Do you value the Lord’s Prayer? It is a fixed part of worship services and also a regular part of my family’s evening devotions. Jesus himself taught it to us. It is wonderful that we can approach God as our own Father and we can address him informally, ask him whatever we need and surrender to his care. As a friend of my youth once said ‘if something has been forgotten when prayed in our words, the Lord’s Prayer will cover…
Don’t you just love those days when you feel light-hearted and happy? Seize those days. Enjoy them and don’t worry then about darker days. When life is easy, give thanks. And when life sometimes shows darker shades, do not despair. As Christians, we know how to handle them. Our God is bigger than our burdens and nothing is strange to him. We can trust and lean on him on our good days and our bad days, until the end of…
Do you enjoy God? Is it an odd question? Maybe. But enjoyment of God is what faith is supposed to be all about. What? Yes. God longs to spend time with you and get to know you. He also wants to be known and enjoyed. If you don’t think God is delightful, you have yet not gotten to know him. Do not worry. You just have lots of joyful discoveries ahead of you. Take delight in the Lord, and he will…
How do you define prayer? Prayer is communication with God. It is pouring out our soul to God. Also, prayer is as important as breathing for Christians. All these things are great and prayer is really awesome. But I heard yesterday a definition of prayer that led me to look prayer from a new perspective. Pastor Jämsen said yesterday ‘prayer is us turning away from our potential opportunities’. We stop trying to solve everything ourselves and turn to God to…
Forgiveness. Great to receive, hard to give. Yet, only when we are able to give it as good as we get it, we truly embrace it. Many of us even know the benefits of forgiving, yet we are unable to do it. Someone has hurt us so badly that we think it is unforgivable. We need to know that forgiving does not mean approving the wrong-doings. It means we let go and let God be the judge. Forgiving blesses us,…
What do you do when you encounter any kind of problem, frustration or hindrance? Your response speaks volumes about your coping skills. Because, as we all know, full of aforementioned happenings. Life is tough and requires problem-solving skills and fast attitude adjustments if we want to live well. So. What do you do when something unexpected and perhaps unwanted happens? Do you swear, yell or punch someone? Or do you fly to God in prayer? God, come close. Come quickly!…
Do you ever wonder whether God can still do mighty things? And if he can, could he do them in your life? We do need reminders of God’s power and goodwill towards us. Otherwise, we have a hard time believing in God and his grace. The Bible is full of these reminders and that’s why we need to keep on devouring it. But in the end, faith is a mystery, we can’t explain everything. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be faith. As Martin…
I was taken by two quotes today. They talk about two different things – prayer and obedience- yet they seem to talk about the same thing: listening to God. That seems to be the ultimate thing for all who want to know and be known by God. How are prayer and obedience linked to that? Let’s find out. Jesus himself talked about obedience meaning love for God. Clearly, that is a good place to start our exploration. The person who…
Do you struggle with stress? Or worry? Aren’t we crazy? God has promised to take care of us. Yet, we worry or stress out things. We have faith. Yet, somehow we don’t know how to release our faith. We don’t know how to be stress-free children of God. This is something I am currently learning and it seems to be an ongoing process. But I share with you what I’ve learned so far. Jesus replied, “Have faith in God [constantly] (Mark. 11:22, AMP)….
Do you want to grow in your faith? I think that is what we all want. But we might not want what it takes to make it happen. We’d like to get the benefits of a mature faith but we’re not willing to sacrifice for it. Or we’re not ready to wait for years while obediently keeping on doing what’s required. Craving instant gratification is an enemy of spiritual growth for sure. So is pampering yourself in comfort. Unsuspected enemies…
