READ: DEUTERONOMY 6:4-9; LUKE 11:1-13 In the churches I’ve grown up in, prayers were almost always made up on the spot. And these prayers are great! But lately, I’ve also been appreciating pre-written prayers. And I’m not the only one! In the early church, it wasn’t uncommon for Christians to pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew [...]

READ: MATTHEW 18:20; ROMANS 12:9-18; EPHESIANS 3:14-21 "Is it enough?” The question rolled around in my brain as I drove home. A family in our church was experiencing a number of medical problems, so a few of us went to their house to pray with them, bring a meal for us to eat together, and [...]

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 15 One day, unless Jesus returns first, I will die. And honestly, that’s a scary thought for me. I’ve known Jesus as my Savior for as long as I can remember, and I trust that He will hold me even in death. But sometimes I think I use the promise of the [...]

READ: MATTHEW 7:1-5; GALATIANS 6:1-10 "What are they doing?” I grumbled to myself, watching a bright orange pickup truck in my rearview mirror weave in and out of traffic behind me. The driver apparently wanted to go faster than the cars in front of them, and kept tailgating the other cars and zooming over to [...]

READ: JOHN 15:1-17; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:5-11; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13 If you’ve been part of a church, you’ve probably been told that, as Christians, we are called to serve others, help the hurting, and bring about justice (Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:35-40). That’s part of how we participate in the kingdom of God. And we also know that [...]

READ: ROMANS 8:18-39; REVELATION 21:1-7 Some days, I end up not eating breakfast. I’m not saying this is something everyone should do, but sometimes it’s what happens to me. I may not eat anything till noon. All morning, my stomach groans and grumbles, communicating its annoyance. And when I finally do eat, I find a [...]

READ: PSALM 139 Have you ever had a moment when you realized that someone really knows you? I had a moment like this with my housemate recently, and it made me feel so loved. I had been feeling overwhelmed and depressed for a few days. My husband took our kids to run some errands so [...]

READ: PSALMS 13:1-6; 23:4 Feeling sad is the worst. It makes me feel helpless, small, and weak. So I try to avoid it. I distract myself, tell myself everything is fine, find something to be angry about instead, or simply ignore it. But one way or another, sadness always comes back—usually stronger than before. So [...]

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 1 PETER 4:10-11 Do you know what I hate? Limits. I hate that I’m a finite being and I can’t do everything. I hate that I can’t have all the skills, all the energy, and all the knowledge. I can’t do all the things, and I can’t be all the things. And [...]

READ: MATTHEW 5:38-42; MARK 15:33-37; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 I was reading about different ways Christians have prayed throughout history, and I came across something that struck me. Christians in the early church used several different poses to pray, and each pose was connected to a different type of prayer: lying face-down on the ground was often [...]