Month: August 2019

I have heard it said that prayer should be as natural for the Christian as taking our next breath, so why is it that so many of us struggle to maintain a consistent prayer life? Is it because we struggle to converse with someone who rarely responds in an audible manner? Do we even sometimes feel embarrassed, especially when praying out loud, lest we be overheard, and accused of talking to ourselves?
Continue reading “A Divine Pattern For Prayer.”

The English dictionary defines the word prayer as: ‘The action of praying to God; earnest entreaty.’ It certainly is true that when we pray we are speaking to our heavenly father, and we often find ourselves bringing our varied requests to him. Yet I can’t help thinking there’s a lot more to prayer than simply making Ernest entreaties to God. I decided to go to the Bible dictionary – hoping this would give me a more definite understanding of the word. It said that prayer is: ‘Personal communion with God who is a person.’ It also said that the classic contents of prayer are adoration (Telling the Lord how much we love him and worshiping him), thanksgiving (Remembering to say thank you for all the things he’s done for us), confession (Acknowledging our sin and asking for forgiveness) and partition (Bringing our requests before him). This is a much more helpful definition. It’s telling us that prayer is a personal thing, and reminding us that when we pray we’re not just speaking to an idol or something we conjure up in our imaginations but to our Lord himself.
Continue reading “Prayer”

I’ve come across a lovely verse in Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest – a man who descended from Abraham’s great grandson, Levi. Ezekiel started hearing from God when His people had been exiled from their land because of their disobedience. A few of the poorest people remained in Jerusalem to take care of it (2 Kings 24:14).
Continue reading “Sanctuary, By Sarah Tummey.”

During the next couple of weeks, we will be enjoying some inspiring thoughts from my good friend Sarah

Reading 2 Samuel 5, I’m impressed by how humble David is as opposed to his enemies. He becomes king over Israel. Samuel said he would be years before, pouring oil on his head to prepare him, but while Saul was alive, David couldn’t succeed him. Finally, the moment comes. David goes to Jerusalem and in their arrogance, the people living there taunt him: “You can’t get inside our city. Even the blind and the crippled can stop you” (2 Samuel 5:6). They think David so weak, they don’t need an army of healthy soldiers; even someone without full use of their faculties could triumph against him, but how wrong they are.
Continue reading “A Great Example, By Sarah Tummey.”