faith who hoped that something miraculous would happen for their loved ones. They prayed. They waited. They couldn’t see that hidden from their perception Jesus was working out something deeper, richer, and more miraculous than they could imagine.

To my surprise, despite the appearance and reality of all the weeds, I was able to harvest a huge garbage bag full of various beautiful vegetables! It was so much more than I had expected. I just had to look past the weeds. When I brought everything inside and began cooking dinner, emotion overtook me as God spoke to my heart and reminded...

“Praying Hyde” had such an all-consuming burden for the salvation of souls that he would not stop praying until God brought another soul, and then another, to the truth. At one time, he was convicted that he needed to pray for at least one soul a day for the following year. It was an extraordinary prayer challenge, and some even mocked his goal . . .

To his shock Dr. Chartiable felt cold, hard metal pressed against the back of his head and heard a strange voice command him to, “Freeze!” A burglar had found his way into the church. The burglar’s gun was now bearing down on the elder’s skull. Dr. Charitable, who has a quiet spirit and is a man of few words, fell to his knees and started to pray.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to exercise patience. The older I get, the less patience I seem to possess. This became glaringly obvious while taking on the task of writing this article.