Prayer Life The Pilgrim Life

Prayer is “Spooky”

Prayer Series: Part 2 The results of prayer can be scary.  Prayer involves a spiritual realm we struggle to understand. In the west we don’t hear too many stories of miraculous healings, people rising from the dead or people freed from demon possession. If we do, we first speculate on their authenticity and quickly discredit them. However, for many of our brothers and sisters across the globe, these are present-day implications of prayer and life…

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Reflections & Ponderings Spiritual Formation

Culture Shift through Mindfulness of Others

Creating a culture shift is like moving a boulder by hand–nearly impossible. Though Jesus’ teachings were subtle, they were poignantly a force of nature changing culture toward the inclusiveness of all peoples to attain salvation. Re-Read Matthew 15: 21-28 Remember the passage of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. The one who cried out before God on behalf of her daughter. Not only does it reveal how God guides us in prayer toward his intentionality,…

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Devotionals Prayer Life

Jesus’ lesson in prayer

Read Matthew 15: 21-28 In Matthew 15 we have a Canaanite woman: a Gentile, unclean, unworthy of any Israelite. Despite her shameful status and out of the desperation of a mother’s cry for her daughters’ life, she pleads for help. She has an inkling of hope from likely observing or hearing about previous healings. In this short engagement, four things unfold.  She cries out. “Have mercy on me!” Christ ignores her. The disciples mock her…

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Learn by Paradox Living as a wanderer The Pilgrim Life

Reluctant Blogger

Vulnerability. The word alone makes my skin crawl. Blogging is public. I don’t like public. My favorite types of places are secluded mountaintops where I can see the world, but no one can see me. My room in a quiet nook with a cup of coffee and a closed door. A river bank where the only noise is the water crashing against the rocks as it flows downstream. My parent’s back porch in the East…

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Prayer Life

I’m Scared of Prayer

Prayer Series: Part 1 There are numerous books and sermons on prayer. I’ve read and heard a few. The Bible encourages us to pray; some may say commands. Yet I find so few who pray; myself included. It is not that I never pray, but I am definitely not praying without ceasing. I don’t spend hours in prayer and some days I go completely without praying. If I am honest, my excuses are long: no…

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