Prayer Life Spiritual Formation

Shhh…Let’s practice Silence

Week 2: Making space for silence in your life For the first few weeks back in the United States after living in China, I’d lay awake with my eyes wide open unable to settle. When the morning came I’d struggle to rustle out of bed. You may be thinking it must have been jet lag, or because I didn’t sleep till late. Truth be told, it was just too quiet. Too still.  The night sounds…

Continue reading

Prayer Life

Pray Simply

Week 1: Keeping Prayer Simple Routines are part of life. We are creatures of habit. The minute babies are born parents begin a sleep/feed schedule to form a desired habit. As adults, we easily slide into habits that reflect what we value; for better or worse. Wherever we are in the habit of doing, the actual practice of forming habits is also necessary for spiritual discipline and growth. I’m excited to exercise toward a new…

Continue reading

Prayer Life The Pilgrim Life

Ready, Set, Pray

The heart of the matter. You don’t start a workout regime without a goal, teachers don’t start the school year without a syllabus and construction managers don’t begin a building project without blueprints. If we are set out to discover how to live a life of prayer in our bustling daily lives, then we need a goal.  The goal of praying from the heart boils down to… …fostering a habitual and constant connection with God…

Continue reading

Prayer Life The Pilgrim Life

Is it possible to live a life of prayer in our crazy, busy, noisy lives?

On the brink of entering the Promised Land after forty years of wandering, God commanded Joshua and the twelve tribes of Israel to collect stones from the Jordan River and to stack them as a reminder for future generations of where they had been and of God’s constant and present provision. I’d like to believe looking back at those old markers kept the Israelites grounded, reminded them of what was true when they were faltering…

Continue reading

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…

Continue reading