Prayer Beyond Words
As my view of God expanded, I felt as if I could quietly sit in that loving presence. Words didn’t return so I just sat.
The Myth of a Successful Prayer Life—What Does It Mean to Get Prayer Right?
The spring of 2019 showed up bleak and gray, but we barely noticed. The weight of waiting occupied every minute, with question marks bristling where daffodils had been delayed. An army of friends prayed for our family when we could not, waging war on our behalf, inquiring with kindness about obstacles that made no sense…
Letter From the Editor
Dear Readers, A little more than a year ago, when my youngest son was looking for an apartment to rent in Vermont, I closed my computer and prayed a desperate prayer: “Lord, I’ve done all I know how to do. I need you to show us the place you have for him.” Our son was…
Prayer Meeting
I sit at the round, steel table in the church café. I don’t much like the décor. It’s trying too hard to be modern, to be relevant, like so many sacred places do these days. You notice me, unlike most passers-by. At fifty you begin to fade, you’ll find, become invisible. You are curious, a…
The Mystery of Prayer
I believe in prayer. I say often that “the work of God is done on our knees—then we go find out what happened.” Yet to me prayer remains such a mystery. How in the world could the most high God who created it all invite me to talk with him, to make requests, to ask…
Disappointment and Prayer
What unrelenting, surprising, or confusing situation in your life has caused you to question God? Perhaps your body is betraying you, and you and your doctors have done everything possible. You’ve prayed, cried, confessed, and bargained. Still, you suffer. Is God even listening? you wonder. Maybe you believe God has called you to minister, but…
A Legacy of Prayer
I’m the daughter of a praying mother, a woman who always keeps a prayer list by her bedside. As a child, I often snuck into her room to see what she was praying for me. “Attitude change? Patience?” I would read, bristling, not at the suggestion that I had a bad attitude, but that she…
A Culture of Prayer Can Change the World
I’ve become that person who gently encourages others to overcome their fear of praying out loud.
Importance of Prayer When You’re Hearing No
As Christians, we know we’re to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16), to pray for the Lord’s people (Ephesians 6:18), and to humble ourselves and pray to God (2 Chronicles 7:14). Of course, while it’s natural for prayers to ebb and flow over time as we go through different seasons of our life, there is…
Finding My Prayer Voice Through Lament
Each week, they would cram into a tight circle in my small apartment for Bible study. I’d been given the privilege of mentoring them, these young people who carried the weight of more trauma than their young bones should be asked to bear. As we gathered, we’d discuss Scripture, share stories and dreams, process life,…
The Prayer For When God Doesn’t Answer Our Prayers
The helplessness hurt my heart. My best friend’s healthy 39-year old husband had been sick for less than a week when Covid landed him on life-support. He’s a pastor with a young family. Surely God will heal him. Thousands of us prayed. Days later, a helicopter flew him to another state, where a hospital offered…
My Strange Pandemic Prayer
If the pandemic were an experiment, mad scientists would designate my family as part of the “control” group. After all, my husband and I have both worked from home for years, and I’ve homeschooled our four children for almost a decade. We haven’t had to navigate the huge work-week disruptions. Rather, the social media posts…
Ora Pro Nobis
A man lies face down on the sidewalk weeping in our neighborhood the Catholic Church placed a candlelit shrine at street level. The church is closed for public safety But people need to pray “to earnestly implore” the dictionary says. Only those facing darkness can dig deep enough to do this —humiliation, submission, strength— to…
The Day I Went Blind
Getting ready to go to work one morning at the court where I was a judge, I was finishing my makeup. When I closed my right eye to put eyeliner on it, my face disappeared from the mirror. I opened my right eye and my face came back. It took a few seconds for the…