prayer Archives

Dear, Lord: I’m ready to listen

Note: I’ll be taking the month of July off from blog writing to focus on a project that will release in 2025. I hope you will enjoy some of my previous articles about God’s wisdom and why we need it in our daily lives.

Dear, Lord: I’m ready to listen.

Those are words God longs to hear.

How much of your time with God is spent listening to him?

When does the Lord interrupt your thoughts with one of his?

Our greatest need for prayer isn’t the requests we lay before him. The answers we most need are often to questions we would never think to ask. God knows our requests before we make them and wants to listen to our words anyway. Even more, God would love the opportunity to author your prayers, according to his will.

If improving your prayer life is one of your spiritual goals this year, I would suggest this thought.

Simply bow before your Father and say, “Dear, Lord: I’m ready to listen.”

What are you listening for?

When my boys were young their constant noise filled our home. I learned to work and study with that noise in the background. The thing that sparked my attention wasn’t their sounds of play but rather those moments when there were no sounds at all. Complete silence pulled me away from my work and down the hall to check on them.

God listens to his children all day, every day. What if God waits to speak until he knows we are ready to listen?

God is a perfect Father and doesn’t set his children up to sin. As I’ve often said, if God issues a word of direction, it is not a suggestion. If we don’t obey God’s word of direction, then we have sinned. God wouldn’t give his direction to a person who wasn’t listening because ignoring God would be a sin.

When it seems God’s voice has grown quiet in our lives then we need to grow quiet before God. We need to pause and pray, “Please, Lord: I’m ready to listen now.” When we pray, we aren’t listening for answers to our prayers as much as we are listening for the answers God wants us to pray for.

You can recognize God’s voice

I tried to find out how many times God spoke in the Bible but never determined a reliable answer. Truthfully, all of Scripture is God’s word. But there are times in the Bible where it specifically says, “And God said” or “The Lord spoke, saying.” Sometimes we wonder if the voice was audible, but we never need to wonder whether the person knew it was God speaking.

That is how we should feel about every word of our Bibles.

When we read God’s word, we are hearing his voice. But God did not quit speaking to the world when Bibles were printed and made available. God gave us his Holy Spirit so that we could live closely with his voice of direction.

When the Holy Spirit guides our thoughts and directs our path, it is according to God’s word and will for our lives.

We hear the same voice Paul heard

The apostle Paul knew some of the people who had walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry. Those people had heard the actual voice of Jesus when they listened to him teach. I’ve often wondered if their thoughts were filled with the earthly voice of Jesus at times.

The apostle Paul heard Jesus speak to him on the road to Damascus, and he apparently spent a great deal of time listening to that voice for the rest of his life. Paul was writing to the Philippians when he said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

Paul had accomplished a lot by the time he’d been sent to Rome and placed under house arrest. He wrote his letter to the Philippians during his time in Rome, yet his heart’s desire was still to know Jesus. Perhaps it was his desire to know God that allowed Paul to become the one to write and record so much of our important Christian theology.

Are you ready to listen for that voice today?

When do you desire “to know Jesus” as Luke, James, John, and Paul knew him?

The voice of Jesus is just as real today as it was for those living in the first century.

Our great goal for prayer

We have been gifted with everything we need in order to personally know the God of the universe and walk with his Presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit.

To pray in God’s will simply means to pray as God leads you toward all that he wants for your life. When we pray the words of Scripture, we pray with the knowledge of God. When we pray as the Spirit leads us, we pray for those things God wants us to know and do.

To “pray without ceasing” means that we walk so closely with God’s Spirit that his voice of direction is easy to discern. We walk through our lives attuned to whatever the Lord may speak into our thoughts to direct, encourage, or convict.

Our great goal for prayer is to live with a constant readiness to listen for the thoughts and direction of Jesus. He is present in your life and waiting for you to say, “I’m listening.”

One of my favorite quotes is from an English theologian and hymn writer by the name of Frederick Faber. When I read his words about listening to God from the 1800s, they profoundly spoke to me. Biblical wisdom transcends time and culture. I hope his words will speak to you today.

Faber wrote, “There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out of the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God.”

Let’s all pray for those whisperings of God and say, “Dear, Lord: I’m ready to listen.”

Pray that God will do what God has done

How do we pray for Israel? How do we pray for our own country? What should we be asking for specifically?

My husband Jim was recently speaking about the issues surrounding the conflict in Israel. Truthfully, peace seems to be an impossibility unless God intervenes. I watch the news reports from some of our significant college campuses. Many of these schools are considered “Ivy League,” and one reporter called these disturbances “Poison Ivy.”

How do we pray for nations of people to unite when unity isn’t their goal?

First, pray for God’s priorities to become yours.

Jesus taught his followers to pray saying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” and then said “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus was teaching them to pray that God would be the ruler, the king of everyone on earth, just as he is the king of heaven.

God can’t change the hearts of people until they submit to him as their sovereign king. In heaven God is the only king. On earth, we must make the daily, moment-to-moment, free-will choice to make him our king. Even after we have asked Jesus to be our Lord, we must yield to him as Lord while we dwell on this side of heaven.

In other words, the thing we should be praying for when we pray for the nations is that they would realize there is one true God who because of his great love, gave us his only Son. While Jesus was preparing to die, he prayed for the unity of the body of Christ and for all people (John 17).

We should pray for what Jesus prayed so that God will do what God has done. The book of Acts describes the early Church, the body of new covenant believers, saying, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44).

Second, believe that God will do what God has done.

American Christians tend to underestimate the value of faith and over-estimate the value of hard work. Both are important, but faith matters more. Why?

The author of Hebrews wrote, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

This is a tricky life lesson that I had to learn the hard way. As a busy preacher’s wife, I spent a lot of time doing the work of the ministry. I believed if I was busy, then I was serving God, and he must be pleased with my efforts.

In my personal testimony, I speak about the time I almost died of pneumonia because I just had too much to do to stop and go find a doctor to help me (we had recently moved to Atlanta and I had not yet found a doctor). I just assumed I would get better and kept going with my busy schedule filled with responsibilities I had decided were God’s.

It took a month to recover, and I spent that time with God. I remember praying a broken prayer. I was working hard but lacked the joy I saw in the book of Acts. I was willing to serve but what was I supposed to be doing? I knew I had been given the Holy Spirit, but I didn’t know if I was Spirit-led. I had godly intentions, but I had placed my faith in my ideas about God rather than trusting his voice to lead.

One of the most important times of my spiritual life was that month I spent learning that God was the king of my life and the director of my path. My ideas had placed me on a treadmill, and I was running hard but never moving forward with God’s plan. My entire life and ministry were changed as a result of learning to place my faith in God’s ideas and not my own.

If we want to learn how God works, look at how God worked in Scripture. He told Moses to step into the Red Sea and trust him and start walking. He told Joshua to step into the flooded Jordan and all would be well. He told Jonah to go to the worst, most violent city and tell his enemies that they were all wrong. He told the disciples to walk away from their profitable fishing business and become fishers of men.

Why does faith in God matter most? Because God asks us to do some things that we would never do ourselves, apart from our faith in God. If you have never experienced a faith assignment, you are missing out on the most significant joy this life can provide.

God still does what he has done in the past.

Finally, trust God to do great things, because he has done great things.

The conflict in Israel and the conflicts we see on our college campuses seem to have no lasting solutions. That is exactly what the disciples must have felt when the stone was rolled in front of the entrance to Jesus’ tomb.

The disciples lacked faith, but only until Sunday. They didn’t have the proof that you and I enjoy. But, have we allowed biblical history to guide our faith? Have we trusted in our own thoughts more than God’s? Do we work for God, or do we allow him to work through us?

How will God answer our prayers for the leaders in this world? God will do great things we cannot imagine.

After Stephen’s stoning the church was scattered (Acts 8:1). The young man who was surrounded by the cloaks of others became the great persecutor, the great terrorist, of the New Testament. Saul of Tarsus, with amazing energy and intellect, served his ideas about God rather than God himself. Then Jesus showed up on the road to Damascus and changed everything.

How do we pray for the world leaders of today? How do we pray for the young people on our college campuses? How do we pray for today’s terrorists?

We pray for Jesus to meet them in a miraculous way, just like he met Saul of Tarsus. We pray for the Light of the world to chase away the darkness from the minds of people. We pray for God’s people to be Spirit-led followers of their king. We pray that faith will drive our thoughts and ideas because we know that God wants to do, and will do, what God has always done. The great terrorist of the early Christian church became the great theologian of Scripture.

How do we pray for our world today? We pray that God will do what God has done.

Bethlehem today

Mary and Joseph probably traveled about a week to reach Bethlehem in time for the census. Mary, in her ninth month of pregnancy, would have needed to rest often while making the ninety-mile journey. Today, a war is raging about forty-five miles from the small city of Bethlehem.

It seems that this year, once again, Bethlehem will be known as having no rooms in their city for the pilgrims to stay.

How Bethlehem is different today

When Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, it would have been a city that existed largely because of the shepherds. Located six miles from Jerusalem, it was a favorite stop for the Jewish pilgrims on their way to the temple. I found an interesting article that said even today, “The economy of Bethlehem is based on pilgrimages and tourism,” but “90% of the workforce is not receiving salaries” during these tense days of war.

I’ve been to Bethlehem several times. We took tour groups to the city to see the church believed to have been built over the cave system that likely would have been used to “stable” the animals, therefore the likely birthplace of Jesus.

The streets of the city are lined with stores selling all kinds of souvenirs and products from the Holy Land. We always took our group to a favorite store that sold hand-carved nativity sets and other products made out of native olive wood. My husband, Jim, is good friends with the man whose family owns that store as well as a hotel and restaurant in the city.

Normally at this time of the year, the streets of Bethlehem and the stores are extremely crowded with pilgrims from all around the world. This Christmas, the hotels are housing people who have fled from the war zone and their homes. This year the stores are closed and sit quietly abandoned.

The city is under Palestinian control, although some of the residents are Israeli. The entrance to the city has always been gated and guarded by Palestinian soldiers who were armed and ready for an attack. The attack occurred about fifty miles outside of Bethlehem and was organized by a faction of their own people.

Bethlehem had just begun to recover from the shutdown of Christmas 2020, and it cannot be known how long this current war will continue. We can’t know what Bethlehem will look like next Christmas.

A baby named Hope

The article talked about a hospital located about 1,500 steps from the church which exists to mark the birthplace of Christ, describing it as “the premier maternity hospital and neonatal critical care center in the Bethlehem region of the West Bank.”

When war broke out, the roads were blockaded, making it difficult for the hospital to receive necessary supplies. A woman named Nadeem was in her ninth month, expecting her third child. She noticed she had not felt the baby move for a while, but she had been afraid to mention it because she didn’t want a large hospital bill during these difficult times. She finally mentioned her concerns to her husband, and he took her to the hospital.

Nadeem was quickly admitted in order to receive an emergency C-section. When her daughter was delivered, she was gray and unresponsive. The team of doctors continued to work on her until suddenly a small cry filled the room. The baby was placed in the NICU, and Nadeem couldn’t stop thanking the staff. They had gathered to pray for her baby, and Nadeem credited her daughter’s life to their prayers.

The baby girl was named Amal, which means “hope” in Arabic. One of the doctors who delivered Amal said, “The birth of her baby brought her hope in this time of terrible war and the loss of so many lives. There is a new baby in Bethlehem and it gives her hope that this will pass.”

The hope of Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a small picture of the conflict that seems to exist across the entire world today. The citizens are very different people who, by necessity, need to learn to coexist peacefully with one another. It is a picture of why Jesus chose to step out of heaven to be born in a Bethlehem stable.

Paul was writing his letter of theology to Rome. He quoted the prophet Isaiah who had prophesied seven hundred years before the first coming of Christ. Paul reminded the church in Rome and reminds us today of the reason Jesus was born. Romans 15:12 says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

I wonder, as Nadeem was listening for the cry of her baby and listening to the prayers being lifted to God by the hospital staff around her, if she knew the One who is our hope, the babe of Bethlehem. I wonder if she named her baby Amal because she understood the great need of her people is the hope Jesus was born to give all people.

Pray for the people of the Holy Land to find their hope

Jesus came to save the people who are fighting on both sides of this war. Paul said the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16–17).

We need to pray for the people of Bethlehem to seek God’s righteousness. We need to pray for all the lost. God gave his Son so that all could be saved. The hope of the world is Jesus. It always has been and that won’t change until the next time Jesus comes. That day our hope in heaven will be fulfilled in Christ.

Paul wrote a prayer of blessing to the church in Rome that would be his prayer for the world today: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

As we pray for our Christmas season, let’s pray for a small baby in Bethlehem named Amal and all that surrounds her tiny, fragile life. How would the God of hope want us to pray for everyone involved in this war?

God is able to redeem the worst of times for his purpose, for his glory. Our world needs to know the Savior. As Christians, we are called to share the gospel, the good news of Christ.

To whom will you offer the hope of Christmas this week?

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

P.S. If you want to know more about all that is happening in Israel, I encourage you to download my husband’s recent ebook for free, The War In Israel: What You Need to Know about This Crisis of Global Significance.

A month for grateful prayers

Thank you all for ordering this year’s Advent book. I wrote it almost a year ago and it is so fun to see it in print! We need to sell Advent books early to get them all shipped. Even though it seems our entire culture is rushing into the Christmas season, let’s not miss the JOY of November.

November has always been one of my favorite months. This month is usually a bit slower-paced because everyone is planning for December. I will celebrate a significant birthday this month, and it seems AARP, Medicare, and several more are hunting me down! But every birthday is a reminder that I have so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward to. I view my lifetime as a road trip of birthdays that will thankfully and joyfully end at the gates of heaven.

November is also the month we celebrate my favorite holiday. I love everything about Thanksgiving. It is about all my favorite things: family, food, football, and faithful praise. I don’t want us to miss Thanksgiving just because Christmas is already front and center in the stores and in the multitude of ads and emails we all receive.

How can we be careful to enjoy and celebrate November before December arrives?

A month to offer God praise

Start by listing ten things that happened in 2023 that you were grateful for, and do it in the next two minutes. Go!

(No, really . . . list them now!) Everything else can wait.

How did it go? Was it easy, a bit tough, or maybe you wish I’d asked for seven or eight?

It’s often easier to be grateful in the moment, but if we allow those memories to fade we can lose our sense of the abundant blessings in our lives.

My list

I was able to quickly list the first two on my list, but the others came after a few moments of reflection. I praise God that:

My grandson’s treatments for leukemia were a great success and he is doing well.
Our move to Tyler was exhausting, but we are settled into a home that we love, and we are excited for our first holiday season in our new home.
Our ministry continues to receive amazing notes and words of encouragement that keep us motivated and excited to keep walking with God and following his lead.
We enjoyed the blessing of seeing our Tyler-area grandkids play sports, swim in the pool, and just live their happy lives.
Jim and I both experienced COVID this year, and it was NOT a big deal.
Jim and I are older, with a few more aches and pains, but we are healthy and happy.
My mom made the move with us and is now settled into a wonderful place that serves her with God’s love and God’s priorities.
Life is expensive but usually well worth the price!
We have moved to a new city, made new friends, and yet still love our other friends too.
We continue to hear from friends in Israel who are doing fine in terrible circumstances.

Those were the big things that came to mind, but there are SO MANY seemingly small moments of life that God worked to create the circumstances listed above. I am thinking of the phrase “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.” That has been true even when our circumstances weren’t that good!

When I struggle to praise God

We all have so much for which we can offer God praise. We also have a list of things we wish God would change or fix.

Somewhere in everyone’s life a loved one isn’t walking with God. Somewhere in everyone’s life a loved one isn’t doing well, isn’t happy, isn’t safe, or isn’t content. God is good all the time, but we aren’t. We aren’t good all the time because we aren’t always good, always perfect, always godly. Only God can be good all the time.

Some years our list of blessings is easier to write. Other years need more than two minutes.

Every November can be a month of praise

I was writing the entries for Wisdom Matters for the month of November. I had completed about one-third of the entries when I highlighted each one and hit “delete.” (THAT, by the way, is a PAINFUL thing for any writer to do!) I was getting November all wrong. I just wish God had brought that up a bit sooner. Or, maybe I just wasn’t listening to his leadership in the beginning.

I had been struggling to write before I hit delete. After I hit the delete key, the ideas flowed. I hope you will get the app and listen, even if just to November. God led me to rewrite so that I could talk about the blessings of offering our praise to God.

Why is praising God essential for our souls?

I can answer that question in just two verses. Psalm 95:1–2 says, “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

Why can God’s children praise him this month? Why can we praise him regardless of our circumstances? Why should we praise him every day?

God the Father, Son, and Spirit invites us to “come.”
God tells us to sing to him because he is always, always listening.
God tells us to bring our “noise” to him with joy.
God reminds us that he is a rock upon which we can stand and be saved.
God tells us that our praise of thanksgiving ushers us into his presence.
God welcomes our noisy prayers and songs of praise.
God wants to be near you, hear you, encourage you, and enjoy you each day.

November is a month for praise

Let’s commit these next weeks to the praise of God. Let’s “taste and see that the Lᴏʀᴅ is good” (Psalm 34:8). Let’s enter God’s presence each day with words of praise and words of thanksgiving.

God doesn’t need our praise. God wants us to praise him for our sakes, not his. When we praise God, we enter his presence, approach his throne, and stand on the rock of our salvation. It is from that rock that our healing and hope will come.

It’s only two weeks until Thanksgiving. When the table is set and the meal is prepared, may all of us know and say, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

November is a perfect month to praise the greatness of God. May our praises be a fragrant offering lifted to our God. May our praises fill us with his joy.

Why should we seek silence?

We have adapted our lives to include the constant noises that invade our day. Silence is actually discomforting to some. Phone apps and white-noise machines advertise better sleep to those who listen to a constant sound. Our televisions keep us company, provide us with ideas, and alleviate the quiet with entertaining options. It is less common these days to pass someone on their morning walk who isn’t listening to someone’s podcast that offers ideas, opinions, and information for their life.

We live in a much different world today than Jesus did. Jesus was surrounded by the voices of others and the needs of others, and those voices increased considerably during the second year of his public ministry. His example is an example for all of us.

Why did Jesus seek solitude and silence during his earthly life?

Jesus sought a desolate place

Where do you typically go when you need to pray?

I like to find a quiet, comfortable spot where I can be alone to think and pray. Mark 1:35 describes Jesus’ choice for the chaos of life. Mark wrote, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Why did our all-knowing, perfect, sinless Lord need to pray?

Our Sunday School teacher asked that question and it gave me pause. Did Jesus need to pray or did he just want to? His ministry was at the highest point of public interest. Everywhere Jesus went, the crowds followed him, seeking to hear his words and hoping to witness or receive a miracle. During these most popular months of ministry, Jesus sought to be alone with God.

We know Jesus followed God’s commands while here on earth, but did he need God to tell him what to do? Wouldn’t he have already known?

Actually, that question has been discussed and debated in theology on a lot of levels. When Jesus took on human form, he was “tempted in every way” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV) like we are but did not sin. Satan tempted Jesus after his baptism, and for human reasons Jesus probably wanted to turn those stones into bread. But Jesus wanted to obey God even more. Jesus didn’t want to follow Satan. I’m not going to solve this mystery in a blog post, but as I considered the question, I had another thought.

Jesus loved his Father, his Abba, in heaven. Jesus would have wanted to hear his Father’s voice and talk with him, Father to Son. Could it be that Jesus sought a solitary, desolate place early in the morning so that he could just share time with God and no one else?

Maybe Jesus prayed simply to be with God, to fellowship with the One he loved.

Maybe that should be a goal for each of us as well.

The power of silence

The word of the Lord came to Elijah on the mountain. Elijah was discouraged because the people were ignoring and disobeying God. He needed to be with God and hear his voice. God sent Elijah to the edge of the cave at the top of the mountain. On that mountain, Elijah experienced the power of God in the wind, an earthquake, and, finally, fire. But God did not speak to him that way. Instead, Scripture tells us that after the fire there was “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12).

Why did God choose to speak with “quiet” rather than noise?

There is a spiritual lesson about the power of silence we need to learn. If we have examples in Scripture like Elijah and Jesus, those examples are there for us as well.

When last did you seek a place of solitude and quiet simply to be with God and listen for him to “whisper” his answers to you? God has a voice and wants to speak his word into our hearts and lives. Could it be that we have crowded his whisper out of our lives with chaotic, ever-present noise?

God’s words are more important than any podcast. His words are perfect, pure truth, and everything else we hear must be tested. Do you tend to study or read your Bible with noise in the background? The first step toward God’s whisper might be to seek out the deafening silence which may cause some of us to feel uncomfortable.

Jesus got up very early, while it was still dark. In the first century, people didn’t travel at night because the darkness was something to fear. Animals, thieves, and the need for directions kept people from traveling in the dark. Jesus chose that time to be with his Father.

Why should you seek silence?

It might take us some effort to find perfect silence. I used to lead silent retreats. We literally arrived at a retreat center, went to our rooms, and lived with one another without speaking to one another or anyone else. I led a few directed times of prayer but mine was the only audible voice that spoke into the silence.

It was always an uncomfortable feeling at first, but, by the time we came to the end of the retreat, the ladies would share their thoughts and experiences, and it was such a blessing to our group. Mine might have been the only audible voice, but God spoke into their silence through his word, their thoughts, and often something in nature.

The silence was deafening at first, and then God whispered.

The voice of God

I always provided the people at the retreat with verses to consider about the voice of God. Three of my favorites are:

Isaiah 30:21 – “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Exodus 33:11 – “Thus the Lᴏʀᴅ used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

God still speaks to people, even as he did in our Bibles. When God gave us his Holy Spirit, we received his indwelling voice of comfort, guidance, and direction. God’s voice is also the voice of acceptance, forgiveness, and pure love.

Today, let’s consider the example set by Jesus and Elijah. Jesus sought solitude to be with God, and Elijah heard God in the quiet. I can honestly say that when I seek answers from God, I seek solitude first. There is something about the deafening quiet that allows God to speak. Our Lord deserves our wholehearted attention, and he deserves to be honored as the One we love. It is into the silence and solitude that God can whisper.

If you are uneasy or skeptical about these thoughts, don’t worry. Everyone feels that at some point. Just don’t let your uneasiness hinder you from seeking solitude and the chance to be with your heavenly Father. Quiet the world for the sake of his word. The Lord will take it from there.

God speaks. It is my experience, but it is also the promise of God’s word and the example Jesus set for us.

Be still and you will know God’s voice. Be still and you will know God.

He is waiting to whisper. He wants you to know his voice.

How can we pray for Israel?

It is difficult to know how to pray against pure evil. Sometimes anger and wrath can lead our prayers instead of God. I’ve often said Satan isn’t concerned with what side of an issue in which we choose to sin. If we sin, evil wins regardless of our position.

The nation of Israel is once again drawing the attention of the world. They are completely justified in their anger and their desire to protect their people. At the same time, God’s people are not to respond to evil with evil of their own.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to sit in a room and make decisions that will ultimately lead to people losing their lives. Can Israel fight their enemy without harming their own people? Will Israel seek God’s strength and wisdom or rely on their own? I was preparing to write this blog post and I searched for Bible verses about peace, enemies, end times, and wars in an effort to discern God’s truth for such terrible times.

At the end of my reading, praying, and study, I could only settle on one certain truth. As I pray for the people of Israel, some of whom have become personal friends over the past several years, I found my prayers and my answers in Proverbs 8 and 9.

We don’t know how to pray for Israel apart from God’s wisdom. The only thing we know is that the tiny nation that has been central to global politics from the beginning is making decisions that can alter our world. Their decisions can alter the character of our world as well. The one thing I know to pray for them, in addition to peace and divine protection, is that those who lead that nation need to seek and act with the wisdom only God can provide.

I often say our greatest need is to live a life God is able to bless. God’s blessings are available to those who will walk in his ways. I’m praying that Israel will seek God’s face and God’s righteousness as their first and greatest need.

Proverbs 8

If you have time, read both Proverbs 8 and 9 in their entirety. These proverbs are about the blessings of living with God’s wisdom. These proverbs personify wisdom and explain that wisdom is gained from knowing and walking with God.

My heart was drawn to Proverbs 8:12–21 as a prayer for those who are leading Israel right now. Wisdom causes us to think and feel about things like God would. If we can share the heart of God, we can pray with the thoughts of God.

This is the wisdom I am praying for those in the nation of Israel, from Proverbs 8:12–21.

1. Pray that those who lead Israel will dwell with God’s wisdom and discretion.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion.” (v. 12)

2. Pray that God will produce their emotions, their character, and their example to the world.

“The fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.” (v. 13)

3. Pray that Israel will recognize that their most important counsel and strategies will come from God. God’s justice is pure, and their leaders need to act in accordance with his direction.

“I have counsel and sound wisdom;
    I have insight; I have strength.
By me kings reign,
    and rulers decree what is just;
by me princes rule,
    and nobles, all who govern justly.” (vv. 14–16)

4. Pray that Israel will understand that their greatest need and their greatest witness is to love God and seek his wisdom and will.

“I love those who love me,
and those who seek me diligently find me.
Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.” (vv. 17–18)

5. Pray that they will seek the Lord’s victories and justice ahead of their own.

“My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
    and my yield than choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
    in the paths of justice,
granting an inheritance to those who love me,
    and filling their treasuries.” (vv. 19–21)

Proverbs 9

Proverbs 9 includes a sobering statement about what happens if we ignore the wisdom of God. God has provided his word and called his people to know it, respect it, and act upon it. There is no other road to success in this life apart from his wisdom.

Proverbs 9:10–12 makes clear, “The fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.”

Israel’s search for wisdom should be our own as well

It seems as if the world is losing its soul. God’s people need to be praying, speaking, and acting with hearts aligned with the truth of God’s word. We shouldn’t be surprised at a world that is in decline spiritually. Jesus, Paul, and others warned us in Scripture that the decline would occur.

The world has seen evil before and evil will be part of this world until the end of time. Revelation 11 is the word from the seventh and final trumpet. Revelation 11:18 says, “The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

God’s servants will be rewarded and evil will be judged. Until that day, we are to fear God’s name, which means our job is to live submitted to his character and voice within us. The Holy Spirit needs to guide our thoughts, our words, and our actions. We can’t pray or speak correctly apart from the Spirit’s guidance.

Will you pray for the wisdom of God to guide the leaders and people of Israel?

Will you pray the same for your own life?

Wisdom is knowing God and walking in his ways rather than our own. Pray for wisdom to bring the blessing of peace. Pray for the Spirit of Jesus to once again walk among them on that land and offer his truth. Israel needs Jesus.

In his holy name, we pray for our friends and this chosen land . . . Amen.

____________

For more on the war in Israel, please visit this collection of resources from Denison Ministries.

Life-changing prayer

Jesus taught us to begin our daily prayer with the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). In other words, the first moment in prayer is remembering to revere and honor God’s name, or character.

Why does God want us to consider his high and holy character the moment we begin to pray?

How do we honor and revere God’s name?

I love articles that quote the “greats” of our faith. God is unchanging therefore wisdom about God is timeless as well. Here is a wise thought from an article about prayer.

Charles Spurgeon said, “True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that—it is a spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.” Charles Spurgeon’s quote teaches us what it means to say to God, “Hallowed be your name.”

When Queen Elizabeth passed away, people stood in line for more than twenty-four hours for the opportunity to walk past her coffin and pay their respects. For most, she was the only queen they had ever known.

What is the longest line you have ever waited in? Was it worth it?

Every time we bow our heads to pray, we have the chance to enter into a spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. We have the chance to honor the one and only God in prayer. If you are like me, you have prayed many prayers that didn’t begin like Jesus taught us to pray; I haven’t always started my prayers by truly and intentionally honoring God in my heart.

If Jesus taught us to begin our prayers that way, he had an important reason.

Why do we honor God first in our prayers?

Moses had just finished delivering the Ten Commandments to the people gathered at the base of the mountain. Then Moses taught the lesson that would become the prayer that God’s people were to pray every day, more than once. Moses knew that if the people prayed this prayer and truly meant the words, their lives would be lived with faith-filled priorities.

That prayer is known as the Jewish Shema. Even today the devout Jewish people fill their day with the Shema. It is the prayer they begin and end each day repeating. It is the prayer printed on parchment and placed on their doorposts, in their phylacteries, and it is the prayer that they teach to all their children so it becomes an important part of their lives as well.

The Shema

Moses taught the people to honor God by praying, “Hear, O Israel: The Lᴏʀᴅ our God, the Lᴏʀᴅ is one. You shall love the Lᴏʀᴅ your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5).

Moses taught the Israelites how to honor God. The first commandment to obey will always be: “You shall have no other gods before me.” The Shema began: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Every prayer we pray must honor God as “our God” and as “the only God.” How would it change our prayer if we paused and focused on that singular knowledge before we ever continued the rest of our prayer?

If, as Spurgeon said, prayer is a spiritual transaction with our Creator God, shouldn’t honoring God as Jesus taught be the way we uphold our part of that transaction?

The second part of the Shema teaches us to “love the Lord” our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We can’t understand how to love God until we have honestly meant the words, “Hallowed be your name.”

Moses and Jesus both taught the essential way to begin prayer is by revering the divine Name, the character, of God.

The rest of our prayer will be different, and more effective, if we do.

Life-changing prayer

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher and theologian who was a prolific author. He devoted his entire life to his ministry and accomplished a great deal, even though he only lived to the age of forty-two. His simple statement provides a key to what it means to pray life-changing prayers. Kierkegaard said, “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.”

Moses told the Israelites to pray the words of the Shema and then said, “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). In other words, the knowledge that there is one Creator God who is “our God” should be our primary motivation in this life. Our love and adoration for God should prompt our actions and should frame every prayer we pray.

Moses, Jesus, Spurgeon, and Kierkegaard each teach us the same wisdom about God and the amazing gift of prayer. Life-changing prayer begins with the knowledge we are praying to the only God, the One who has created and changed our lives.

Life-changing prayer will change us and others

I’ve heard several people say lately that they could use a revival.

A lot of things “dry up” in August, and that can apply to our souls as well. Yet, that doesn’t have to be the case.

August can be the month you step into a powerful prayer relationship with the One God, your God. You can approach the Creator of heaven and earth and truly say, “Hallowed be your name.” You can consider God’s great Name and his great grace. You will “pray without ceasing” when you fill your day with the knowledge that you have been invited to speak with your King, throughout the day, and give him the honor he deserves. Your prayers can be life-changing.

God doesn’t change, but every day he changes those who pray to him from their hearts.

May all of us “hear” the “Lord our God is One.” Let’s love him “with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Beginning a prayer with that worship and acknowledgment of God will impact the rest of the prayer because that praise will change the one who is praying.

Science confirms spiritual truth about anxiety

When it comes to controlling anxiety, science supports what the Bible has consistently taught each generation, throughout history. My friend and coworker alerted me to a truth about our brains that I knew I wanted to blog about.

After reading several articles on the subject, I can honestly join the psalmist’s gratitude for God saying, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:14).

I hope you will join me in that praise as you read this blog post!

Scientific evidence about our “fearful and wonderful” brains

There has been a lot of discussion and research about the increased anxiety that our culture, and especially our young people, are feeling right now. A 2022 Pew Research article states, “Experiences of high psychological distress are especially widespread among young adults. A 58% majority of those ages 18 to 29 have experienced high levels of psychological distress at least once across four Center surveys conducted between March 2020 and September 2022.”

All of us experienced stress during the 2020 Covid crisis, but for many people, and especially young people, it can be difficult to move forward without worrying about future concerns. Interestingly, brain science continues to support the truth of Scripture as more is discovered about the unique ways we have been created by our God.

A recent Mayo Clinic article reported, “Expressing gratitude is associated with a host of mental and physical benefits. Studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood, and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease.”

The Mayo Clinic article explains that the best way to control anxiety is to make use of the opposite side of our brain. While anxious thoughts occur in one half of our brain, thoughts of gratitude occur in the other.

The article went on to say, “Remember that behavior changes biology. Positive gestures benefit you by releasing oxytocin, a hormone that helps connect people. Some people call it the love hormone.”

Is it any wonder that Jesus said the most important commandment was to love God and the second was like it? We are also called to “love one another.” God’s word has always taught us how to live our best lives, with both health and happiness.

It’s important to consider God’s word as scientifically accurate as well as spiritually sound. When we suffer anxiety, we need to quickly move those thoughts to the other side of our brain. Scripture teaches us how to do that.

Our God-given cure for anxiety

The apostle Paul provided us with God’s cure for anxiety in his letter to the Thessalonians. Consider the science of the Mayo Clinic article in light of the inspired wisdom Paul wrote: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–22).

God created our brains to function as they do and then gave us the wisdom of Scripture to help us know how to use our brains in the best possible way. Paul knew that the path to physical and spiritual health involved both gratitude and love. Remember that gratitude and anxiety occur on different sides of the brain.

So, when we are anxious, it is God’s will that we:

Rejoice always.

The first thing to remember when our brains are consumed with worry or anxiety is that we are never without joy as well. Christians need never live a day of our lives without hope and a sense that our future is guaranteed. God must grieve those times we have allowed worry to control our thoughts rather than our faith. God created our brains to have a path from our worries. It is the road of rejoicing.
Pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.

Even the worst moments of our lives can draw us closer to the reality of God’s power and presence. It is God’s will that we learn to trust his perfection and lean on his love, even in those anxious times. Have you expressed gratitude to God for his loving care during those difficult days of COVID? We should consider all we learned during those pandemic days and be grateful for the ways the Lord has been working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). Our normal routines stopped for a few months and gave us time to think about our priorities. Did we lose some of that perspective as our schedules restarted?
Do not “quench the Spirit.”

One great thing about anxiety is that it can often send us straight to God in prayer. We can always know that the Holy Spirit stands ready to speak, teach, comfort, and guide. He already has the answers we need; we just need to not quench his voice by focusing on all the world’s ideas instead.
Hold on to God’s word by testing all other ideas against its truth.

The prophecies of Scripture were written to a specific generation, but the truth of those prophecies is for every generation. We need to “hold fast” to the wisdom of Scripture because it is “good.” At the same time, we should avoid anything that contradicts God’s wisdom. God’s Spirit will guide, but the Evil One will also make suggestions in an effort to distract us from God’s truth.

We are commanded to overcome

God’s words to Isaiah remain his command today. He told the prophet, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:9–10).

The apostle Paul told the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7).

God didn’t encourage us not to worry but rather issued those words as his command. He loves us and wants us to understand how he has wired our brains to function. When we worry, it is bad for our health and our relationships. We shouldn’t choose to live with our worries rather than God’s solutions for our worries. When we follow the commands of Scripture, we are taking the road that points us away from our stress and toward our hope.

But God also created us with free will, the ability to choose. Are we choosing the path God has designed, the path that will move us away from our worries?

We have a choice to make

Victor Carrion is an MD and a professor of childhood psychology at Stanford University. He was writing on the subject of anxiety when he made this point: “Thinking positively is not something that happens automatically. In fact, automatically we think negatively. That, evolutionarily, is what produced results. Negative thoughts are automatic thoughts, and positive thoughts need to be practiced and learned.”

In so many ways we have been raised to worry, and experience has taught us to think negative thoughts. Most of our parents were careful to warn us of the dangers in this world. We can be grateful that our heavenly Father taught us how to overcome the worries of this world. But Carrion’s words above point to the truth of Scripture. The path away from our anxieties is a path we must choose each day. It won’t be our natural instinct; it is a Spirit-directed choice.

Before you close this article:

Take a moment to pray and seek God with the gratitude he deserves.
Then, consider those things you are anxious about.
Then, choose to praise God for all you have, all you have learned, and all you can faithfully hope for in the future.

That will enable your thoughts to move away from your worries and toward God.

Aren’t you grateful that God wired your brain with the road of praise and provision?

We truly are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

His works are wonderful, and our souls can know that well.

Why should we teach our children to pray?

We teach our children the colors of the world and how to count their fingers and toes. We teach them how to say “thank you” when they should be grateful and “I’m sorry” if they have made a mistake. We teach our children how to communicate what they are thinking and feeling. It is important that we teach them how to talk to others. It is crucial that we teach them how to talk with God.

Christian parents often pray with their children, but are we teaching them to pray on their own? I often quote Psalm 131:2 when I am speaking to parents. The verse says, “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.”

A nursing mother consumes food and her body processes it into milk, which her hungry infant eagerly consumes. But her child cannot grow and succeed unless he is weaned and learns to eat for himself. Content Christians are people who have learned how to spend time with God alone, growing and learning from what they “consume” on their own. Prayer is a good way to begin the “weaning process” and raise children who will be strong, mature Christians someday.

What will your child learn if you teach them to pray?

1. They will learn that God is real, and that he is God. Jesus taught his disciples to pray saying, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). When we teach our children to pray, we teach them to talk to the Creator of the world who is listening in heaven. When we honor God’s name, we honor him as our King. When children pray, they will understand that they have access to the God of the universe and he wants to talk with them about his will for their lives. God wants to be their King.

2. Prayer is the way they will develop a close, personal relationship with God. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). The strongest relationships in our lives are with people we have chosen to spend time with in a quiet, exclusive way. The same is true of our relationship with God. If the only time your child spends with God is also with other people, then God is most likely going to remain an “acquaintance” rather than a close, personal friend. Teach your children to be still and to spend time alone with God.

3. They will learn that God loves them and listens to their prayers. Jesus said, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14). It is normal for children to pray for everything they want, and to expect God to do whatever they ask of him. Most parents struggle with helping their child understand that God’s answers to prayer are not always the same as their requests. Jesus said, “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” He said, when you ask for what his holy and perfect character wants to give or do, he will do it. When children pray they will learn that God loves them too much to give them something that is not perfect. They will also see their prayers answered, just as they asked. God loves to show his children that he loves them and listens to them. When children pray, they will see God answer and know he heard their prayers.

4. Children will learn that God’s answers are unique and important. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). Children will often ask parents or friends for advice. One of the most important things a child can learn is that the only perfect advice is God’s. God’s answers are unique wisdom that can only be gained by “calling on him.” One of the reasons parents need to “wean” their children spiritually, is so that their children will learn to turn to God for the answers that are “hidden” and that cannot be “known” any other way. That is a lesson that will carry them through life (and it can make the high school and college years a little less stressful for parents).

5. Prayer will teach your children that when they make a mistake, there is help and forgiveness available to them, to make it right. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Prayer will help your children understand God’s will for their lives, and that nobody makes perfect choices. Prayer is the first and best response when your children need discipline. Prayer teaches them that God knows their failure and has a plan to redeem. When a parent prays with their child and asks God for wisdom to know how to discipline, the child is much more likely to learn from that discipline. Your child will learn that they need to make their mistakes right with God and right with others. Prayer will show your child that there is both consequence and forgiveness for mistakes and teach them that God redeems for his greater purpose (Romans 8:28).

We know that our children must be weaned physically if they are to grow and become successful adults. God calls us, as parents, to wean our children spiritually as well. Prayer is one of the best ways to introduce your toddler to God. A prayer-filled life will teach children to grow from a toddler relationship to a strong walk with God as their King. Our kids deserve the chance to become all that God has called them to be and prayer is key to providing them that opportunity.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you” (Jeremiah 29:11-12).

* Originally published on March 17, 2015

How and why do we seek God’s face?

My dad often traveled for his work. My sisters and I were always excited to go to the airport and pick him up. Those were the days, before 9/11, when we could enter an airport and walk to the gate to wait.

My sisters and I would look out the airport windows and try to guess which plane landing was Dad’s. Eventually, one of us was right.

That plane pulled near, the stairs were rolled out, and the door would open. We’d watch every person get off the plane, trying to be the first one who spotted Dad’s face.

He’d often glance up at the windows looking for us and smile when he saw us jumping up and down and waving.

That’s a pretty good picture of what it means to “seek God’s face.”

Seeking God’s face is synonymous with seeking God’s presence.

How badly do you want to see God’s face?

We often equate seeing God’s face to those moments we enter heaven. That is when we will see God face to face.

But Scripture teaches that we are supposed to seek God’s face, his presence, every day, all day. Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

My favorite beatitude is Matthew 5:8. Jesus taught, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.”

One time I got a “U” in conduct on my report card. My teacher had warned me to “stop talking,” but I didn’t take her warning seriously enough. (My friends and family are probably grinning right now. I still might get a “U” on occasion.)

The point is this: I wouldn’t have been quite as excited to see Dad if I knew I had to show him that report card when we got home from the airport.

Sometimes we don’t seek God’s face because we don’t know we are supposed to. Most of the time, we choose to avoid God’s presence because we know what we are going to hear when we do.

How badly do you want to see God’s face today?

Is there something in your life causing you to avoid his presence?

If so, take some time and consider 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

My dad saw the “U” in conduct, and I’m sure I had some extra chores to do as a result. I also had to promise him I would try harder to do better. And, if I remember correctly, that was the only time I got a “U” on a report card.

God’s discipline and direction are for the purpose of making us better people.

When we seek God’s face, we are likelier to want to please him. We are blessed when we can approach God with a pure heart. Why?

Because that is when we “see God.”

That is when we come into his presence.

Seek God’s face in the crowd

It’s probably a good idea that we can’t go to the gates at the airport any longer. I remember the crowds of people, all trying to meet up with someone. I’ve always been a people-watcher, and my favorite greetings always involve a few tears or a few kisses.

My dad used to give all of us a hug, but it was my mom who got the kiss. Even today, I enjoy standing at the baggage claim, watching a wife meet her husband. I especially enjoy watching the soldiers greet their families. In those moments, the rest of the world fades away because the person who matters most is the one they have been waiting to see. The loved one feels loved.

That is the way the Lord would like us to treat him each day. That is one way we can choose to love him. The apostle Paul wrote, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1–2).

We need to seek the face of God, knowing we are seeking the face of Jesus. We need to seek his face like there is nothing else that matters more. God’s face, his holy presence, needs to stand out from every other in our crowded lives.

The church, God’s people, are referred to in Scripture as the “bride of Christ.” Look for his face like my mom looked for my dad at the crowded airport. Understand that Jesus is looking for you like my dad looked for my mom.

If my people . . .

This is a chaotic season in our history, for all kinds of reasons.

We can find ourselves looking at others in order to place blame or find solutions. We might watch the evening news thinking that is the information we most need. But Christians have a higher calling and higher standards.

The reason I wrote this post today is that I thought about a familiar verse from 2 Chronicles in a new way. I read the words like a teaching lesson for how to seek God’s face. God told Solomon, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

God spoke those words to King Solomon at the dedication of the temple. The most important place in the world was the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The temple was built around the Holy of Holies that contained the Ark of the Covenant, the Presence of God. People came to that temple for centuries in order to find forgiveness and seek God’s face.

If our culture improves, it won’t be because a person is elected. The eradication of a virus isn’t going to cure the problems in our cities. What our culture needs most is the holy presence and priority of God.

They need to seek his face.

We are called to be God’s presence

You and I live in the promises of the New Covenant. We no longer visit a temple because Christians are a temple. The Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that indwelled the Holy of Holies, is present in every person who has made Christ their Lord and Savior.

When you walk into a room today, you will bring the face of God into that place. Not everyone will be looking for you. They may have come to the crowd to find someone else.

Here’s my point: My sisters and I always drew smiles at the airport. Picture three little girls, often with bows and ringlets, jumping up and down because their dad was smiling at them and giving th›em hugs. People couldn’t help but notice.

And God said, “If my people”—if my kids—would “humble themselves, and pray and seek my face,” they would need to turn from evil in order to face what is holy.

Today, let’s seek God’s face in this crowded, noisy world.

People are in the crowd for all kinds of reasons. But it is difficult to ignore a child who is excited to see their dad. And our heavenly Dad is excited to see us. We are greatly loved, and we are called to help others know his love in their lives.

Who will see God’s face today because they have seen yours?

This blog post was originally published on October 14, 2020.