ARTICLES

How do we manage to give thanks to God after a year filled with seemingly unending challenges? G.K. Chesterton said: “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted, or you take them with gratitude”.

Taking a moment to reflect on your year allows you to see it from God’s perspective and helps you realign yourself with God’s purposes before the start of the new year. This will give you much peace and confidence in Him, whatever lies ahead in the next year.

Praying the ‘Our Father’ prayer can be likened to entering a spiritual house. In a sense, every part of the prayer can be viewed as a room of treasure to be explored. In this second article on the topic, we reflect on the last few facets of the ‘Our Father’ prayer.

Praying the ‘Our Father’ prayer can be likened to entering a spiritual house. In a sense, every part of the prayer can be viewed as a whole room of treasure to be explored in prayer. We reflect on each facet in two consecutive articles.

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, he also told them how they should not pray. Clearly this is important to remember in our own prayer life.

When you read the Psalms, you will often hear David say: “Lord, where are you? Why are you silent? Why don’t you speak to me?” What must we do in such times?

Do all the 2’s in 2022 also catch your eye? There will always be the choice between walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Which will it be for you in the new year?

Whether the past year was a “mountain top” or a “valley of despair” year for you, pause a moment to reflect.

This series, Hear our Prayer, gives us a glimpse into the prayer lives of saints who have gone before us. In this prayer, Thomas à Kempis asks for the ability to rest in Jesus above all else.

This series, Hear our Prayer, gives us a glimpse into the prayer lives of saints who have gone before us. May this prayer and hymn by Horatius Bonar inspire and encourage us to fill every part of our lives with praise.

While people honestly want to spent time with God, they simply just do not know where to start and what to do. In this article we provide some practical guidelines to help you spend the desired time with the Lord.

It is important to understand that as priests of God, all Christians are now called to priestly intercession. Jesus is our great High Priest. As a priest, His role is that of intercessor and we would do well to emulate Him.

Is one prayer position better than another? Scripture does not really recommend a specific prayer position, but it does identify some distinct physical prayer positions of different people in the Bible.

The Bible is filled with examples of many different types of prayers and uses different words to describe the practice. For example, 1 Timothy 2:1 says, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.”

‘Not all intercessors always use lists, but keeping a prayer list has both a Biblical basis and a practical significance for meaningful intercession’. – Dick Eastman

Take a moment to think about it. Are you specific in your requests to God? How about starting an “Impossible Prayers” list to pray?

The challenges of the past year have definitely brought many to a transition of some kind, including spiritual transition. How do I recognise whether I am in a transition right now? How do I respond to life during times of transition?

We have plenty of personal problems, friends and family that keep us on our knees, so we do not really go looking for more prayer material. But does God expect us to also pray for people we do not really know?

Violence and immorality are on the rise. Our society is pleasure mad. False prophets – “angels of light” – have already deceived many with their doctrines of demons. Even with these powerful warnings about the dangers of neglecting prayer, Christians still find it hard to pray.

Hannah could be called “the First Lady of Prayer”, because she’s the first woman whose petition is recorded in Scripture. Her story shows us how God uses deep human need as a springboard to accomplish his purposes. When he does this, believers receive answers they can hardly believe.

A persevering personal intercessor can lift the pressure and burden from a spiritual worker. However, it is imperative to choose such a person wisely with God’s guidance. An unwise choice may do the spiritual worker more damage than good.

A personal intercessor is simply someone who undertakes to intercede for someone else’s personal needs. It need not be someone with a so-called ‘gift of intercession’.