I have a confession to make. Some time ago I got tired of praying for our government, so I stopped. Yes, I felt guilty about it. Yes, I knew I was breaking the Bible rule about praying first for kings and those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1). But I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve always been lousy at praying out of a sense of duty. So if I pray for anything long enough without sensing any joy, without experiencing the quickening power of the Holy Spirit, and [...]
I hope I never forget what the Spirit of the Lord said to me on September 11th, as I watched the towers of the World Trade center flare then crumble in smoke and ashes just a few hours from my home. It’s not what I would have expected Him to say. He didn’t pat me nicely and say, “There, there, now sweetheart. Don’t be afraid. Everything is going to be all right.” It would have been perfectly scriptural if He had. After all, the 91st Psalm says a thousand [...]
Sometimes I forget about the devil. I’m embarrassed to admit it. But it’s true. I get so enamored with my Lord, so caught up in my fellowship with Him that I neglect to keep a proper eye on the fiend who is—always—lurking about, scheming to steal what the Master has promised to give me. Such forgetfulness is costly. It leads to frustration and needless delays. It leaves me scratching my head, puzzling over why progress is some area of my life has stopped. Unaware of the devil sneaking around [...]
When trouble threatens, the best thing to do is head for higher ground. That’s a solid, scriptural truth. But I didn’t learn it first from the Bible. I figured it out at my grandmother’s house when I was a little girl trying to escape my great uncle Willard’s hugs. Dear old Uncle Willard hugged like a python. Bless his heart, he meant well. But, as a lumber-jack of a man who spent his days clearing Oklahoma oak thickets with an axe, he didn’t know his own strength. (And since he [...]
God is into surprises. Really into them. He thinks they’re fun. He wants me to think they’re fun too, but to be honest, I’m not always on the same page with Him about it. Sometimes I get cranky when I ask Him what’s going to happen about this or that and He says, It’s a surprise! Anybody who thinks He doesn’t say that has never read the Bible. It’s full of surprises front to back. It tells about a God who says things like, Leave your country and your father’s [...]
God doesn’t answer scared prayers. I heard somebody say that one time. Quoting a kid from the backwaters of Missouri, they mimicked his accent and it came out this way. God don’t answer skeert prayers. There’s some truth in that for sure. Prayers of faith are what move mountains. Prayers of faith are what please God. And you can’t pray in faith and be skeert at the same time. That’s why Jesus said, “Fear not. Only believe.” Because skeert, if we let it run loose, will chase away faith. So [...]
The other day while praying with some friends, I found myself on Old Testament Mount Moriah. I was surprised to be there. A split second before I’d been huddled in front of the fireplace staving off the shivers of the Colorado cold. The Rockies are a long way from the Middle East, but you know how it is. When God gets involved the most unexpected things can happen. To be clear, it was no literal translation. My arms still clutched the oversized throw pillow I like to hug when [...]