Loving, Learning, and Leading

“ God intends for us to fight sin as an army, not as a soldier.” — Gary Thomas in Thirsting For God “Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.” — Deitrich Bonhoeffer in Temptation “pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Although I have followed Jesus for many years, God has taken the last couple of weeks to remind me of the necessity of prayer.  Not only the importance, or the priority of prayer, but the essential role of prayer that is foundational for a healthy spirituality, a healthy marriage, and a healthy church.  So often, prayer is something that is done "if we have time" and this leaves us spiritually dry.  In a spiritual catch-22, we become spiritually destitite because we do not have an active prayer life, then in our destitution, we pray. Last month, I visited a young dynamic church (www. red4christministries.com)  that was holding an outdoor worship and community picnic.  During the worship service, a couple performed a powerfu

" Prayer is the method, and the Holy Spirit is the mechanism whereby God has given us the ability to discern His direction in our lives "~Richard Stearn in Unfinished " Prayer is openness to God in faith "~David G. Benner in Spirituality and the Awakened Self “ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer .”” Mark 9:27-29 ESV According to yahoo news, the movie War Room was the leading box office draw this weekend.   War room is a film about a couple with a struggling marriage who have a divine intervention with the introduction of intercessory prayer into their lives.  It is an unapologetically Christian film. So, let me get this out of the way after seeing it this weekend. The acting is poor, the writing is definitely subpar, and the plot is predictible, very cli