prayer | Craig T. Owens

March 2026
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The Fame Of God’s Name

March 31, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

In You, Lord, I have taken refuge … Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord (Psalm 31:1, 24).

The bookend verses of Psalm 31 speak to the security we have when we are IN God: “IN You” and “all you who hope IN the Lord.”

Jesus taught us to pray for Our Father’s name to be hallowed—for His fame to be as great on earth as it is in heaven. Those who are called CHRISTians literally carry the name of Christ IN themselves everywhere they go. Granted, there are some who will carry the name but not the character of Christ. To those people, Jesus will one day say, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.”

But for those Jesus does know—those who carry IN themselves both the name and the character of Christ, those who have made their place IN God their utter dependence—there are amazing blessings that hallow God’s name. David lists blessings like:

being free from shame
answers to prayer
guidance
deliverance from entrapments
stores of abundantly good things
protection from slander
preserved for all of eternity

God will cause His name to be hallowed and glorified through those who remain IN Him. We are not only recipients of His favor, but we also become conduits of His favor that make His name as great on earth as it is in Heaven!

Thanks be to Jesus who has made us accepted in the Beloved, and has taken us IN Himself so that we can remain IN the Father (Ephesians 1:6; John 14:20)! Father, I pray that You will always find me IN You so that You can glorify Your name THROUGH me. Amen!

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Christian, Ephesians, God's blessing, God's favor, Gospel of John, Gospel of Matthew, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, prayer, Psalm. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Truth

March 20, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

Since the dear hour that brought me to Thy foot,

And cut up all my follies by the root,

I never trusted in an arm but Thine,

Nor hoped, but in Thy righteousness divine:

My prayers and alms, imperfect and defiled,

Were but the feeble efforts of a child;

Howe’er perform’d, it was their brightest part,

That they proceeded from a grateful heart:

Cleansed in Thine own all-purifying blood,

Forgive their evil and accept their good:

I cast them at Thy feet—my only plea

Is what it was, dependence upon Thee:

While struggling in the vale of tears below,

That never fail’d, nor shall it fail me now.

Angelic gratulations rend the skies,

Pride fall unpitied, never more to rise,

Humility is crown’d, and Faith receives the prize. —William Cowper

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: forgiveness, humility, Jesus Christ, poem, poetry, prayer, pride, rewards, righteousness, William Cowper. Leave a Comment »

A Persistent Mother

March 17, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

I love this mother! She exemplifies persistence and insistence in prayer.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”

Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came to Him and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30)

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: children, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, importunity, insistence, Jesus Christ, mother, persistence, prayer, stick-to-it-iveness, video, YouTube. 4 Comments »

10 Quotes From The Ten Booms

March 17, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

I recently shared my book review on the heroic story of the ten Boom family during the Nazi occupation of Holland, as told in the story The Hiding Place. This story is a must-read! Please check out my full book review by clicking here.

These are some quotes from these godly sisters.

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” —Corrie ten Boom

“Any concern too small to be turned into prayer is too small to be made into a burden.” —Corrie ten Boom

“When Jesus Christ tells us to forgive our enemies, He gives us the power He demands of us.” —Corrie ten Boom

“We must tell people how good God is. After the war, we must go around telling people. No one will be able to say that they have suffered worse than us. We can tell them how wonderful God is, and how His love will fill our lives, if only we will give up our hatred and bitterness.” —Betsie ten Boom

“At that moment when I was able to forgive, my hatred disappeared. … Forgiveness is the key which unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness. What a liberation it is when you can forgive.” —Corrie ten Boom

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” —Corrie ten Boom

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” —Corrie ten Boom

“If they can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.” —Betsie ten Boom, speaking to Corrie about the Nazi prison guards

“We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that He will get us involved in His plan for the answer. If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God’s work on behalf of the people for whom we pray.” —Corrie ten Boom

“Holiness is the Holy Spirit, a holy God in my heart, which makes me similar to Jesus.” —Betsie ten Boom

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By the way, another great book of recollections from Corrie is I Stand At The Door And Knock.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, Betsie ten Boom, concentration camps, Corrie ten Boom, fear, forgiveness, intercession, Jesus Christ, love others, Nazi, prayer, quotes, unforgiveness, worry. 2 Comments »

Poetry Saturday—Arise, My Soul, Arise

March 6, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

Arise, my soul, arise,

shake off your guilty fears;

The bleeding sacrifice,

in my behalf appears;

Before the throne my Surety stands,

My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above,

for me to intercede;

His all redeeming love,

His precious blood, to plead;

His blood atoned for every race,

And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears;

received on Calvary;

They pour effectual prayers;

they strongly plead for me:

“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,

“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

The Father hears Him pray,

His dear anointed One;

He cannot turn away

the presence of His Son;

The Spirit answers to the blood,

The Spirit answers to the blood

And tells me I am born of God.

My God is reconciled;

His pardoning voice I hear;

He owns me for His child;

I can no longer fear

With confidence I now draw nigh,

And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry. —Charles Wesley

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary, Charles Wesley, confidence, forgiveness, grace, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, no fear, pardon, poem, poetry, prayer, reconciliation. Leave a Comment »

The Mercyseat

March 2, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

Hear my cry for mercy … He has heard my cry for mercy (Psalm 28:2, 6).

For David, his cry for mercy was never a one-and-done action. The verb in verse 2 makes this verse read more like, “Hear my cry for mercy as I am continually calling to You for help, as I am continually lifting up my hands toward Your Most Holy Place.”

Why the Most Holy Place? What was there? Inside the Most Holy Place was the ark of the covenant of the Lord which represented the presence of God.

What was on top of the ark of the covenant, covering and superseding the Law that was inside the ark? It was the mercyseat (or the “atonement cover” in some translations). The mercyseat is where the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrificial lamb every year to make atonement for sins.

Jesus became the once-for-all sacrificial Lamb to make ultimate atonement for all who would believe in Him. When Jesus had finished His work on the Cross, the curtain separating us from the Most Holy Place was torn in two. The ark of the covenant of the Lord with its covering mercyseat—the presence of God—was now accessible to all of us! It was accessible because it was in Jesus, and when I have taken Jesus as my atonement, He is in me and He takes me in to the Father. The mercyseat of my heart has been sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb (see Hebrews 9:1-5, 11-14; 10:19-22).

Whether David was saying, “Hear my cry,” or “He has heard my cry,” the Hebrew word means to listen with interest and full attention. Whenever you pray, God listens to you with interest and full attention because you are praying right in His presence! Your very breath can be a continual crying, a continual lifting of your voice toward the mercyseat where God meets with you!

God is not far away from us. He is closer than we usually think. That’s why David says, “My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him”!

Keep this in mind the next time you are asking God to hear your cry: He listens to you with full attention because Jesus has taken you right into His presence.

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: ark of the covenant, atonement, blood, Cross, God's presence, Hebrews, Holy of Holies, Jesus Christ, mercy, mercyseat, Most Holy Place, prayer, Psalm. 2 Comments »

Persistent And Insistent Prayer

March 1, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

When I first began this series on prayer, I challenged all of us to make prayer a habit. I suggested putting up “Have I prayed about it?” Post-It Notes all over the place to get us thinking about prayer continually.

“Have I prayed about it?” is a great start. But then I need to ask, “How long have I prayed about it?” or maybe even, “How long am I willing to pray about it?”

Thomas Merton wrote, “What is the use of praying if at the very moment of prayer we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our prayer?” In other words, why do we go through the motions of praying and then strike out on our own? Or why do we pray for a little bit and then think, “Oh, perhaps God isn’t interested in this prayer”?

In Romans 12:12, the apostle Paul challenged us to never stop praying:

faithful in prayer (NIV)
constant in prayer (AMP)
prayerful always (TLB)
continuing steadfastly (NKJV)

This verb emphasizes the –ing part. Even though this is a verb, it’s what is known as a “verbal noun”: the noun pray is the same thing as the verb praying.

This Greek word is defined as: devoted, giving unremitting care to something, being courageous in perseverance, and staying at constant readiness. I would sum it up this way—

Prayer that is both persistent and insistent!

When Jesus teaches us that the motive for our prayer is, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” He is also implying that this requires continuous—persistent and insistent—involvement. With every prayer, we are persistently and insistently advancing God’s Kingdom and God’s glory.

One of my favorite stories in the Gospels is of a persistent and insistent mother. Her daughter was in desperate need, and she simply would not take “no” for an answer. She insistently kept asking Jesus for a miraculous touch, and Jesus finally said, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”

I’m also moved by the insistent and persistent prayer of Nehemiah. He prayed, “Give Your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of [King Artaxerxes].” He prayed this every day for over 4 months. The king finally noticed Nehemiah’s downcast face, asked him what was wrong, and then “because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.”

Nehemiah kept praying for 120 days or more, believing every day God would open the door of favor. In the meantime, God was moving things into place so that when Artaxerxes finally noticed Nehemiah’s downcast face, and Nehemiah shared what was on his heart, the king granted every single request!

Friends, don’t be timid in your prayers and don’t give up praying. P.U.S.H.—Pray Until Something Happens. Pray for God’s glory to be seen, for His kingdom to advance on earth, and for His will to be done.

Prayer starts it, prayer sustains it, prayer successfully concludes it!

Let me say it again: DON’T STOP PRAYING!

If you missed any of the messages in our Be A First Responder series, you may access all of them by clicking here.

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Artaxerxes, Calvary Assembly of God, endurance, Gospel of Matthew, insistence, Nehemiah, persistence, prayer, quote, Romans, sermon, stick-to-it-iveness, Thomas Merton, video, YouTube. 7 Comments »

Refusing To Be Controlled By Fear

February 24, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

How many of my daily choices are affected by fear?

whether to try something new or to stick with what’s familiar?
should I confront a friend on a bad choice or let him figure it out on his own?
to spend money or to invest it for later? what do I buy? where do I invest?
what if people don’t like what I do or say? what if they talk behind my back?

David begins this psalm with the same kinds of questions, as he battles enemies surrounding him, the possibility of his family rejecting him, false witnesses speaking lies against him, and foes closing in from every side.

In the middle of all of these swirling issues, David exhibits a confidence that starkly stands out:

whom shall I fear?
of whom shall I be afraid?
my heart will not fear
I will be confident
I am still confident

How can David respond this way? He kept turning his thoughts from the temporal to the eternal—

It may seem dark now, but God is light.

People may be fickle, but God is unchanging.

Foes may be strong, but God is the strongest.

People are mean, but God is good.

Both David’s opening and closing thoughts in this psalm are really a conversation with himself: The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? … I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (vv. 1, 13, 14)

My friends, don’t let fear drive your decisions. Let confidence in God drive your decisions. Talk back to your fearful thoughts like David did and remind them of the great and loving God that cares for you. Don’t take matters into your own hand, but wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

I used Psalm 27 as a teaching example of how to turn passages from the Bible into our own personalized prayers. Check out this 5-minute video here:

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: conversation, David, enemies, fear, no fear, paradigm, prayer, Psalm, self-talk, video, YouTube. Leave a Comment »

First In Forgiveness

February 22, 2021 — Craig T. Owens

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

From David’s bookend prayers to Jesus making prayer the central, empowering practice of the Christian lifestyle, I hope you’re beginning to see that prayer starts it, prayer sustains it, prayer successfully concludes it!

There is another thing both David and Jesus agree upon. They both tell us that there is one thing that can block our prayer: unconfessed, unrepented sin.

David wrote, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” The Hebrew word translated “regard” means to be aware of something. David teaches us that we have to be made aware of our sin in order to confess our sin and ask forgiveness. We become aware of our sin through prayer and reading the Bible (Psalm 139:23; James 1:25; Romans 7:7-12).

The NIV translates the same Hebrew word in Psalm 66:18 as “cherished.” After becoming aware of our sin, we have to be careful not to make excuses or justifications for it. And then the NLT translates the same word “not confessed.” After becoming aware of our sin and accepting responsibility for it, then we can confess it to God.

In teaching us to pray, Jesus said our forgiveness of others had a direct correlation to the forgiveness we would receive from our Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). Jesus further expounds this thought when He tells Peter to forgive others “seventy times seven times”; in other words: countless times.

Think of it this way: Have you asked God’s forgiveness more than seven times? How about more than seven times for the same sin? I have! So Jesus is really asking Peter, “Do you want God to put a limit on how many times He will forgive you? If not, then don’t you put a limit on how many times you will forgive others.”

The Amplified Bible has a great definition of forgiveness in Matthew 6:12—left, remitted, let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against. The Hebrew word David uses in Psalm 32:1 has a similar feel—lifted up, taken away, carried off.

Our forgiven sins are forgotten sins. Every time we come to God for forgiveness, it’s like it is the first time. And Jesus says this is the same way we need to treat others.

Let’s all strive to be first responders in confessing our own debts to God so we can be forgiven, AND then let’s also be first responders in forgiving the debts others have incurred against us.

As I’ve said before: A mark of a maturing saint is one who is closing the gap between awareness of his sin and making his confession of that sin.

But this is just as true: