Tag Archives: Spiritual Formation
Call for Fire Seminar’s Tenth Anniversary: Learning to Pray
Ten years ago on March 26, 2013, I posted the first entry for this blog. You may find and read that first post here. In that post, I wrote about the need for situational awareness and faithfulness when praying. We … Continue reading
Prayer and My Earliest Memory
One morning in 1959, I awakened, rolled out of my bed, and toddled over to a crib nearby. I peered in at a baby, my little brother Mark. That’s my earliest memory. Mark and I have shared many memories since. … Continue reading
Prayer and the Ministry Priorities of Jesus
As I read the final verses of Matthew chapter 4 recently, it struck me that Matthew 4:23-5:2 function as the introduction to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew describes the priorities of Jesus and introduces the crowds … Continue reading
Thoughts about The Lord and His Prayer
British professor N. T. Wright has written a book, The Lord and His Prayer (published in 1997 by Wm. B. Eerdmans), about the model prayer that Jesus used to teach his disciples to pray. The prayer, recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 … Continue reading
Prayer when God is Silent
A call for fire signals a longing for rescue, a desperate need for security and evidence that we are not alone in the battle. Whether a soldier sends out a request for artillery fire, close air support, or reinforcements, or … Continue reading
Preparing to Pray
How well do we prepare to worship God? How do we prepare to pray? I have heard many stories of families arguing bitterly on the way to a place of worship, only to emerge from their vehicles with smiles and … Continue reading
Are We Praying to God or Ourselves Right Now?
COVID-19 has made an impact on lives around the world. For those who have been diagnosed with it and their families, even if the patients have recovered, stress levels have increased mightily. For those who knew those who died, an … Continue reading
Praying with Self Awareness
Prayers are rare in the book of Proverbs. Several pithy statements about prayer appear, but developed conversation with God appears only in Poverbs chapter 30, among the sayings of Agur, a king unidentified elsewhere in the Bible. I’m going to … Continue reading
When Prayer Is Ritual
Prayer sometimes is ritual. When churches pray the model prayer of Matthew 6 (also know as The Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father) as a congregation, or recite together “Hear our prayer” as responses to pre-determined prayers during a time … Continue reading
A Prayer While Weeping
This past Sunday, I started crying and for some phrases could only mouth the words of the song “Oh, How He Loves You and Me” during a worship assembly. That song was the lullaby that I sang to my middle … Continue reading
Call for Fire Seminar 