Prayer and All the Feels

Talking about God's feelings is rarely a good idea.

On the one hand, it is challenging and dubious. Challenging, because we cannot know the mind of God beyond what He has revealed to each one of us in His word. Dubious, because God does not have feelings as we have feelings. He is not fickle, emotional, persuaded, reactionary, or spontaneous as we are. He is the unchanging God who exists outside of time, ordaining all things according to His will alone.

Yet, on the other hand, God certainly has affections. In Scripture we see Him express joy and grief, pleasure and anger, gladness and sorrow. He is personal, and He has chosen to relate to His creation personally. Prayer is perhaps the most tangible way that His children can experience His personal nature, as He hears us and responds to our needs.

Keep Calm and Read Scripture

It's hard to take our eyes off the news these days--and for good reason! We are a nation in tailspin. The only thing that's certain about our country's future is that our country's future is uncertain. There's so much we don't know and therefore wonder about; we'll likely never know the truth about many of the most important things that have happened and are about to happen. But here we are.

But we'd do well to stop and consider how we're not unique in world history on this point.

The Priority of Good News

As Christians, our top priority must be to get the good news out to as many people as we can. Beyond all of the other priorities that we have in life, the number one goal must be to get the message of the gospel out to every person on the face of the earth. This is the commission we've been given by our Lord and it is a task that can be considered both critical and exhaustive.

Serving God Uniquely Just Like Everyone Else

How many ways are there to live for God?

On the one hand, it seems countless. Christian doctors, Christian entrepreneurs, and Christian stay-at-home moms all live very different lives. The way they live for the Lord in the day-to-day will often appear radically different. On top of that, we all have different personalities, and we are in different seasons of faith and growth. We're all unique--with unique gifts--and we have different people in our lives that we interact with and try to reach. We're all living for God in so many ways.

Yet, on the other hand, any disciple of Christ who is going to live for Him is going to be doing the exact same things as every other disciple of Christ.

Prayer: God's Daily Test

I have some biblical tension for you to hold in your life that gets to the heart of prayer. Are you ready for it? Perhaps you should pray first.

Consider these verses:

• "Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham..." (Genesis 22:1)
• "Then the Lord said to Moses...'I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.'" (Exodus 16:4)
• "God left [Hezekiah] alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart." (2 Chronicles 32:31)

Why We Gather

For the Christian, gathering in fellowship should never be considered a chore or a begrudged obligation. Instead, meeting together to serve God and others in the ways we've been gifted is a glorious privilege. It's something that the Lord has designed for us to do for eternity.

There are times when our hearts grumble at the prospect of gathering again. There are times when we refrain from serving because we cherish the lack of responsibility. There are times when we participate in fellowship with the wrong motivations, judging others for not doing what we're doing. These thoughts are foolish at best and evil at worst. 

Is Scripture Dead?

It's hard to be excited about a dead thing.

Consider that old pair of shoes tucked away in your closet, with the worn soles and strings literally hanging by a thread, now fit only for mowing and painting. Or your old cell phone--you know, the one with the cracked screen that slowed down to Windows 95 speeds before you replaced it. How often do you desire to go back to those dead devices? 

This concept applies to literature as well. Sure, outdated events (history) can be interesting--and even thrilling. Aged books have a certain look, feel, and smell that add to their charm. But outdated instruction? Lifeless commands? Old riddles? We're more likely to yawn and nod off than to be energized and motivated.

Gratefully, our Bible isn't a dead thing.

Leaning into Awkward

It's a widely-known and accepted reality that we (human beings) like to avoid difficult and uncomfortable things. (I have no polling data to reference, but I trust that you agree with me.)

Proclaiming the gospel is difficult and uncomfortable.

A Word about Divine Appointments

Divine appointments are those times when we most clearly perceive the hand of the Lord in arranging our circumstances, especially in relationship to other people.

For instance, when we're broken down on the side of the road and a kind person stops to help--who "just so happens" to be Christian--we reflect on the situation and consider how God put all that together. Or, those times when we're in a waiting room and notice a woman reading a book like The Case for Christ, so we strike up an evangelistic conversation and pray that she comes to know the Lord. These types of events are encouraging for us, as we sense God's involvement in our lives more deeply and tangibly.

But what about the 99.99% of life that isn't a "divine appointment"?

Cherishing People Like Rocks

When I was in kindergarten, my family took a trip from our home in Missouri to Mount Rushmore (a popular destination in the Midwest). Aside from my dad driving the wrong way home (he realized it when I read aloud the sign, "Welcome to Wyoming"), the most memorable part of that trip was a little bag of rocks I picked up at a gift shop somewhere in South Dakota.