rebelling against low expectations
When I was a child, I often recited The Lord’s Prayer without an afterthought as to what I was actually uttering. If you’re anything like me, the art of prayer can be a difficult spiritual principle to grow in. Some churches teach to pray out loud or inside your head, while others remark that you need to say, “Our Father,” or “Jesus,” for it to be blessed and valid. Friends of mine raise their...
Rebelutionary, you are a target. As scary as that sounds, it’s a good thing to be aware of. As children of God, Satan is after us. He constantly works to distract us, lead us away from God, keep us from spreading the Gospel of Christ, and attempts to sabotage every good thing we do for the Lord. But even though he has supernatural powers beyond what we alone are capable of, we have something far...
Conflict takes a big toll on everyone involved. Regardless of who’s right or wrong – regardless of ambiguities, complexities, or blatant sin issues – the tension of unresolved conflict builds up until it impacts almost every area of our lives. Conflict is an inevitable consequence of living in a fallen world. However, being inevitable doesn’t mean it’s insurmountable. In fact, conflict between...
When Peter and I started dating, it was crucial to us that God be at the center of our relationship. But . . . neither of us had done this before, and we had no idea what that actually looked like in action. We vaguely knew we wanted to read the Bible together, pray together, and learn together. We had both been praying for each other ever since we met. And Peter is great about taking every...
I went through a time in my life when praying felt empty, my devotions felt like a task, and my heart hurt so much I didn’t feel like my prayers were saying enough. I would often just put down my pencil and cry because I didn’t know what to say. I came to the point that I stopped praying any more than just, “Jesus, Jesus.” And weeping. But I didn’t stop reading my Bible, and something drew me to...
There is no shortage of articles, podcasts, and books on how to pray, what to pray, when to pray, the benefits of prayer, model prayers, tips on organizing your prayers, and where to find nice notecards and journals to keep prayers. These aren’t unimportant questions. But there is a greater one: Do you realize Who you are praying to? When I stop and think about what prayer is, I am totally and...
It’s what makes me stop watching the news for weeks at a time: Catastrophes, loss of freedom, flourishing of evil. You get the picture. It’s all over the media. Yes, of course it’s true that bad news gets more response than good news, and that gives the media reason to focus on the worst parts of the world. But even with that knowledge, it’s very easy to feel like the world is getting worse. And...
“It’s so hard to pray because I always forget or don’t make the time.” “I just don’t know how to grow closer to God. He feels far away.” “I feel like I’m totally failing in following Jesus. Am I even a real Christian?” Have you ever said or felt any of these things? We tend to make following Jesus a sort of production. We have to say the right things, read the Bible at a specific time, pray a...
I don’t often read or watch the daily news. But I’ve been paying close attention these past few days. I wish I didn’t feel the need to, but I can’t ignore what’s happening in Afghanistan. If you aren’t familiar with this current event, I encourage you to go look at the heartbreaking news on your own, but here’s a very brief summary: As the American...
As a senior in high school, I was sitting in a room full of teenage girls in a small group Bible study. I was one of the oldest, single, and the majority of the younger girls were dating – most as young as fifteen. Those who weren’t dating admitted feeling inadequate as a result. This troubled me, and it still does. I’m still single – never been on a date. But God has me right where...
rebelling against low expectations
