PRAY HARDEST I just drove past an electronic billboard located in front of a local church. The following message flashed brightly for those passing by: “Pray Hardest When It’s Hardest to Pray!” I thought to myself: “Clever. Memorable. But is it true?” This much is true. At least, true for me. 1. Sometimes, I find it…

THE PROBLEM WITH MOST PRAYERS The problem with most of our praying – my prayers, too, mind you – is this: we pray because we are looking for a way out. But why? Precisely because nobody likes pain. Nobody looks for uncertainty. Nobody wants to suffer. What healthy-minded person prays for pain…for suffering? No, as…

Prayer…Does God answer prayer? Apparently so, according to the Ebola Doctor, Dr. Kent Brantly, who was himself an Ebola survivor. You can view his full remarks in a recent press conference he held soon after leaving the hospital. I am not so certain, however. There was a time I, too, said God answers prayers. I…

J. S. Spong says this: 1. God is still envisioned as a “being” supernatural in power, dwelling somewhere external to this world, usually depicted as “above the sky.” 2. Prayer is largely an effort to manipulate God to conform to our wishes. 3. Heaven and hell are still largely “behavior controlling religious mechanisms” designed to…

I love these words of Mark Nepo in The Book of Awakening: “God starts in everything unseeable, but comes to us plainly in the things of this world.” And then, he offers this prayer: “Close your eyes and pray for the one thing you need. Breathe deeply until the prayer loses its words. Open your…

I was reminded today that the ocean is a natural habitat for a fish. Just as air is to a bird and the earth is to a tree. “But what about you and me?” I wondered. “Is there a natural habitat for us? And, if there is, what is it?” I made that thought the…

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about

Dr. Steve McSwain

I'm an Author... Leadership Coach... Counsel to Non-Profits, Faith-based Organizations and Congregations... Adjunct Professor of Communication at the University of Kentucky... Spiritual Teacher... Inspirational and Motivational Speaker.

But not always in this order.

On the university campus, I teach students the Art of Communication. In my public talks, however, I teach leaders the Art of Leading; I teach everyone the Art of Living...so that... when you come to the end...

and, you will come to the end...

You're able to look back on life feeling... Fulfilled... Accomplished... Content, Peaceful, and Happy, too...

Knowing your brief but important journey has made this world a more... Conscious... Compassionate, and... Charitable place.

What could possibly be more important than this?

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