prayer

The Power of Positive Thanking

I’m not convinced of the power of positive thinking, but I am confident in the power of positive thanking. Paul had a great way of expressing his gratitude to others: he not only thanked them, he thanked God for them…and then he told them what he had done. Consider these few examples: I thank my …

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Pray Boldly

We need to pray bold prayers. God hears bold prayers. God answers bold prayers. Maybe you remember some stories from the scriptures about boldness in prayer: A group of friends who dug through a roof to get their crippled friend to Jesus. A widow who went to a judge day after day and demanded justice …

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5 Steps to Better Preaching

Preaching. It is not the only thing that we do as pastors, but it may be the most important thing we do as pastors. Nothing you do on a weekly basis affects the entire church the way that preaching does. Additionally, the ability to teach or preach is the only distinguishing mark that separates pastors …

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Daily Docket 1/5/16

The 8-Point Social-Media Apostasy of Alan Jacobs–Alan Jacobs—Distinguished Professor of the Humanities in the Honors Program at Baylor University and a writer on culture and technology (among many other things)—recently detailed his plans to scale back his use of technology (unfollowing everyone on Twitter, dropping Tumblr and Instagram, writing by hand, listening to music on …

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When We Are Thankful for God’s Control

I’m preaching through Romans on Sunday mornings in our worship services. In fact, I’ve been preaching through Romans for what some feel to be forever (actually only since January). Nevertheless, our time in Romans has yielded great fruit as we have wrestled together with many of the great truths expounded by Paul in his systmatic …

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The Preacher and Prayer

Sometime back a member of our church passed along a worn copy of E.M. Bounds’ book, Preacher and Prayer. Bounds is known for his emphases on prayer and his With Christ in the School of Prayer was one of the first books on prayer I ever read. As for the current book, it laid in my stack of …

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Preaching and Praying Yourself Hot

Earlier this week I took time to listen to a short video on sermon preparation featuring Bryan Chapell, Mike Bullmore, and Alistair Begg. The entire video is worth your time if you are a preacher or a teacher of the Bible. It was Alistair Begg’s summary of sermon preparation that jumped out at me.  As …

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Don’t Pray About That

Yesterday I wrote about how prayer is sometimes not enough.  If you thought I was a heretic then, you will certainly be disappointed to hear a pastor say that some things in this world should not be prayed about.  By saying that, I’m not suggesting as some have done that some things are too small …

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When Prayer Isn’t Enough

I know, to some of you I sound like a heretic for suggesting that prayer may not be enough in your situation.  However, I am convinced that prayer is often not enough. Prayer is indeed a powerful experience and we are confident as believers in Jesus that God responds to the prayers of his people (2 Chron. 7:14; James 5:16).  We should be constantly in prayer (1 Thess. 5:17).  Nevertheless, prayer is not the only thing that God has called us to as Christians, and in many situations of life, though prayer is necessary, it alone is not sufficient.  Here are three types of situations where prayer is not enough.

1. When God has already provided an answer.  I’m reminded of the story of a man caught in a flood. The police came to warn him to evacuate and he replied, “God will rescue me.”  When the water began coming into the house, he moved to the second story and a boat came by attempting to save him and he proudly proclaimed, “My God will rescue me.”  When a helicopter appeared to save him from the roof of his house, he answered, “God will rescue me.”  After drowning, he stood before God confused, “why didn’t you save me?”  God replied, “I sent you a car, a boat, and a helicopter, what more could you want?”

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