Jesus was asked by His disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1-2a & Matthew 6:5-8) These verses tell us that prayer does not come naturally or effortlessly; Prayer must be learned! It has to do with our relationship with God. We have to have some investment in it. It is hard work! “And when you pray, say…” To learn to pray we must learn to ask. E. M. Bounds states, “God shapes the world by prayer… God conditions the very life and prosperity of His cause on prayer.” God works through the prayers of His people. So, if we are to get answers from God, we must first pray. John Wesley states, “God will do nothing but in answer to prayer.” A few years ago, my family and I were driving towar
I saw a video of a glass walk-way built around the side of a mountain. The glass was constructed in such a way that when a person put their weight on it, it made the sound of breaking glass. Not only that but, when the person looked down, the glass appeared to be breaking also. People were screaming and crawling to get back to the start. These are real people facing real fears, and this walk-way was constructed to take advantage of those fears. I would have been one of them! This is just not right! The truth is that all of us have fears of some kind at one time or another in our lives. Most pass by as we get older, some stay with us, but there are others which have to be overcome if they ge
Christians are people of hope. Joseph Garlington declared this on the WOW Worship album in 1999. My life is in You, Lord My strength is in You, Lord My hope is in You, Lord In You, it’s in You. The Scriptures declare this fact also! “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.” (Psalm 71:14); “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;” (Psalm 130:5); “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—” (Ephesians 4:4); “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23). The Apostle Peter tells us that we were bo
This past Monday evening in his virtual Town Meeting held at the Lincoln Memorial, President Trump said, “We have to get our people back to church.” “It’s wonderful to watch people over a laptop, but it’s not like being at a church,” President Trump says. “And we have to get our people back to churches, and we’re going to start doing it soon.” Faith and prayer have helped many Americans during this tough time. Are we ready to “go back to church” (sacred space)? Most of us would say a resounding, “YES”! As we look forward to this exciting venture, what concerns should be given consideration as we make plans to return to our sacred spaces? 1. There will be those who will be more reticent tha
