Some quotes from A.B. Simpson on prayer …
“Help me to work and pray, help me to live each day, that all I do may say, Thy kingdom come.” —A.B. Simpson
“Prayer, always prayer; when sickness wastes thy frame, prayer brings the healing power of Jesus’ name.” —A.B. Simpson
“All earth-born hopes with time must pass away; prayer grasps eternal things; pray, always pray.” —A.B. Simpson
There’s a quote from Becky Pippert right near the beginning of Mark O. Wilson’s book Purple Fish that sets the tone for the whole book: “Christians and non-Christians have something in common: we are both uptight about evangelism.”
My question is: why? And that’s Mark’s question as well. So Mark uses a candid look at his own journey of discovery, personal stories, thoughts from Scripture, and insights from others to slowly, surely change our paradigm about what “evangelism” really means for a Christian.
The idea of a “purple fish” relates to a fantastic treasure (but you’ll learn more as you read this fascinating book). Let me also add that Mark Wilson is a fisherman, and uses tons of fishing analogies that other sportsmen will really relate to. But whether you enjoy fishing or not, there is so much to appreciate in this book about how Mark makes Christians excited about sharing their faith every single day.
I’m looking forward to reading and discussing this book with lots of other folks!
“Who among you today is doing the most for your Master’s kingdom? I will tell you. Lend me a spiritual thermometer by which I may try the heat of your heart, and I will tell you the amount of your success.” —Charles Spurgeon
Max Lucado shares A Prayer For America.
A couple of free ebooks for you―
“Someday there will be a community where everyone behaves and no one complains. But it won’t be this side of heaven. So what do we do? We reason. We confront. We teach. But most of all, we love.” —Max Lucado
“It turns out that the most productive thing we can do is to stop working on someone else’s task list and figure out a more useful contribution instead. This is what separates great organizations from good ones, and extraordinary careers from frustrated ones. The challenge is that the final step requires a short-term hit to your productivity. But, if you fail to invest the time and effort to find a better path, it’s unlikely you’ll find one.” Read more of Seth Godin’s post The Productivity Pyramid.
[PHOTOS] Some really cool pictures from the scientific world.
And for some pseudo-science: Was 2014 “the hottest year on record”? Better read this for the facts.
I don’t have a clever introduction for this post, so let me just give you the conclusion right up front―God has more desire to give than most of us have desire to ask.
Elisha told King Jehoash that God was ready to give him complete victory over Israel’s enemy, but Jehoash had a hard time grasping this (see 2 Kings 13:14-19). He was hesitant to ask God for too much, so he only asked for a little. This made Elisha mad!
I think the reasons why Jehoash was timid in his asking of God are some of the same reasons we wrestle with today.
(1) Elisha was dying, so maybe he thought God’s Spirit would depart with him.
Maybe you’ve had a spiritual giant in your life, and when they died you thought, “Who is going to be able to pray for me now?” God doesn’t have favorites. He desires that all of us come to Him.
(2) Jehoash was sinful and didn’t think God would want to help him.
You can’t increase your value in God’s sight because you live perfectly. God loves you perfectly just as you are. Don’t get me wrong: the Holy Spirit will speak to you if you need to repent, but God doesn’t only listen to “perfect” people.
(3) Jehoash thought God had a limited supply, or he thought he had a quota in how many requests he could make of God.
The whole genie-in-the-lamp concept has crept into the mindset of too many Christians. We think our genie-God will grant us a limited number of wishes, or we think He will try to find a loophole to get out of a difficult request. God desires that we keep on asking Him, keep on seeking Him, and keep on knocking on His door (see Matthew 7:7-11).
God is glorified when we ask Him to do what only He can do.
God is pleased when we keep asking of Him largely.
Again. And again. And again. AND AGAIN!
I’ll say it again―
If you would like to read some other thoughts on prayer from our series The Prayers Of Elisha, please click here and check out all the links in the comments.
Do you suffer from any of these? Things that hold us back from serving others.
Dave Barringer shares 10 subtle actions that you should pay attention to in your marriage.
“Let me warn you of second-hand spirituality; it is a rotten soul-deceiving deception. Beware of all esteeming yourself according to the thoughts of others, or you will be ruined. … O I do pray you, do not be satisfied with being persuaded into something like an assurance that you are in Christ, but do know Him—know Him for yourself.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Sinning is believing a false promise from the world above a true promise from God.” Read more in Jared Mulvihill’s post We Should Be Weeping.
Eurasia Northwest has a really cool infographic on the use of healing words in the Bible.
Seth Godin says, “The chances that everyone is going to applaud you, never mind even become aware you exist, are virtually nil. Most brands and organizations and individuals that fail fall into the chasm of trying to be all things in order to please everyone, and end up reaching no one. That’s the wrong thing to focus on. Better to focus on and delight almost no one.” Check out the rest of his post Almost No One.
[VIDEO] This year’s NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers is doing some cool stuff for kids―
Craig T. Owens 