Matthew 6:10, 13 When we were professors in a Christian college in the Philippines, we were often in discussions with the students about our cultures. The students were interested in my Jewish background. One of them knew about the Jewish American Prince (or Princess)—the offspring of a holocaust survivor that […]
2 Chronicles 7:14 I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me something like this: “Pastor Rick, I’ve tried prayer and it didn’t work. I mean, I had a need and so I prayed about it over and over again, but nothing happened. So, I’m really having […]
Jeremiah 33:1-3 For 23 years we have written a monthly prayer guide for Slovenia in English and Slovenian, which is one year longer than we have been missionaries! Why? Because the Great Commission is not yet complete. Slovenia only has 2,000 believers in 40 small churches among 2 million people. […]
Job 13:13-15 What happens when our prayer is answered with a “No” or a “Not yet”? But as far as we are concerned, a “Not yet” is a “No.” What if our request is valid, good, proper, nothing wrong with it, but the worst happens? People suffer. God allowed people […]
Matthew 6:9; Psalm 68:5 Seeing God as a Father was a difficult image in my early Christian walk. My earthly father abandoned me when I was an infant and I never knew him. I could not conceive how to trust in a Heavenly Father when I could not trust the […]
Matthew 6:9 Of the sixty-five words in the Lord’s prayer, these four words are the least understood. Let us take a deep dive together and see something incredibly special in these words. Hollowed means: “Holy be Your name.” Something uniquely treasured and respected. Thy Name means: YAHWEH. This is all […]
1 Samuel 3:1-10 I was invited to a White House briefing one time and heard the Vice-President of the United States talk about various issues of concern for the country. Never once did anyone ask my opinion, seek out my counsel, or just invite me into a conversation. It was […]
Luke 1:8-17 In Luke 1, Zechariah is told by an angel of the Lord that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child in their old age. The Lord looked down with compassion and granted them their desire. When Elizabeth heard the news, she said, “How kind the Lord […]
1 Thessalonians 5:17 How well do you think you would know your father if you never talked to him? How well would you know him if you talked for 5 minutes a day? Once a day? Every other day? If you wanted a deeper relationship, wouldn’t you take the time […]
Matthew 6:10; Romans 12:1-2 “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.” This is an example of a pattern for prayer, not merely a model for rote recitation. The prayer, “Your will be done,” is all about GOD’S will, not about our own self-centered needs […]