The True Intention of Prayer

In The Higher Happiness, Ralph W. Sockman describes the true intention of prayer: "We use prayer as a boatman uses a boat hook: to pull the boat ...

Christian Life Is a Journey, Not an Arrival

It has been called the greatest rescue mission of World War II.

Late in that war, American bombers were sent on dangerous missions over southern Europe ...

Woman's Persistence Results in Calls from the Governor

Pastor Lee Eclov writes:

I was surprised to read a Facebook posting from a friend in South Dakota named Diane. She wrote, "Had a nice surprise last ...

Thomas Merton on the Uselessness of Planning Our Own Answers to Prayer

What is the use of praying if at the very moment of prayer, we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our ...

A Writer's Reflections on Offering His First Prayer

A. J. Jacobs, a writer living in New York, decided to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one year. To prepare, he bought a stack of Bibles and ...

The Importance of Scripture Memorization

Timothy Larsen, Carolyn and Fred McManis Chair of Christian Thought at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, reflects on the importance—and difficulty ...

Prayer: Where Two Struggles Meet

If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer. Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around ...

Prayer Works Even from "Far Away"

Peter Charpentier, a minister in Hammond, Louisiana, shares a story of how God used his youngest son to teach him a valuable lesson about prayer and the ...

John Ortberg on the Importance of Spiritual Weaning

Stillness is always a prerequisite for receptivity. Telephones and television sets cannot receive messages when they are too filled with static and noise. ...

Missing the Sustenance of God Because of Self-centeredness

Pastor David Shelley shares a personal story that illustrates well the fact that though we were created to hear the words of God and to respond to them, ...