My seven-year-old grandson can drive! Oh, don’t worry, Jack doesn’t take the car out on the highway. But he can drive our tractor/mower and our all-terrain vehicle on our rural property. Again, don’t worry. He can’t do it without Grampy sitting with him. There is a safety mechanism that requires him to sit on the…
First Thessalonians challenges us to “pray continually,” (5:17) or as another version puts it, “pray without ceasing.” Oh good grief, you think. I can barely remember to pray once a day! How in the world am I going to pray without ceasing? Without a major theology lesson, I do not think that verse means you…
I remember as a young boy often seeing my parents’ bedroom door open a crack and my mother kneeling in prayer beside the bed. I somehow knew I wasn’t to disturb her there because something intimate was taking place. I later learned that this was Mom’s place to daily meet with God. As I grew…
There are many methods of prayer that we can use to develop our prayer lives. But the best, the most powerful one that I have discovered is praying God’s Word, praying Scripture. Writing in Pray! magazine, author Jane McLain said, “When I turn what Scripture says about God into meditation, prayer, and praise. I relate to Him…
As a kid, I used to love to visit my grandfather Graf. He came to faith in Christ as an adult but later went into the ministry and pastored churches for decades. Howell Graf was probably best known for his prayer life. In fact, many elderly friends who knew Howell have told me that they…
Some years ago my family went through a very painful experience that did not turn out as we thought it would. We were praying for a specific outcome. We had some “world class” intercessors praying as well. But a shocking outcome came none-the-less. Like typical humans who believe in God, we tried to make sense…
When parents teach their children how to pray, the first thing they start to pray are for things they know. They start by praying for Mommy and Daddy, Grampa, Fluffy the cat, and so on. But then a good parent will expand their horizons. “What about praying for you friend Billy? He does not know…
If you want to grow in your prayer life, there are a few basic principles about prayer that are good to know. A simple understanding of these truths can keep us on the right focus with prayer. The first one that is good to know is why do we pray? What is its purpose? There…
