Tag Archives: forgiveness
Prayer, Confession, and Forgiveness
Guilt weighs heavily. Fear that accountability will be required or that forgiveness will be denied creates stress. In Dostoevsky’s classic novel Crime and Punishment, the primary character plans and commits a crime which no one seems to connect to him. … Continue reading
For Whom Do You Wrestle in Prayer?
“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Colossians 4:12). For … Continue reading
Prayer in the Shadow of the Holocaust
Reading Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner awakened memories of my time in Afghanistan. I read a history of Afghanistan while I was deployed there that quoted a British Army officer who visited Kabul. He described it as a garden city … Continue reading
Prayer that Pride Will Not Preclude Prayer
In Genesis chapter 4, we read about Cain murdering his brother Abel and Cain’s subsequent punishment. The chapter tells also of Cain’s descendants. Several generations later is born Lamech, whose story becomes the focal point of Cain’s genealogy. Lamech has … Continue reading
Praying with Desperate Repentance
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” (Psalm 130:1-2) That prayer of desperation begins a song sung by pilgrims … Continue reading
Prayer to the God who Reverses and Redefines
Psalm 129 laments persecution and calls down judgment on those who hate the place where God’s people worship. A song sung on the way to worship by Israelite worshipers, the psalm’s words speak of painful assault experienced by the worshiper. … Continue reading
A Prayer When We Are Running Away from God
Hosea’s wife did not respond to his love. She left him for a life of prostitution. But then as Hosea chapter 3 begins, God calls Hosea to go love his wife as God loves his people. When Hosea finally found … Continue reading
A Prayer When Afraid
Did you ever notice that the words “Don’t be afraid” are spoken when you are most afraid? In Mark 4, a storm arises while Jesus and his disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. His disciples are … Continue reading
Prayer Combat Inspection
When I was in the Army, I struggled at times with PCI, Pre-Combat Inspection. PCI meant that I would review a packing list with the training or the deployment to discern whether I had the required equipment. I would also … Continue reading
