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Psalm 131:2 (NLT)  I have calmed and quieted myself,  like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.  Yes,  like a weaned child is my soul within me.  “Learning to rest in God in times of solitude begins with the body,  as the image of the nursing child suggests.  Sometimes the baby resists settling down enough to take what the mother offers.  But when the baby’s whole body relaxes in total peace and trust,  love is given…

I Kings 19:9b  (MSG)  “So Elijah,  what are you doing here?”  God asks questions—not because He doesn’t know the answer but because we need to open our hearts to Him and have an honest conversation at a deeper level.   If you are having trouble praying and concentrating on your prayer list,  maybe you just need to stop and notice your heart.  Choose to linger in God’s presence and talk with Him about your real feelings and frustrations.  “Honest noticing…

I Kings 19:6b (MSG)  (Elijah)  ate the meal and went back to sleep.  When the doctor finally declared me  “cancer free,”  everyone celebrated.  Then a friend told me,  “It will take you two years to get over this.”  I am so thankful for that piece of reality,  because everyone  (including me)  expected life to go back to normal.  It didn’t.  I was exhausted and unable to jump back quickly.  I worried that my pace would never return.  Elijah’s story helps…

I Kings 19:5  (MSG)  Exhausted  (Elijah)  fell asleep under the lone broom bush.  Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said,  “Get up and eat!”   Elijah had been running for his life.  Exhausted from an outpouring of spiritual,  physical and emotional energy,  he collapsed under a tree.  Most of us are not living at that level of a breaking point.  Still fairly functional,  we try to keep moving;  but when it is time to get quiet in prayer,  external…

John 16:23b (NIV)  …I tell you the truth,  my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”  Prayer does not require a feeling to be a prayer of faith.  Faith is not a feeling;  faith is an action.  Faith is obeying God’s rule.  When He says to  “ask anything”  or when you are moved to pray for a certain thing,  do it.  The fruit will be harvested later.  You will sense the pleasure of God that you prayed, …

Matthew 6:6 (NLT)  When you pray,  go away by yourself,  shut the door behind you,  and pray to your Father in private.  Then your Father,  who sees everything,  will reward you.  “Prayer is the choice we make where we want the rule of God to come.  And when we see things out of order,  outside His rule,  whether in our families,  neighborhoods,  churches or cities,  we can pray decisive prayers and He will come.  The Lord is looking for people…

I John 5:14-15 (NLT)  And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him.  And since we know He hears us when we make our requests,  we also know that He will give us what we ask for.  The Holy Spirit is our helper in prayer—a prayer specialist.  Ask Him to enable,  energize and enrich your prayer life.  How do you know if you are praying presumptuously?  Well,  are you asking for something selfish…

Philippians 4:6 (MSG)  Don’t fret or worry.  Instead of worrying,  pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,  letting God know your concerns.  When we pray  “Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory”  we are not making a recitation—it is a proclamation.  We are taking our place with millions of others around the world to bring God’s will to pass in homes,  cities,  and nations.  The Holy Spirit leads the individual focuses,  and Heaven dispatches…

I Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT)  I urge you,  first of all,  to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them;  intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them.  We must pray with concerted passion in order to  “see the overthrow of those works of hell that manifest themselves in evils such as human trafficking,  bondage to drugs and other horrific oppressions.”  When we pray,  decisive things happen.  “God is at work beyond our sight and sound.  Don’t doubt it.” …

I Peter 3:7b (MSG)  In the new life of God’s grace,  you’re equals  (husband and wife)…being heirs together of the grace of life  (KJVS)…so that nothing will hinder your prayers (NIV).  Satan has launched an assault against unity among believers,  and Christian homes are a primary and unique target.  To some degree this is true because of the unique endowment of the Holy Spirit that is available to husband and wife as they are united in prayer  (Matthew 18:19).  Being…

Psalm 42:1 (NIV)  As the deer pants for streams of water,  so my soul pants for you,  O God.  Desperation and desire for God can lead us to withdraw from noisy,  peopled places and to sit our whole selves down to wait for that which comes from beyond ourselves.  God comes and does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  Do not be afraid of spiritual hunger.  Let it surface,  notice it,  express it to God.  Let the Holy…

Luke 18:13 (MSG)  …slumped in the shadows,  his face in his hands,  not daring to look up,  he said,  “God,  give mercy.  Forgive me,  a sinner.”  How many of us have ever walked through a season of life in which we felt challenged on every level?  We’ve felt inadequate in prayer and inept in life skills.  We’ve wondered how we could come so far in life and yet fall so short in maturity.  We’ve felt desperately hungry for God yet…

Matthew 28:20b (NLT)  (Jesus said)…And be sure of this:  I am with you always,  even to the end of the age.  “Over time our body and soul respond to established rhythms,  so eventually the very act of entering this set-apart time and place  (for prayer)  ushers us into our own inner sanctuary.  There we can listen to our desire for God and God’s desire for us and allow that desire to guide us beyond our information-grasping,  controlling,  problem-solving patterns of…

Hebrews 12:2a (NIV)  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,  the author and perfecter of our faith…  On vacation,  it takes several days for me to fully escape my hurried disposition.  Out of town,  away from my phone,  hearing the sound of seagulls—my pace slows,  my head clears,  and my heart offloads and re-syncs with the Lord.  But I need a daily connection.  That’s when  “breath prayers”  are helpful.  They are simple phrases that help us gather up our desire…

Mark 1:35 (NIV)  Very early in the morning,  while it was still dark,  Jesus got up,  left the house and went off to a solitary place,  where He prayed.  Have you identified a sacred space and time for prayer?  Maybe you have a favorite chair in the spare bedroom,  or a spot in the sunroom—with Bible and journal nearby.  Have you placed any spiritual symbols or artifacts nearby that help you feel present to God?  Once you have designated a…

Psalm 46:10  (NIV)  Be still,  and know that I am God… When we learn how to be still in God’s presence in unhurried prayer and linger quietly in an attitude of receptivity,  something incredible will happen:  the  “knowing”  will come.  For many of us,  busy agendas distract us,  and prayer becomes another thing on our to-do list,  an activity filled with words and opinions. He wants to teach us how to move at His pace and see through His eyes…

Psalm 32:7  (NIV)  You are my hiding place;  you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.  When life gets tough,  it’s hard to hear the sound of God’s songs of deliverance.  Sorrow plugs our ears.  Discouragement clouds our vision.  But if we will listen carefully we will hear a song rise up from a hidden place in our souls bringing hope and encouragement.  Pause and listen.  Hear what David heard.  Know what he knew—God is…

Genesis 48:11(NIV)  Israel said to Joseph,  “I never expected to see your face again,  and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”  What a joyful climax to a dramatic story filled with unexpected twists and turns!  Aged Israel  (formerly known as Jacob)  never expected that his life would end so well.  God brought resolution to a heart-rending family situation.  Joseph’s godly character had guided him safely through minefields of potential disaster and delivered him and his children…

Genesis 41:51-52 (NIV)  Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said,  “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”  The second son he named Ephraim and said,  “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”  This passage gives us a window into Joseph’s soul.  After years of heartache,  he gave names of hope and reassurance to his newborn sons.  For those of us who live with extremely…

Genesis 32:28a  (NIV)  Your name will no longer be Jacob,  but Israel… All night long Jacob cried out to God,  “Bless me.”  All night long God responded by asking,  “What is your name?”  Why was God so persistent?  Why did the struggle go on for so long?  God already knew Jacob’s name.  But to admit his name was to expose the fact that Jacob was a liar and a deceiver.  When he finally confessed his identity to God,  that confession…

Genesis 26: (NIV)  The Lord appeared to Isaac and said,  “Do not go down to Egypt;  live in the land where I tell you to live.  Stay in this land for a while,  and I will be with you and will bless you.  For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.  God’s promises extended to Isaac when he followed in his father’s footsteps of faith. …

Genesis 25:  (NLT)  “Look,  I’m dying of starvation!”  said Esau.  “What good is my birthright to me now?”   Weakened by an exhausting day of work in the open country,  Esau sat by Jacob’s fire and made a life-changing choice:  he traded his inheritance for a bowl of stew.  Too many people miss God’s remarkable goals and objectives due to self-centeredness.  Our daily choices adjust our trajectories either away from divine potential or toward it.  God has plans for us. …

Genesis 3:8  (NIV)  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid…  How do we respond when God approaches us? How do we answer His call to relationship? Does guilt cause us to hide?  Where do we hide—in busy schedules, loud distractions, and various diversions? It is best to turn toward the Lord rather than away from Him. Fleeing our…

Luke 2:43 (NIV)  After the Feast was over,  while His parents were returning home,  the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem,  but they were unaware of it.  Note the interesting conversation between Mary and Jesus.  She told Jesus,  “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”  Jesus responded by reminding her that He had to be in  “his Father’s house.”  Though He loved and respected Joseph,  Jesus was the Son of God.  The story ends with Jesus obeying…

Luke 2:39-40 (NIV)   When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord,  they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.  And the child grew and became strong;  He was filled with wisdom,  and the grace of God was upon Him.  Finally it was time to settle down and enjoy being a family.  With dangers and transitions behind them for now,  Mary and Joseph began a normal family life.  Jesus thrived in His…

Matthew 2:19-20 (NIV)   After Herod died,  an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,  “Get up,  take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,  for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”  Once again,  the angel of the Lord provided direction through a dream and sent Joseph and his family to Nazareth,  a safer place where Herod Antipas reigned.  There they began the…

Matthew 2:16 (NIV)  When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi,  he was furious…  Can we even begin to comprehend the suffering imposed on the families in Bethlehem as a result of one man’s hysterical fears?  This was typical behavior for Herod,  who murdered even his own family members.  This spirit of murder lives on in the hearts of evil rulers around the world today.  God sees injustice and cares about broken lives.  He is the God…

Matthew 2:8  (NIV)   (Herod)  sent  (the Magi)  to Bethlehem and said,  “Go and make a careful search for the child.  As soon as you find him,  report to me,  so that I too may go and worship him.”  King Herod had no intention of worshipping the Christ child.  He destroyed anyone who might interfere with his ambitions;  he had murdered his wife,  her mother,  his oldest son,  and two other sons!  No threat survived his murderous reign.  Though the…

Luke 2:17 (NIV)  When they  (the shepherds)  had seen Him,  they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the child.  “I will seek to believe rather than to reason.  I will seek,  rather than explain.  I will seek to give thanks,  rather than to penetrate the doctrine.  Who can understand?  Here is the Ancient of Days becoming a babe in Bethlehem.  Here is He who thunders in the heavens,  crying in the cradle.  Here is the One…

I Timothy 3:16 (NIV)  Beyond all question,  the mystery of godliness is great:  He appeared in a body,  was vindicated by the Spirit,  was seen by angels,  was preached among the nations,  was believed on in the world,  was taken up in glory.  This was Paul’s apologetic mandate.  No wonder he spent years in the Arabian Desert after seeing the resurrected Christ on the Damascus road!  His whole mindset had to be realigned.  He studied the Old Testament scriptures to…

Colossians 1:15, 19, 20b (NIV)  The Son is the image of the invisible God,  the firstborn over all creation… For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to Himself all things… by making peace through his blood,  shed on the cross.  Long before there ever was an Abraham,  Jesus was present.  Long before there ever was a Bethlehem,  Jesus was present.  Jesus’  life did not begin in Bethlehem.  There was never…

Isaiah 7:14  (NIV)  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,  and will call him Immanuel.  This is the Old Testament prophecy to which Matthew pointed.  He clearly says this child is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy—this is that.  Isn’t it wonderful to know that Immanuel means  “God with us”?  He came down to us because we had no possible way of going up to Him. …

Matthew 1:22 (NIV)  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet…  If we believe that God can create a man out of the dust of the earth,  and if we believe that God can create a woman out of the side of a man,  and if we believe that God can enable a man and woman who are past the age of childbearing to conceive and give birth to a healthy child,  then why…

Matthew 1:23  (NIV)  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,  and they will call Him Immanuel”—which means,  “God with us.”  The Bible is a book filled with remarkable narratives.  A snake talks to a woman  (Eve).  A man builds a boat and save the animals of the world from a flood  (Noah).  The second half begins with another remarkable story—the Christmas story.  A virgin conceives a child.  It would all seem quite impossible to…

John 1:14 (NIV)  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.“ I think it’s noteworthy that the Almighty God didn’t act high and mighty.  The Holy One wasn’t holier than thou.  The One who knew it all,  wasn’t a know-it-all.  The One who made the stars didn’t keep His head in them.  The One who owns all the stuff of earth never strutted it.  Never.  He could have.  Oh,  how He could have.  He could have been a…