Walking With God

Of all the prayers that rise from human lips on this troubled planet, the vast majority must be some version of, “Help!” That’s why we began with the Cry of the Heart. But second place of “most often prayed” has to be in the genre of, “God—what am I supposed to do?” Guidance, clarity, direction—doesn’t that seem to be one of the main reasons we pray at all? What do we do about our son? Should I take this job? Where…

God doesn’t need us. He knows exactly what steps to take in order to accomplish His purposes. Yet at the same time, He calls us to be devoted to prayer (Col. 4:2). And if we’ll obey, here are some blessings that await us: • Prayer changes us. As we seek the Lord’s face and spend time in His Word, we’re transformed. His desires become ours, and our thinking more closely aligns with His thoughts. • The Lord answers our petitions. He…

Prayer is the heartbeat of the believer’s walk with God, and He commands us to pray about everything (Phil. 4:6). But we sometimes wonder what kind of influence our conversations with the Lord really have, and we find ourselves asking the following two questions: 1. If God controls all things, why does He want us to pray? He’s self-sufficient and needs no help to accomplish His purposes, so what could any of us possibly contribute? 2. Would God’s plans…

Did you ever wish for an emergency telephone line that rang in heaven? The truth is that we have something much better. The Holy Spirit lives inside us to be our helper in every situation. The night before His crucifixion, Jesus warned the disciples that He was about to depart. The news confused and frightened them, even though it wasn’t the first time He’d spoken of His death. But the Lord offered His followers assurance that He would send them another Helper.…

Sunlight on water. Songbirds in a forest. Desert sands under moonlight. Vineyards just before harvest. These all share something in common—they reflect the heart of a particular artist. They are his masterpieces, his expression and his gift to us. The artist’s name is Jesus. Something else lies in common between these treasures and Jesus as well— words on a page cannot compare to a personal experience. Sailing the ocean on a bright morning with the wind in…

Chris had his blood retested four years after his lifesaving bone marrow transplant. The donor’s marrow had provided what was needed to cure him but had left a surprise: the DNA in Chris’ blood was that of his donor, not his own. It makes sense, really: the goal of the procedure was to replace the weakened blood with a donor’s healthy blood. Yet even swabs of Chris’ cheeks, lips, and tongue showed the donor’s DNA. In some ways, he’d…

Approximately ten Lego pieces are sold for every person on earth each year—more than seventy-five billion of the little plastic bricks. But if it wasn’t for the perseverance of Danish toymaker Ole Kirk Christiansen, there wouldn't be any Legos to snap together. Christiansen toiled away in Billund, Denmark, for decades before creating Leg Godt, which means “play well.” His workshop was destroyed by fire twice. He endured bankruptcy and a world…

It seems some people are born knowing what they want to do with their lives. Others jump around, trying one thing after another, never finding a fit. But both groups are in error—no matter how successful they are (or aren’t) in the world’s eyes—if they never asked God to help them discern His will. Psalm 103:19 tells us, “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.” This means there is nothing…

The truth is that God’s desire is always to bless us. His commands and instruction are given so that you might flourish (see Deuteronomy 6:1–3). We see this in the fortunes of the different kings of Israel and Judah. The writer of 1 and 2 Kings gives us a thumbnail assessment of whether each king did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Every one of the kings of Israel is described as doing ‘evil in the eyes of the Lord’ (2 Kings 17:2), and it…