“Stop Thief!” You would think that shameful phrase would elicit some response from a thief, at the very least causing them to run away. Not these days. I saw one recently just walk out of a retail store as if he were out for an evening stroll with his dog. He just sauntered through the parking lot, loaded up his stolen goods and rolled on out of the parking lot, unfazed by any shouts to stop. It seems like we are seeing a lot of that kind of thing these days. I shared an

The Lord’s Prayer is remarkably simple in its brevity, but extraordinarily powerful in it’s content, from the very beginning. After teaching us how not to pray, Jesus says, “This, then, is how you should pray.” (Matthew 6:9). In other words, “Pray like this!” If you’re new to praying, or if you want some direction in your prayer life, or if your prayer life is in a rut lately, then it is time to get back to basics, back to the heart of prayer, back to praying in the way Je

Is it possible to pray badly or poorly? While God doesn't “grade” our prayers, it is possible to pray in a way that Jesus would denounce. Before Jesus teaches His disciples to pray with what we now refer to as The Lord’s Prayer, in Matthew 6:5-8, He teaches them, and us, how not to pray. In this narrative, Jesus offers us at least four prayer directives: 1) Make prayer an integral part of every day. (Matthew 6:5,6,7a) No doubt Jesus valued prayer. The Gospels portray Je

What is the purpose of prayer? Why are people drawn, compelled, inspired to pray and what does that look like in our lives? It’s interesting that while most people understand that prayer matters, they confess to a few thoughts related to prayer. Some may say: “I’m not very good at praying;” or “I’m not sure how to pray;” or “I’m not convinced that God really cares about what’s on my mind.” Let me be clear: God absolutely cares about what’s on your heart and mind. He want

Is listening an integral part of your prayer life? Let’s be honest, most of us are really good at listing a litany of needs or desires, but listening is not something we spend much time doing when it comes to prayer. What would it look like to pause, to wait, to listen for God’s voice? And what would His voice sound like? On Sunday, our friend Dan Roseman kicked off a new series for us we’re calling Prayer Matters: Praying with Power and Purpose. Dan said that “prayer is