Even though this father knew his daughter was dead, he kept walking with Jesus and saw the miracle of resurrection! That’s a great lesson for us: don’t stop praying—keep believing!
“Swimming lessons are better than a lifeline to the shore.” —C.S. Lewis
“If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.” —Richard Rohr
“The greatness that Jesus demonstrated wasn’t about performative generosity or how we might want to post our good deeds online for others to see. His was about genuine sacrifice that often went unnoticed and unrecorded. He showed up for people in their darkest moments, gave time He didn’t have to spare, and consistently chose others’ needs over His own comfort. This kind of greatness and love isn’t about grand gestures or viral moments of kindness. It’s about the daily choice to put others first, even when it costs you something valuable.” —‘What is Greatness?’ reading plan on YouVersion
“[The Trinity] is indeed a fathomless mystery of theology. …. This thing that bewilders the intellect utterly quiets the heart.” —G.K. Chesterton
I have always enjoyed studying nature and discovering the unparalleled genius of our Creator! In a report on the complexities of insect eyes, the Institute for Creation Research noted, “God has designed photoreceptor cells, and others cells within the compound eyes and brains of insects, with the coordinated ability to take on several tasks. With this hawkmoth research, biologists have observed something amazing—individual cells are able to undertake diverse tasks and switch between them.”
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May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (2 Thessalonians 3:5 NIV)
God’s love and the patient steadfastness of Jesus is the winning combination, and is the prayer Paul desires us to pray for ourselves and others.
I like some of the aspects of this verse that are amplified in different translations:
May the Lord direct your hearts into realizing and showing the love of God and the steadfastness and patience of Christ and in waiting for His return. (AMPC)
May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. (NLT)
And check out what Jesus said to the Church at Ephesus about not losing hold of their first love as they patiently endure (Revelation 2:3-4).
The agape love of our Heavenly Father
+ The patient endurance of Jesus
+ The instruction and encouragement of the Holy Spirit
= My loving endurance which is a testimony to others
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An old Sunday School song had me joyfully singing, “I’m in the Lord’s army!” I loved playing “Army” with my friends and I also loved this song and the idea behind it, but it seems like many seasoned saints today get a little uncomfortable with the idea of a militant Church. But military-like precision was drilled into everything the Church was taught from the days of Moses all through the end of the New Testament.
Let’s just consider the precision of the movement of the tribes of Israel. For 40 years in the wilderness they were an army on the move, and they moved with precision that was drilled into them.
Numbers 2 lays out the precise encampment arrangements.
Numbers 10:14-36 tells us precisely how they marched out with the vanguard, supporting troops, and rearguard.
Charles T. Crabtree wrote, “As spiritual people we are to understand spiritual warfare. We are to be alert to the devil’s devices. We are not to be obsessed with demonic strategy; we are simply, through God, to understand it and be superior to it.”
We are in a spiritual battle that requires spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11-13), and we must practice for precision in which armor and which weapons to use (2 Corinthians 10:4; 2 Timothy 2:3-4).
My friend Dan Chastain spent more than 20 years serving in the US Army, and he notices several parallels between what the Bible says about military leaders and what he learned in his long military service. He shared four key characteristics of warriors:
Dedication to honorable service
Obedience and loyalty to whom and what they serve
Integrity at all costs
Selfless service
Dan also shared the US Army’s model of Be, Know, and Do. Which is also vital for Christian warriors today.
When Joshua—the general of the Israelite army—took over, he was given this directive by God: Meditate on God’s Word so that you can live by it (Joshua 1:6-8), and the New Testament would agree (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So we, too, will learn from the military leaders that Scripture has given us how to practice our precision in the Lord’s Army.
Let’s make sure we can finish well. As Paul said to Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith. … I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7).
You can start today by applying Be, Know, and Do with the Training Manual for the Lord’s Army every single day:
Be in the training Manual every day
Know the Manual
Do what the Manual says
Follow along with all of the messages in our series on The Lord’s Army.
Greg and I unpack a quote from Andy Murray which says, “Culture happens through crisis. Unfortunately, many team environments have structured the crisis out.” We make the case that your team needs some tough times to bring them together and bring out their best.
Earlier this week I shared some thoughts about childlikeness, and then I read this insight from the ‘What is Greatness?’ reading plan on YouVersion: “Children approach life with genuine curiosity and authenticity. They haven’t learned to filter their joy or calculate their responses for maximum social or career advantage. They’re fully present in each moment, eager to learn, and unafraid to show their need for help. Jesus’ teaching wasn’t about being childish or wild; it was about recapturing the genuine, open, vulnerable approach to life, embodied by kids, that so many of us often lose in our rush toward our own ideas of success and greatness.”
“We live in difficult times. Pray for this nation. We have all the marks of a declining civilization. Pray that the God who hears and answers the prayers of His people might intervene on behalf of our country and bring a spiritual renewal that might save the nation. People of unbelief might think you are kidding yourself to think that prayer can make a difference. They might think you are like some superstitious pagan who depends on God because you are weak. They might compare you to those who really are a bit out of touch. The fact is that God cares for the nations in which His servants live and serve Him. He favors and blesses the land of the righteous (see Proverbs 3:33).I find it necessary to affirm that the problems we face nationally and internationally are a direct result of the decline of faith and morality in our nation. My only hope of a prosperous future for this country rests not on the size and firepower of our military, nor on the wisdom of its leaders, nor on the sprit of her people, but only on the love and obedience of the people who name themselves after Christ, that their prayers might be heard and for the sake of these, God might look upon us with favor.” —William Wilberforce
“A new discovery of 18,000 individual dinosaur tracks in the Bolivian El Molino Formation contains the highest number of theropod dinosaur tracks in the world.” These tracks also show dinosaurs heading for what may have been the last high ground during the global Flood recorded in the Bible.
Adolofo Kaminsky may have kept upwards of 10,000 Jews alive during Wold War II by his masterful forgeries.
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On the Leading From Alignment podcast, I was discussing my book When Sheep Bite which is about leadership pain. John Opalewski asked me to share some things leaders should consider when they get bit.
On a different podcast, I discussed in more detail the idea in Luke 2:52 about Jesus growing in favor with men. Check out The Pinnacle of a Leader’s Health.
You can get more information on When Sheep Bitehere. And also check out my book of prayer for pastors called Amen Indeed.
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Prayer can unleash God’s miracles. Sometimes the most visible miracles are the changes that are seen in us—our attitude, our expectation, our focus, and our maturity.
Maturity is not stuffy and stodgy. Those folks actually become quite childish when others around them don’t “act right,” according to their standards. The most mature people are the most childlike.
Do you want proof for that last statement? The most mature Person to ever live on earth was Jesus, and He loved being around kids and having children around Him (Mark 10:13-14).
His teaching examples were frequently quite simple—farmers, birds, flowers, trees, and even going to the bathroom!. He knew their songs (Luke 7:31-32), and many of His interactions with the overly-mature religious leaders were quite playful and childlike (Mark 11:27-33).
Jesus wants us to come to our Father like children (Mark 10:15-16). “Like a little child” means childlike, which is the exact opposite of childish. Those who think they are too mature for such simplistic things are actually the ones who are childish.
Jesus uses the Father-child relationship over and over to teach us about praying to a Father who is desirous of giving us the best things (Matthew 6:7-9; Luke 12:32).
One of the Psalms of Ascent written by David strikes this childlike note (Psalm 131). Verse 1 describes the childishness he’s giving up, and verse 2 describes the childlikeness he is taking on:
“my heart is not proud”—not focused on me (v. 1a)
“my eyes are not haughty”—overly grown up (v. 1b)
“I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp” (v. 1c NLT)
instead I am stilled, quieted, trustingly at peace (v. 2)
and then David calls all of us to this same childlikeness (v. 3)
Jesus taught about persistent prayer in Luke 18:1-8 and then used a scenario from the temple to illustrate His point (Luke 18:9-17), contrasting the childish pseudo-maturity of the overly-religious man and the childlike maturity the childlike man. And then, as directed by the Holy Spirit, Luke includes the same exchange Mark used about Jesus taking up children in His arms to bless them.
Childlike is loving dependent; childish is fiercely independent.
Childlike is trusting someone wise; childish always knows best.
Childlike is imaginative; childish is realistic.
Childlike is persistent; childish is whining.
I love the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem called The Children’s Hour. As you read through this, imagine our Heavenly Father as Longfellow and yourself as his three daughters.
Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.
A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.
A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!
They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.
They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!
Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!
I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away! —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
We mature by trading childishness for childlikeness. We mature best by coming to God our Father in prayer as a child comes to his father.
Let prayer change your maturity!
If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this series on how prayer changes us, you can find them all here.
When we ready the Bible and it confronts us, the first place we need to look is in the mirror. The Bible is speaking first to me about changes I need to make. It’s only after I have applied God’s Word to my own life that I can talk about it authentically to others.
“Righteousness is nothing more or less than the character of Jesus Himself, manifesting in and through us into all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities.” —T.M. Moore
“At one time in Earth’s recent past people and all animals, including crocodiles, lions, T. rex, sharks, spiders, alligators, etc., were vegetarian. It is not known exactly when the transition to carnivorous and predatory behavior occurred, but we do know it happened after Adam and Eve sinned and did not involve evolution.” A recent analysis of a pterosaur’s stomach contents shows this vegetarian diet.
Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace explains why the different accounts of the ministry of Jesus (as recorded in the four Gospels) actually bolster the case for their accuracy and historicity.
“It is when the thoughts of heaven are long out of the Christian’s sight, that he forgets his hope of that glorious place, that he begins to set up some idol…. Keeping the joy of heaven always before you will help you to run your race with patience. It will help you endure your short scuffles with temptation and affliction.” —William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armor
T.M. Moore wrote these sober words to the church: “The Lord sees His Church as the joy and beauty of the earth (Psalm 48:1-2), reflecting His splendor and goodness to the watching world. But when churches spend the bulk of their budgets and energies on themselves, it’s hard to see how they can be of much good in their local communities.”
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Sometimes when Christians get anxious about a situation, it appears that they have forgotten that God is just as loving and strong today as He was in the good ol’ days. We need to guard against this misunderstanding.
Let’s use this prayer to remember that God isn’t just the God of the good ol’ days, but He is still just as loving and powerful today as He has ever been—
“God, You have been faithful—You have rescued me. Now help me to see that You are still Sovereign over this current situation—You are doing something in the midst of this crisis.”
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Discussions about end times events and thoughts about the Second Coming of Jesus are sure to make some people uneasy. Even Christians can feel a little uncertain over the details of this topic.
This isn’t anything new. In the first century, the apostle Paul was already writing about this to the saints, particularly in his two letters to the church at Thessalonica. Paul wants to bring us reassurance about God’s resolute plan, and he also wants to reassure any fearful hearts.
In 2 Thessalonians, I see two little words that Paul uses to give us both certainty and security—those words are “the” and “our.” Paul especially uses these words when he mentions the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
The definite article “the” distinguishes the True and the Authentic from the deception that the antichrist will bring. The “the” tells us that there is only One that is certain.
Think of it this way: If I tell you that some supplies I brought for you are in my car, I can give you the one and only car to go to. You don’t have to check just any car in the parking lot, but you have one certain car—the car—that can supply your needs. This is what we have in our Savior Jesus.
I shared more details about this in an exclusive 5-minute video for my Patreon supporters. You can become a supporter and get access to all of my exclusive content by clicking here.
The pronoun “our” then assures us of the security we have in our relationship with God. Much like Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father” we can feel comforted in knowing the assurance the Holy Spirit gives us that the Savior has opened the way for us to come to the Father—to our Heavenly Father!
Check out both of these powerful little words in this passage—
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved bytheLord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved throughthesanctifying work oftheSpirit and through belief in thetruth. He called you to this through ourgospel, that you might share in theglory of ourLord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)
“The” gives us certainty and “our” gives us security to know that we are lovingly held in God’s hands—held securely for all of eternity.
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Heartfelt prayer is never a meaningless exercise. Without exception, something is changed with every single prayer we offer to God. Sometimes, as we have learned, some of the biggest changes take place in us.
Take a look at this picture—what do you see? If your focus is on the big, dark dot you will eventually lose sight of all that’s bright and beautiful around it. Jesus said something similar in Luke 11:34. Prayer can help us take our focus off the darkness and turn to the light.
When we experience bad things, we have three options:
We can focus on the badness and see it as inevitable and inescapable—this will leave us bitter.
We can attempt to change our circumstance—this will leave us possibly better. But what if we cannot change our circumstances? Then we’re right back to #1—we are bitter.
We can change our focus. For Christians, this will help us realize how blessed we are.
Let’s revisit part of a road trip that the apostle Paul took.
First in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4). He was only able to spend 3 weeks in this city before the jealous Jews rounded up trouble and started a riot (vv. 5-10). Instead of focusing on that big, black dot, Paul gratefully prayed for them (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 11-12).
Before Thessalonica, he was shamefully treated in Philippi (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2; Acts 16:22-24). Another incredibly short stay before trouble came, but yet again, Paul prays with gratitude (Philippians 1:3-4).
Why could Paul be grateful? Mainly because his focus wasn’t on the big, dark dot of his shameful treatment in those cities, but on what God had done because of that treatment (Philippians 1:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10, 3:6-10; 2 Thessalonians 1:4).
Likewise, Paul calls on us to use prayer to change our focus (Philippians 4:4-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
William Cowper was a gifted poet who battle the big, black dot of depression. One of his poems captures the light behind the big, black dot—
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning Providence,
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain. —William Cowper, Light Shining Out Of Darkness
Let’s let prayer change our focus from the darkness to the light!
Even though this father knew his daughter was dead, he kept walking with Jesus and saw the miracle of resurrection! That’s a great lesson for us: don’t stop praying—keep believing!
Craig T. Owens 