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…Be earnest and disciplined in your prayers…Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. 1 Peter 4:7; Ephesians 6:18 Most girls, when they fight, flail away wildly – hair falling in their eyes, eyes closed, they swing with great energy, but with little accomplishment. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some phenomenal female warriors, but most girls fight like – well, girls!

We Christians are often guilty of fighting like girls. We…  ( Click for more )

Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. – Psalm 5:3 I share a particularly close relationship with one of my nieces. She used to stay at my house almost every weekend when she was very small. I found her sleeping with my dog in the dog basket not once, but several times. Once there was a time when her parents denied her a request. She responded “I’ll just ask my uncle. He’ll get it for me.” Ah, the utter confidence of youth and love.

I am often guilty of going through the motions…  ( Click for more )

Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 “Teach us to pray.” This disciple had a flash of insight. He realized that there were hidden depths, unrealized complexities to prayer that were eluding him. When audiences who are not familiar with the art of grappling watch two master wrestlers, they often think not much is happening. Because they have not tried wrestling themselves, they don’t see the nuances. They don’t notice…  ( Click for more )

Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. – Philippians 4:13 (The Message) There once was an old man who wore overalls and a straw hat. He smiled a lot and his smile matched his hat – old, crinkly and well worn. He never yelled at kids who played in his yard. His house sat on ten acres, and his life-goal was to make it a forest. He had some interesting theories concerning trees. He came from the “No pain, no gain” school of horticulture. He never watered his new trees. He said that watering trees…  ( Click for more )

The nations will see your righteousness. Kings will be blinded by your glory. And the Lord will give you a new name. – Is. 62:2 A great general was surrounded one time. He was in his tent discussing strategy with his subordinates when an aide came running in. “General, the enemy has surrounded us with eight regiments! We are outnumbered 20 to one!”

Everyone turned to the great man as he gazed calmly at the panicked aide. “Well that’s outstanding!” he replied “We’ve got them right where we want them. We can shoot anywhere and hit…  ( Click for more )

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. - James 5:16

No man is an island unto himself. We are more like an archipelago – a chain of islands with interrelated ecologies. Everything you do affects others around you. Why not use this “ripple effect” to benefit those around you? Do not consider yourself separate. Do not pray only for yourself. Notice that in Christ’s example of prayer, He began by praying for the advancement of the Kingdom.…  ( Click for more )

…Because of your faith, it will happen. Matthew 9:29 I read a story about a church that was located in an area beset by drought. At last, they decided to pray about the matter. Isn’t it funny how we don’t start out praying? We always wait until the situation seems hopeless then yell out, “God! Help!” Anyway, only one person showed up to the prayer meeting with an umbrella. They were all there ostensibly to ask God for rain, but only one among the congregation actually believed God would answer. When you pray, do you carry an “umbrella”…  ( Click for more )

I once thought all these (self-righteous works) were so very important, but now I consider them worthless (KJV reads dung) because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ. - Philippians 3:7-8 Generally, dung beetles don’t get a lot of respect. They usually don’t get noticed by anyone not playing around in a cow pad. However, in tropical climes they can be extremely numerous and busy workers.…  ( Click for more )

The prayer of the upright is His delight. – Proverbs 15:8 What if your loved ones only communicated with you in prescribed, rote, memorized fashion? What if they never deviated from certain written phrases? No matter how eloquent the phrases, wouldn’t you be disappointed? If my children only addressed me when they wanted something and did it in a very formal, ritualized fashion (in old English) it would drive me crazy! “Our Father, who art in the living room, how handsome thou art today,” they might say. “Thy fatherhood be established, thy will be…  ( Click for more )

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9 There once was a princess who married a very wealthy commoner. He loved his wife and wanted to please her. So he bought her a huge mansion filled with the most expensive furniture money could buy. He purchased an exquisite wardrobe with each dress having been hand-made by the most famous designers. There were servants for every imaginable need.

However, while she smiled when he presented her with yet another gift, she never…  ( Click for more )

I will honor only those who honor me, and I will despise those who despise me. I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. – 1 Samuel 2:30b-31a Eli was a good man with bad sons, a frequent phenomenon in the Bible. Eli’s two sons were supposed to assist him at the temple, but they began to take for themselves meat that was supposed to be sacrificed to God. As if that was not enough, they took the meat by force and they also slept with women who came to worship at the temple! Eli tried halfheartedly to rebuke them but was too weak…  ( Click for more )

The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:12-13

A lot has been said about the first sin. Philosophers often wonder about it, though the average person doesn’t usually give it much thought. But the second sin may, in fact, be more important because we’ll never recover from the first sin as long as we’re guilty of the second. No matter…  ( Click for more )

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. – Genesis 3:6 Adam and Eve were living in an absolutely perfect setting called Eden. They had everything their hearts desired. The only thing forbidden was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

One day a spectacular visitor, the serpent, struck up a conversation with Eve. The serpent raised in Eve’s mind a question…  ( Click for more )

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. Mark 10:51 The Lord is still asking us that question. So many times I have been guilty of vague, open-ended prayers. These are the prayers of a coward. A coward makes his prayers nice and vague so that he can claim anything as an answer. He can use that same obfuscation to excuse the lack of effectiveness in his prayer. Either way, he’s covered himself. In the French language, the verb “to love” and the verb “to like” are the same. This is surprising in a language that is known for its…  ( Click for more )

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:6 I was sitting in the lunch room, eating my pb ‘n’ j sandwich and reading my Bible, when a co-worker sat down beside me. “What are you reading?” she asked. I was reading Deuteronomy 6:4-9, a passage the Jewish people refer to as the “Shema”. I explained to her that they have been reciting these verses as a prayer every morning and evening for thousands of years. Suddenly…  ( Click for more )

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. – Luke 2:36-38

Albert Einstein once said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.…  ( Click for more )

“…Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” - Matthew 19:21

Awiya was renowned as a great hunter. People far and wide talked of his exploits and craftiness. Being part pygmy, he stood barely five feet tall, but he did not rely on his strength or speed to catch his prey. He knew his quarry well and caught them by using their weaknesses.

One day, he went into the jungle to catch a monkey. He went to a coconut tree and found a nut. Drilling two holes into the nut (one larger than the other)…  ( Click for more )

Abraham named the place “The Lord Will Provide.” This name has now become a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Genesis 22:14 Abraham was at home one day when the Lord spoke to him. By now, he recognized the Voice because he had spent so much time listening to it. Just as a football player must study the play book in order to be a good player, a true worshiper realizes that worship is not based on our likes, dislikes, personal preferences or priorities. It is based solely on the scriptures. Because true worship is based on the Bible,…  ( Click for more )

Keep all my laws and obey them, for I am the Lord, who makes you holy. - Leviticus 20:8 At the village church in Kalonovka, Russia, attendance at Sunday school picked up after the priest started handing out candy. One of the most faithful attendees was a pug-nosed, pugnacious lad who recited his Scriptures piously, pocketed his reward, and then fled into the fields to munch on it. The priest took a liking to the boy and persuaded him to attend church school. This was preferable to doing household chores from which his devout parents excused him. By offering other inducements,…  ( Click for more )

With unfailing love you will lead this people whom you have ransomed. You will guide them in your strength to the place where your holiness dwells. - Exodus 15:13 A woman’s husband returned home from the war with post-traumatic stress syndrome. She was unable to deal with him or get him to care for himself and was soon ready to leave him. But first, she sought the help of a wise man who told her he could make a potion to heal her husband, but the remedy required the chest hair of a bear.

The woman spent months befriending a bear at its cave, getting closer and closer…  ( Click for more )

“Were you not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed one?” David asked. Then David said to one of his men, “Kill him!” So the man thrust his sword into the Amalekite and killed him. “You die self-condemned,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord’s anointed one.” - 2 Samuel 1:14-16 David had been anointed as Israel’s king for many years but God had not seen fit to remove the reigning king, Saul, yet. Saul had disobeyed God and lost His approval. David understood that God’s plan…  ( Click for more )

The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God." - Luke 1:35-37

God took an ordinary, every day girl and gave her life such a shake that the whole world has been reeling from the results ever since. She was no different from you and I. She did not…  ( Click for more )

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins.But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say. – Luke 5:37-39

An old biblical scholar had an odd habit. His students, being curious, asked him, “Why is the first page number missing in all your works? Why does each begin with the second?”

He answered, “No matter how much I may learn, I need to always remember that I…  ( Click for more )

The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it. - John 14:12-14 Even greater works? How is that even possible? Jesus fed thousands on a few loaves and fish. He healed the lepers, the lame, the mute, and the deaf. He healed people who did believe and those who did not. He exorcised demons, he taught with power and eloquence. He opposed…  ( Click for more )