3 Tips for an Effective Personal Prayer Time

One of the most importantpersonal prayer time things we can do to strengthen our walk with Jesus is to engage in an intentional regular time of personal prayer, but it is often one of the most difficult challenges in our Christian experience.  We WANT a consistent personal prayer time, we know we NEED a consistent personal prayer, but HAVING a more consistent personal prayer time is a more difficult matter.

I’ve been a Jesus-follower for well over 40 years now, and sadly I must admit maintaining a consistent personal prayer time has not become automatic.  My greatest challenge is not a lack of desire, but rather distractions both before I start and during my prayer time.   

Helps for Your Personal Prayer Time

Today, I want to share with you, from the example of Jesus, three ways you can put yourself in a better position to have a more consistent and effective time of personal prayer.  We find Jesus’ model in Mark 1:35-39.

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5 Reasons To Take Church Attendance Seriously

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Church attendance is in critical condition in the 21st Century Church.  The 4th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” The principle of the commandment is to reserve and revere one day out of the week as a time to focus intentionally and intently on our relationship with God. The Christian church, perpetually celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus, recognizes Sunday as that day.

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A seat is waiting for you

An alarming trend among church members is that we are attending church less often.  Them Rainer has identified the decrease in attendance frequency as the number one reason for the overall decline in church attendance figures.

Let me share with you five reasons I believe we should take church attendance more seriously than many of us do. Read More

You Are Already Equipped For Bible Study

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In Bible study as in life, there is always “more than meets the eye.”  Many people make poor judgements by following their first impressions and instincts without taking the necessary time and effort to fully observe what is happening around them.  Likewise, lack of careful Biblical observation has led to much false teaching and poor understanding of Biblical truth.

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“Never trust general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.” – Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

 

Biblical observation is not difficult, it just takes a little time and attention. The average Christian may feel under-prepared for the task, but the simple truth is you already possess the two most important tools in Biblical observation and other helps are not difficult to obtain and use.

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4 Things Everybody Needs to Know about God

People know a lot of information about a lot of things – some knowledge is trivial, other is vital for life.  The most important knowledge you need however is not necessarily limited to “head knowledge;” it’s not just knowing about, but experiential knowledge – know of something, or more precisely someone.  God.  Of all the things you can know, knowing God is of utmost eternal value, and WHAT you know about God will determine how you approach HIM and what you think about HIM.

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We like to talk a lot about what we know, and that knowledge often makes us feel pretty good about ourselves.  Through the prophet Jeremiah, however, God reminded us what knowledge is most important. Read More

Why We Fail to Listen to God

While not everyone suffers with hearing loss, we all suffer from time to time with “listening loss.”  We fail to pay attention, we miss an important announcement, we disregard a warning siren and all of a sudden we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of an otherwise avoidable mess.  We need to make sure we are listening…ESPECIALLY to God.

listening-dogThe good news is that God speaks to us and personally interacts with us; the bad news is sometimes, we fail to heed His voice. The Bible includes many accounts of persons who either disregarded or ignored God’s instructions and subsequently suffered the consequences.

In His landmark book and Bible study, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby shares four ways that God speaks to us. Read More

How to Begin Investigating the Bible for Yourself

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The Bible is a literary masterpiece, written in fine literary fashion, and worthy to be studied by students of literature.  It serves a much higher purpose, however, in the life of a believer.  When a believer reads the Bible, he or she reads an message from God applicable to that particular believer in his or her current life circumstances.  The Bible is God’s living specific truth that speaks into people’s lives today as much as ever.

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I cannot tell you the number of times a specific passage of Scripture has come to life when I read it and that God used it to instruct, challenge, encourage, inform, or convict me as I read it.  Sometimes I feel “ambushed” by God because I read a passage of Scripture only to have the Holy Spirit speak – silently yet loudly – right to a current situation in my life.  That can happen to you as well if you approach the Bible to hear what God wants to say to you!

Last week I encouraged you to develop an intentional plan for reading both larger and smaller portions of Scripture on a regular basis, and for probing a smaller passage on a daily basis.  I believe that best way to study the Bible is through what is called the Inductive Study Method, which consists of three parts: Read More