Genesis | Craig T. Owens

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Remember Who’s In Control

November 17, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

I love the Fibber McGee and Molly radio broadcasts! One of the running gags on this show was Fibber’s closet: People who mistakenly opened the closet door got buried under a pile of stuff that Fibber had stashed away.

In one episode, Molly is determined to grow through all of the items that were strewn across the floor before they got shoved back into the closet. One by one Molly asked Fibber about all of the odd knick-knacks and he had a good explanation for every single one justifying why he couldn’t possibly part with it. One of my favorites was this—“What’s this bamboo pole,” Molly asked, and Fibber said, “Why, that pole is very important. If I was ever offered to be Joe Louis’ sparing partner, that’s the ten-foot pole I wouldn’t touch it with!”

I’m afraid that many of us have closets like this in our minds. We’ve accumulated a lot of just-in-case stuff for each and every scenario that may come upon us at some point in our lives.

All of our contingency plans implies that something is going to go wrong and that only the prepared and well-stocked will make it through.

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Psalm 107 is the first psalm in Book 5 of the Psalter—the book that focuses mostly on praise. This author is recounting the history of Israel through the times of crisis:

lost and homeless (v. 4)
hungry and thirsty (vv. 5, 9)
trouble and distress (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28)
darkness and deepest gloom (vv. 10, 14)
prisoners in chains (v. 10)
knocking on death’s door (v. 18)
terrorized (v. 26)
at their wits’ end (v. 27)

We quickly go into crisis mode when we forget that God is in control!

In God’s Kingdom there is no emergency, no crisis, no Plan B. God is sovereignly in control—Isaiah 46:10.

God is in control of the macro—Genesis 1:1; Job 38:4-11
God is in control of the micro—Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 29:11
God will use what we call a crisis to display His glory—Exodus 14:4 NLT

When you feel yourself spiraling into crisis mode—when you feel you’re at your wits’ end—you can get back into contentment mode.

“When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality.” —Oswald Chambers

That’s what Job finally did—Job 42:1-2.

And that’s also what the psalmist did—Psalm 107:6-8, 13-15, 19-21, 28-31.

Prayer is a great rescue in trouble, and ongoing thankfulness is a great inoculation against going into crisis mentality. Notice that those four repeated phrases have both cried out to the Lord AND Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love.

Let’s strive to remain aware of His unfailing love by cultivating consistent gratitude. I like v. 2 from the NLT: “Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others He has redeemed you from your enemies”. When you are preoccupied with telling others and yourself how good God is, there isn’t room in your heart for the worry that leads toward crisis mode.

Remember: We can quickly go from contentment mode to crisis mode when we forget that God is in control, so remain full of thanks. “At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father” (Ephesians 5:20 AMPC).

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of Job, Calvary Assembly of God, contentment, crisis, Ephesians, Exodus, Fibber McGee & Molly, Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Psalm, sermon, thanksgiving, video. 3 Comments »

Interceding For Others

September 22, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Sanctification (“saint-ification”) is an ongoing process that usually involves the help of other saints. We learn this by having a biblical worldview (that’s the “B”), being accountable with saints (“A”), and serving the Body of Christ (“S”). These are the things that bring out increased fruitfulness in our lives, make us more joy-full people, and enhance our testimony to others.

What a blessing it is to be involved in all of these saint-ification things alongside other brothers and sisters. Isn’t nice to know that you’re not all alone on your journey?

Two brothers walked up the hill to the park every afternoon to play baseball. One day a neighbor who lived near the bottom of the hill saw the younger brother pulling his older brother up the hill in a wagon. He observed this for a couple of days before he finally asked what was going on.

The younger brother said, “My big brother broke his leg so I pull him in the wagon so he can watch us play baseball and can be our coach.”

“He must be heavy,” the neighbor replied.

“He’s not heavy,” the little boy said, “he’s my brother!”

In the first brothers that the Bible shows us, we see the origin of the phrase “brother’s keeper.” Cain was jealous of the way God was blessing his younger brother, and so he murdered Able. God came to Cain and asked him, “Where is your brother Able?”

Cain responded with another question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

The word brother is someone connected to me by blood or some other common bond. Cain used the same word for brother but then asked if He was supposed to be his brother’s keeper—his guard, helping to keep him in bounds, celebrating his victories.

The clear teaching of Scripture is that the answer to Cain’s question is an emphatic “Yes!”

That definition of brother’s keeper sounds a lot like the definition of an intercessor. In the Hebrew, that word mean to go to God on someone else’s behalf (Genesis 25:21; 2 Samuel 24:25). The Greek of the New Testament sounds more intense (hyperentygchano): to meet a person of the purpose of conversation in behalf of someone else.

Remember that the Hebrew word for brother was pretty narrow? The Christians in the New Testament took the word for relative-by-blood (adelphos) and made it a synonym for fellow saint, regardless of where they are from (Acts 9:17; 2 Corinthians 13:11).

John used Cain’s misunderstanding of brother’s keeper to show us the spiritual responsibility we have to our adelphos (1 John 3:12, 15-16).

When we intercede for our adelphos—our fellow saints—we are participating in the same work as both the Spirit and Jesus (Romans 8:26-27, 34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 5:16).

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Philemon’s service to the Body of Christ. Look at how Paul’s intercession may have released Philemon to do this (Philemon 7, 16, 20).

As Paul said to Philemon, I say to you—

I appeal to you on the basis of love: Be your brother’s keeper!

Guard your adelphos, keep them in bounds, and celebrate both their righteousness and God’s blessing on their lives.

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this series, you can find them all here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 John, 2 Corinthians, 2 Samuel, Able, Book of Acts, Cain, Calvary Assembly of God, Christianity, Genesis, Hebrews, Holy Spirit, intercession, Jesus Christ, Philemon, Romans, sermon, video. 3 Comments »

Is That God’s Voice?

August 13, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

How can we tell if God is trying to get our attention through the words of somebody else? Let’s unpack that on this episode of The Podcast.

The Scriptures I reference in this episode—Numbers 22:21-30; 2 Chronicles 35:20-24; 2 Kings 18; James 1:19; Genesis 3:1-5; Matthew 4:1-10.

You may also want to check out my blog post and video The Value of Journaling where I talk about how I capture thoughts, prayers, conversations from others, Scripture verses and more when I’m facing a big decision.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, Book of James, confusion, Genesis, God's voice, Gospel of Matthew, Holy Spirit, listening, Numbers, Scripture, temptation, video. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

July 19, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

On our 100th episode, Greg and I talk about how important it is for leaders to let people learn through their struggle, so we need to reject the temptation to jump in to help them too soon. Check out the full conversation The Struggle is Real (but Necessary).

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

John Piper was asked how to identify false teachers or prophets, and he gives four biblical tests to determine this. But I also appreciate this admonition: “Don’t set the bar so low that you only stop listening to people if they can be properly called false teachers. Lots of people are teachers who are simply misguided and unhelpful in many ways but might not come under the ban of being called a false teacher. Set your standards high. Listen to people who are truly God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated, Spirit-dependent, who bear the marks in their lives of authenticity.”

In imploring Christians to not shrink back from difficult trials but to rise and conquer in the strength of the Spirit, Greg Morse makes this observation: “When the risen Christ walked among His early churches (as He walks among them still), His eye was very keen to observe and His heart very ready to address a particular kind of person in every assembly: ‘the one who conquers’ (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). To each of the seven churches, He summons and strengthens the one who would overcome, prevail, hold fast, keep strong, stand firm, and move forward—the victors in Christ amid a larger group in the church who only profess to know Him.”

Two separate geological studies found a period in history where rock formations were impacted by massive amounts of water. ICR adds, “Because conventional geologists deny the historical accuracy of Genesis, they operate at a loss. They see evidence of massive erosion and tremendous water flow at the end of the Tejas Megasequence and just prior to the Ice Age but are hampered by their uniformitarian thinking to explain it. But the Bible gives us answers. Genesis describes a global flood that peaked on Day 150. The sedimentary rocks across all of the continents confirm this peak occurred at the end of the Zuni Megasequence (at the K-Pg). And the rocks confirm that the Tejas Megasequence records the subsequent receding phase.”

There was a Man who
dwelt in the east centuries ago,
And now I cannot look at a
sheep or a sparrow,
A lily or a cornfield,
a raven or a sunset,
A vineyard or a mountain,
without thinking of Him. —G.K. Chesterton

Clinton Manley addresses the place of physical exercise in the life of a Christian. Before sharing three astute observations about this interaction, he notes, “Body or soul is a false dichotomy. As Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27, physical fitness and spiritual fitness don’t have to be either-or; they’re best as both-and. The body and soul have an inseparably reflexive relationship: the body affects the soul, and the soul affects the body. God created us to glorify Him by enjoying Him, and the body is the soul’s training partner in the pursuit of spiritual pleasures.”

“Who will trust me with a spiritual body if I cannot control even an earthly body?” —C.S. Lewis

Links & Quotes

July 5, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Controlling leaders shut down creativity among their teammates, which leads to higher turnover. If your team isn’t sharing their good ideas with you or if they are leaving you, that may be an indicator that you are too controlling. Check out the full conversation on The Craig and Greg Show

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“As a fact, men only become greedily and gloriously material about something spiritualistic. … Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural.” —G.K. Chesterton

Astronomical technology like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are providing breathtaking images. They are also creating problems for the scientific theories of the origins of our universe. University of California Santa Barbara physicist Caitlin Casey, said, “It makes sense—the Big Bang happens and things take time to gravitationally collapse and form, and for stars to turn on. There’s a timescale associated with that…. And the big surprise is that with JWST, we see roughly 10 times more galaxies than expected at these incredible distances.” There is a more straightforward answer found in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

“Knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God’s gifts and God’s methods to get them there, in reliance on God’s power through Christ, with God’s appointed people following.” —John Piper, giving his definition of godly leadership

The Bible records the names of five Persian kings. One of them called “Darius the Persian” in Nehemiah 12:22 requires some historical cross-referencing to identify. The Bible Archeology Report presents another one of their fascinating archeological biographies on this Persian king.

“The greatness of a leader is in his humility before God, not in his eloquence before men.” —Anonymous

The most viewed and downloaded resource on my blog is my chart of the kings of the united kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I was thrilled to discover this week that Jacob Edson at Biblegateway has taken my chart even deeper!

T.M. Moore has vital counsel for pastors, “Jesus must increase in us, and we must decrease. But that doesn’t just happen by carrying out whatever our ‘spiritual work’ requires of us week-in and week-out. Our ‘natural gifts’ cannot replace spiritual ones, and ‘mental powers’ are no match for the mind of Christ. It is a shepherd’s ‘duty’ to attend to the care and nurture of his soul, for unless we are diligent in this, we will not be able to lead the Lord’s sheep into a greater experience of our great salvation or a fuller realization of His Kingdom.”

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: archeology, astronomy, biblical history, biography, Creation, Darius, G.K. Chesterton, Genesis, humility, John Piper, leadership, Nehemiah, pastors, quotes, shepherd leadership, supernatural, T.M. Moore, video, world history. Leave a Comment »

A.I. Bots And Temptation

May 27, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Believe it or not, an article about A.I. bots got me thinking about temptation.

Check out this episode of The Podcast.

The Scriptures I reference in this episode—Genesis 3:1-6; Luke 4:1-13; 1 Peter 5:8; James 4:7; Hebrews 12:2.

And some other blog posts you could read to go deeper on this topic:

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, A.I., Adam & Eve, Ai, Book of James, devil, Genesis, Gospel of Luke, Hebrews, Jesus Christ, satan, spiritual warfare, temptation, video. Leave a Comment »

The Mind Of God

May 26, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Last week we talked about the Voice of the Holy Spirit. I love the phrase from 1 Samuel 9:15 where God “told Samuel in his ear” about Saul’s arrival and what he should say to Saul. Then the Holy Spirit’s Voice for all of us is foretold in Isaiah 30:21.

It’s great hearing the Spirit’s Voice, but He also empowers us to know the Mind of God.

This is not something that automatically comes to every Christian at the moment they invite Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, as we see mention of immature Christians throughout the New Testament.

Even after Jesus is resurrected from the dead, we see His followers as unsure, troubled men. We meet their…

lack of faith—Luke 24:11; Mark 16:14
wonderment—Luke 24:12
troubled minds—Luke 24:37; John 20:19
lack of understanding of Scripture—Luke 24:44

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

This is all post-resurrection but pre-conversion, but look at what happens next. After Jesus breathes on them (John 20:22), they are peaceful (vv. 19, 21, 26) and they can now understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45-48).

As we’ve said, we shouldn’t stop at salvation. Certainly, Jesus wanted more for His followers than merely salvation. He wants His disciples empowered for witnessing and disciple-making (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:4-5, 8).

Check out these examples of the Holy Spirit sharing with us the mind of God:

Joseph—Genesis 41:16, 38-40
Daniel—Daniel 2:19-23, 27-28, 47
Peter—Acts 2:14f; 3:17-26; 4:8-12
Stephen—Acts 7
Philip—Acts 8:30-35

And just in case you think this is just for “super spiritual” people, look how the Holy Spirit helps the whole Church share the Gospel—

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. … Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. (Acts 4:31, 8:4).

This was always God’s plan! Paul harkens back to prophecies like Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 40:13, and Jeremiah 31:33 when he writes about Christians having “the mind of God” in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.

He says, “These are the things revealed to us by His Spirit” (v. 10).

What things? “Things God has prepared for those who love Him”—things which human eyes haven’t seen, human ears haven’t heard, human minds haven’t conceived (v. 9). These are the the very thoughts of God Himself!

Just as my spirit is the only one that knows what’s really in my mind, the Holy Spirit is the only One Who knows the mind of the Father and Son (v. 11). We have been given the Holy Spirit “so that we may understand what God has freely given us” (v. 12). Contrast this with the dull, unfruitful minds of both unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4) and carnal Christians (Philippians 3:18-19).

This mind of God is given to us for our edification so that we can be empowered witnesses and disciple-makers. So don’t stop at salvation, but be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and then keep on being filled with the Spirit.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can check them all out here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, 1 Samuel, 2 Corinthians, Acts 2, baptism, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Daniel, empowerment, Genesis, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joseph, Pentecostal, Philippians, sermon, video, witness. 1 Comment »

Tried And Tested

May 9, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Moreover, [God] called for a famine upon the land of Egypt; He cut off every source of bread [Genesis 41:54]. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold as a servant [Genesis 45:5; 50:20, 21]. His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into the iron, until his word to his cruel brothers came true, until the word of the Lord tried and tested him. The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the peoples, and let him go free. He made Joseph Lord of his house and ruler of all his substance [Genesis 41:40]. To bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his elders wisdom. (Psalm 105:16-22 AMPC)

“The word of the Lord tried and tested him.” When we cling to God’s promises despite the seemingly impossible circumstances we are in, that faithful clinging matures us. It both softens our heart and strengthens our trust in God.

Before going through the difficulties, Joseph wasn’t ready to operate effectively in such a lofty leadership position. God uses all things to mold us and shape us for His purpose (Romans 8:28). We certainly see a more mature Joseph standing before Pharaoh than we saw interacting with his brothers earlier in his life.

God called Joseph and he prepared Joseph. All that was lacking was Joseph’s faithful clinging to God and yielding to God’s maturing process. The end result was one of the most impactful leaders that history has ever known!

I blogged more about Joseph:

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: difficulties, Genesis, God's plan, Joseph, leadership, maturity, Psalm, Romans, trials, yield. Leave a Comment »

The Malicious Attack

March 31, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

You may have noticed that the intensity of the pain of these sheep bites has been escalating—from flattery, to criticism, to gossip. Now we come to probably the most painful of bites: slander. This is the bite that will have the strongest pull toward the natural response, which will require our greatest reliance on the Holy Spirit to respond supernaturally.

Remember that gossip has a veneer of truth on it; slander has no truth at all. They are outright lies. They are flimsy lies. They are malicious lies. One of the Hebrew words translated slander means scandal-monger: someone who trades in lies (Jeremiah 6:28 NLT; Leviticus 19:16).

(Check out all of the biblical references in this post by clicking here.)

The natural response to slander is, “I have to respond to them!” The supernatural response to slander is, “I have to yield to God!”

The natural response, however, is fueled by my wounded pride. On the other hand, the supernatural response is fueled by humility toward God.

Slanderers are arrogant people too (remember Jeremiah said “they are as hard as bronze and iron” [Jeremiah 6:28]). God’s people are learning to humble themselves to wait for God (Psalm 38:12-15). These humble people are the ones who get God’s help, and not His laughter (James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34 NLT).

Look at how Jesus dealt with the very natural urge to respond to those who slandered Him. After Jesus was arrested by the temple guards, He was hauled before one group after another and each time the slanderous lies were spitefully spit at Him. In front of the Sanhedrin, before Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and in the throne room of King Herod Antipas, angry men unleashed their venomous claims—none of which were true.

There are two common themes we can notice in all of these settings.

The lies were seen for what they were: complete fabrications without any truth behind them—Mark 14:55. Governor Pilate said “I find no basis for a charge against Him” (Luke 23:4), and he added, “Herod came to the same conclusion and sent Him back to us” (v. 15).
The silence of Jesus: “Jesus remained silent and gave no answer” (Matthew 27:13-14; Mark 14:61, 15:5). The only red letters in this interaction with both the Sanhedrin and Pilate are when Jesus is asked a direct question. Jesus quickly answers the questions, “Are You the Messiah,” “Are You a King,” and “Don’t You know the power I have?” (Mark 14:61, 15:2; John 19:10), but He never responds to the slander.

Let me repeat: Our supernatural response can only come from yielding to the Holy Spirit’s influence.

We cannot treat slanderers as anything less than people created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 15:1, 3).

We must take our pain into God’s presence. This is what Jesus did (1 Peter 2:21-23). We can help ourselves by praying imprecatory prayers. These are words for God’s ears only (Jude 1:9; Psalm 58:6-8).

We have to learn to pray for our slanderers. We have to mature from praying against them to praying for them. Look at how Jesus interceded for His slanderers (Luke 23:34), which He calls us to as well (Luke 6:28).

We have to live as overcomers. We overcome by NOT responding to slander in the natural way (Romans 12:21). But we allow our supernatural response to be used as a powerful testimony (2 Corinthians 6:3-10; Colossians 3:1-2, 8, 12-14).

We can do this—the Holy Spirit is empowering us to do this. Let’s not get down in the mud with those who slander us, but let’s yield to God and allow Him to handle this painful situation far better than we ever could.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can find them all here. And if you are a pastor, please check out my book When Sheep Bite, which will help you both respond to sheep bites and teach others how to respond as well.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of James, Calvary Assembly of God, Colossians, forgiveness, Genesis, Gospel of Luke, gossip, Image Deo, imprecatory, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ, Jude, Leviticus, proverbs, Psalm, sermon, slander, video, When Sheep Bite. 2 Comments »

How Do We Wait Expectantly?

February 3, 2025 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Last week I asked, “How long do we keep praying?” Answer: Until God answers or until He lifts our burden. In the meantime, the Bible encourages us to…

Keep asking with full confidence that God hears you
Keep expecting an answer
Keep worshiping God for Who He is
Keep trusting that your Heavenly Father wants to give you the very best!

With that in mind, let me ask you another question: What does this look like? How do we wait expectantly for God to answer? I’ve got three thoughts from the Scripture.

(1) Keep walking

Eliezer had a 300-mile journey which would have taken him about 10 days. Abraham prayed for him before he left and Eliezer prayed when he arrived (Genesis 24:7, 12, 15). His expectation that God would answer him kept him walking. The answer came after 10 days—before he even finished praying!

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Nehemiah prayed for God’s favor with King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11) but then he had to keep walking to work every single day for at least 4 months (2:4). All the while he was praying, expecting, and planning, so when the king asked him what he wanted, Nehemiah was ready to answer.

A royal official met Jesus in Cana and asked Him to heal his son who was was sick in Capernaum. Jesus said, “Go! Your son will live,” and that father began walking his 20-mile journey home. Along the way, his servants met him to deliver the good news of the boy’s full recovery. When the father asked, he found out it was at the very moment Jesus had said, “Go” (John 4:46-53).

Faith takes Jesus at His word and starts walking toward the approaching miracle!

(2) Keep waiting

There are two Hebrew words in the Old Testament that frequently are translated “wait”:

qava = expecting in hope
yahal = guarding that hope

Check out how one psalmist linked hoping and waiting—

Out of the depths I cry to You, LORD; Lord, hear my voice. Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. … I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Psalm 130:1-2, 5-6)

And David wrote how he had learned to quiet himself in God’s loving presence: But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content (Psalm 131:2).

Then listen to the wait-hope-quiet link in Jeremiah’s prayer—

I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. (Lamentation 3:24-26)

In the New Testament, the idea is patience for an expected result is like a farmer who had prepared his field, planted good seed, watered it with his prayers, and is now assured of an abundant harvest (James 5:7-8; Galatians 6:9).

(3) Keep smiling

We put on a smile, not a show!

Contrast what Jesus said about the wrong way to pray and fast…

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. … And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans … When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting… (Matthew 6:5, 7, 16)

…with the God-honoring, God-trusting way—

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen … But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face. (Matthew 6:6, 17)