Being in the midst of a sermon series in the book of James has had me reading a lot of Proverbs. As you may know, James is sometimes called the "Proverbs of the New Testament." There is some truth in that. James has much to say that is wise and for that matter he has much to say about wisdom. Also like Proverbs, James' letter has also provided many ideas and practical sugg...

Recently I've been dipping in and out of Matthew Henry's wonderful book, A Method for Prayer. If you ever have difficulty getting going in your prayer life, then I highly recommend reading over the prayers of other brothers and sisters in Christ. It's good and right for us to learn how to pray from other faithful saints who know how to plead and petition our Heavenly Fathe...

On Sunday I mentioned a few things about prayer, and I thought that I'd take this opportunity to circle back, remind us of them, and throw in a great Paul Miller quote for good measure. God is honored when we pray. Prayer honors God because it is an expression of faith that he exists. It is an expression of faith that says, "God, you're powerful." And it is an expression o...

On Sunday I mentioned a few things about prayer, and I thought that I'd take this opportunity to circle back, remind us of them, and throw in a great Paul Miller quote for good measure. God is honored when we pray. Prayer honors God because it is an expression of faith that he exists. It is an expression of faith that says, "God, you're powerful." And it is an expressi...

In our discipleship hour this past week, we thought about worship, both public and private. We thought about how worship is an all-of-life activity and that it is to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify his worthiness of praise, and to approach and address God as he is worthy. We worship God by the Spirit in connection with his Word. Our primary connection with God...

Christians often take great comfort and joy in God's words of love to them in Scripture, and rightly so. What child of God is not comforted by Paul's reminder, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)? Or what adopted son or daughter is not enamored with the Savior who says, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own ...

As is often the case, I've been reading the passage of Scripture I'm going to preach through during my quiet times throughout the week. As I've been reading John 15:18-16:4, I've been struck by how clear Christ has been with his disciples. He's always clear, but here especially he does not hold anything back. He says to them in John 16:2, "They will put you out of the syna...

This afternoon I was meeting with a group of pastors and we were talking about what pastors talk aboutministry. We prayerfully considered gathering our churches together one Sunday evening for a combined time of prayer. We thought that our congregations could benefit from praying through A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication) and hearing a sermon ...

As I began last week's sermon preparation, I prayed. For some reason, last week I scribbled down the major headings of the prayer that I brought before the Lord that day, and I discovered them again today. I thought that I would share the rough outlines of that prayer because I believe that it is one that we can all offer to God when we are endeavoring to understand his Wo...

This past Sunday evening I preached on the first two words of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father." From the truth that God is our Father, I drew out five implications for our prayer lives as Christians and churches. I want to share with you the first implication because I need to preach it to myself over and over again. The first and most obvious implication is that since God ...

If you're like me, then sometimes prayer (real, sincere, and earnest prayer) doesn't come easily. Sometimes I'm helped by others to pray. In the past I've used the compilation of prayers entitled Valley of Vision to help inspire me to pray. Recently, I've discovered John Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayers that has and I think will continue to prove useful in helping me t...

Sometimes I struggle to really pray. Does that ever happen to you? One puritan use to say, "Pray until you pray," but I think we all struggle at times to get going in our prayer. We mumble and fumble and stumble around in our prayers, praying for this and that, changing our minds about what we're praying about. Lists can help direct us. Directories can help direct us! But ...