Journal — faith RSS

“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”– Matthew 21:22 I received this story via email sometime ago. I have no idea if it is true, but it illustrates simple truths about prayer and our Father in Heaven. Last week I took my children to a restaurant and my six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. Amen!" Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how...

How many times do you feel distant from God?  Maybe you have been obstinate, or even rebellious. Or perhaps you just haven’t felt as connected to your Heavenly Father as times past – not over as a particular sin as much as life and circumstance just getting in the way.  There can be a tendency to think we need to “make things right” with the Lord before we can worship Him.  This is a subtle lie of our enemy to keep us from devotion. In Psalm 68:18, David writes, “you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you.” This is an encouraging thought: the Lord led a crowd of captives, the Israelites,...