When we pray, most people just pray in their head, silently. There is nothing at all wrong with praying that way. But there are some extremely valuable benefits to praying out loud—even if you are praying by yourself. Here are 3 benefits to consider: Praying out loud stops your mind from wandering! Many of us…
I have never been an overly social person. So the idea of connecting with neighbors was never a high priority with me. I like the garage-door culture that is middle America. But a number of years ago, when my wife and I built a home, things changed. Our home was the second one completed in…
Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? Isn’t it awesome when you try something and it actually works? I have little ability when it comes to fixing things—and, unfortunately, all five of the people in my household are gifted at breaking things. Being the dad, I am the first one called upon,…
Since we want to grow in our prayer life, maybe a good model for us is Jesus. What did He pray about while He was on earth? If we know what He prayed over, perhaps it would be good to include those areas in our own prayer life as well! Let’s take a quick look.…
The BLESS acronym is an easy way to remember five important ways to intercede for others. Use this pattern to pray for family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. B Body—(pray for health, protection, strength, fitness) “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).…
Join the Army of Intercessors Seeking to Reclaim a Generation! By Cheryl Sacks Perhaps, like me, you are deeply concerned about what you see happening in schools around our nation. You want to make a difference. The truth is that no matter what we see with our natural eyes, we can be confident the Lord…
The first area of prayer most of us develop is praying for ourselves—or prayers of petition. Even there we can learn to pray God’s will for our lives. Here is a simple list developed by Alvin VanderGriend that presents 26 scriptural items on which to focus our prayers for ourselves. You can petition God for…
3 Simple Insights on How to Do It By Jonathan Graf We know from the Scriptures, that to receive an answer to prayer we are supposed to be praying God’s will. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we…
When my granddaughter Gabrielle was three years old, she lived with us for a time. Many times in the evening she played near me while I sat in my chair working on my computer. She would often interrupt me, wanting attention (which Grampy, of course, gave her). She loved to play a game where she…
My six-year-old grandson Jack cracks me up! Recently my daughter (his mom) doodled some plans in pencil for a house they are thinking of building. When she finished, she set the plans and the pencil on the coffee table and walked away to do something else. When she came back later, she was amused to…
