Prayer, Plain and Simple

Here’s another simple and simply beautiful prayer from St. Augustine. In his role as Bishop (pastor) for the church in Hippo, North Africa, Augustine became a great defender of right doctrine and right practice of Christian faith. All this theological work grew out of personal pastoral concerns that mattered to the everyday lives of his…

As news continues to unfold about George Sodini’s struggle with loneliness, I can’t help but think there are so many people in the world just like him. People who live reclusive lives not because they want to, but because somehow they feel unloved and the one solution to their problem is love. As I mentioned…

Are there ways we can increase our likelihood of hearing God speak? I think so. In Nine Ways God Always Speaks, I offer the following: What’s the difference between those who hear him and those who don’t? It’s as simple as how they listen. We know what you’re thinking. “I listen, but I never hear…

King David banked everything on his friendship with God. God was everything to David.  Here’s how he describes that relationship in Psalm 143:8-9.  Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,      for I am trusting you.   Show me where to walk,      for I give myself to you.Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;      I run to you to hide me. David acknowledged…

St. Augustine didn’t trust his physical body. Prior to his conversion to Christianity Augustine had lived to please and indulge his own appetites. For the rest of his life on earth he considered his “flesh” as the enemy of his soul. I believe Augustine overreacted a bit. After all, God created our bodies, and called…

Yesterday, George Sodini entered a Pittsburgh L.A. Fitness gym aerobic’s class, turned off the lights and opened fire. The 50 rounds of bullets killed three women and injured 10 other people. Sodini then turned the gun on himself and killed himself. Sources say that Sodini left behind a diary that documented his plans for yesterday’s event and…

So I’ve gotten quite a bit of response–both on this blog and off–from “To Pray or Not to Pray“. I’ve heard from alot of you that you think it is ok to continually pray about a situation, in my case, praying about a mate. I’ve certainly taken your words of wisdom in stride. My mom actually…

New experience: I am writing this post using the voice recognition software in my computer. I’ve never used this feature before and it is a weird experience.  When I first began to write from a keyboard it took time for me to begin to think through my fingers. Thinking out loud is a completely different…

In Nine Ways God Always Speaks, my co-writer, Jennifer Schuchmann and I relay this fascinating story about hearing God shared with us by our friend, writer, Cecil Murphey.   My brother was maybe five feet two and weighed around one hundred pounds. He was a career man in the Navy, and he worked below deck.…

David’s friendship with God was based on what he knew about God; what David knew came by observing God’s past actions. David was able to lay everything on the line in prayer because he knew God’s character was dependable. His splendid prayer, Psalm 143 expresses this well. I remember the days of old.      I ponder all your…

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