It’s the 17th day of Lent. Luke 18:9-14 is today’s scripture, a parable that warns against using prayer and spiritual practice in a very destructive way.
Lent Reflection – Am I trying to buy God with faith currency?
Here’s my 6th installment of Lenten reflections. Matthew 17:14-21 is the scripture today. This is a passage about prayer and faith, and it is, quite honestly, a strange and frustrating passage for me.
Your Purity & Piety Will Get You Nowhere (TAW043)
Episode 043 – Your Purity & Piety Will Get You Nowhere You want to grow as a person. You want a sense of intimate connection with the Divine. You believe or suspect that the way of Jesus has something to say about this. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I write. But in order to […]
In You I Remain (TAW027) (Anchor Prayer, Part 7)
Episode 027 – In You I Remain So what’s the main goal of Christianity? What is it that we’re all about? Is it about becoming better and better people? Is it about becoming more and more theologically correct? Is it to get us and everyone we love to heaven? If you said yes to any […]
I Hear in Faith (TAW026) (Anchor Prayer, Part 6)
Episode 026 – I Hear in Faith I’ve been to some very busy places. Giant concerts surrounded by the press of people. City Wide Festivals. Time Square, Grand Central Station. Places where there is so much noise, so much going on, just overwhelming sensory input. But even having been in those kinds of places, I […]
I Walk by Faith (TAW025) (Anchor Prayer, Part 5)
Episode 025 – I Walk by Faith Recently I was without a car for a few days. So for one appointment, I took a rideshare car to get there. The driver pulled up. I got in the car. Once I was buckled in, he asked me a question. “Where ya headed?” That question is, honestly, […]
I Rest in Faith (TAW024) (Anchor Prayer, Part 4)
Episode 024 – I Rest in Faith I have been addicted to an illusion, a false belief. It made me feel better, and so I keep running back to it. But it’s not real. My illusion? I am in control. Part of growing up, part of maturing spiritually, has been learning this obnoxious, even painful […]
What is the Anchor Prayer? (TAW021) (Anchor Prayer, Part 3)
Episode 021 – What is the Anchor Prayer? Our church building roof has rock climbing anchors installed on it. It’s a very steep and high roof. Doing maintenance and repair work up there is risky. Those anchor points allow people working on the roof to anchor themselves so they can go about their work and […]
Is Memorized Prayer the key you’ve been missing? (TAW020) (Anchor Prayer, Part 2)
Episode 020 – Is Memorized Prayer the key you’ve been missing? Today I’m going to make a recommendation that is honestly surprising to me. My spiritual life has been deeply impacted by a practice that I looked down on for most of my life. I’m learning I’m not as smart as I thought I was! […]
Worried your prayer requests aren’t big enough? Pray anyway.
Some years back I was at a large Christian event. One speaker started off by thanking everyone who prayed for him earlier that day. Apparently, that morning he’d lost his keys. During an earlier session, he’d asked the group to pray for God to help him find them. Now he was thrilled to report that, […]
How do we learn from Jesus when Jesus isn’t around?
Be a follower of Jesus, we’re told. Learn from Jesus how to do life. Get to know Jesus. Sounds good right? But how do we do it? Think of the people you know best. How did you get to know them? You shared experiences with them. You talked with them. You got to know them […]
Weekend Wisdom / The Always Prayer
Life comes at us like a freight train, a thundering sequence of commitments, obligations, and information that demand our attention. In the rush, it’s so easy to lose track of our spiritual focus. How do we keep our hearts and minds aligned with the new life we’ve been given? The Apostle Paul offers direction about a […]
How to journal for spiritual growth.
I can tell pretty quickly if someone is serious about growing. Lots of people want to grow. They desire a different or better life in some way. Maybe they are in recovery or are looking for a spiritual mentor. Maybe they had an incredible experience at a retreat or camp that filled them with motivation to […]
Why wouldn’t you pray?
I recently took an online course. The teacher is someone I look up to and have learned a lot from. The lessons were a combination of reading, watching video, doing exercises at home and sharing with other students in a forum. This works well for me. I can structure my time, do the work at […]
Write Your Own Psalm
Intentional spiritual living is about more than just thinking new thoughts. It comes to life in actions, practices and habits. Because my goal is to help you have a more intentional spiritual life, I am making some changes in how I blog. First, you’ll notice that at the end of most every post there’s a […]