From ghoulies and ghosties And long-leggedy beasties And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!1 In our modern culture in the West, or most of it, this night is known as Halloween, and it is largely a harmless time of dressing up and getting candy—all pushed by commercial culture. Connected with…
This is a project I have worked on since 2009 using all the research and writing I had done on prayer. I read through the Old and New Testaments to locate every biblical prayer, mention of prayer, or implication of prayer in the Bible. My idea was to write a “devotional commentary” on each one, as a resource to…
It is often said that to live in Christ is to live a cross-centered life. What does that mean? Some believers emphasize that “spirituality” primarily consists of “following God’s path” or “seeking God’s will” for our life. Though there is truth to those ideas, they run the danger of putting us in the driver’s seat,…
So the leaders partook of their provisions, and did not ask direction from the LORD… Background This passage mentions prayer, but there is no prayer. Unlike the passages in 1.17 and 7.20–21, where it was not clear if there was a prayer or not, here the writer tells us that the leaders did not pray. …
Join Dr. Mark McDowell as he explores this Passage from Joshua, which may or may not be a prayer. What can we learn about being too busy to pray?
The book of Joshua is an interesting book because of the seemingly contradictory issues or themes. On one hand, the story demonstrates God’s faithfulness to his people. He had promised them their own land, and, in the book of Joshua, he gives it to them. On the other hand, the book is filled with instances…
In the ancient world, all religions and similarities between the types of prayers offered to their gods and goddess. This makes sense, of course, because prayer is communication, and all communication takes certain forms. Here are some of the major types of prayer we find in ancient religions: Name Prayers, Congregational Laments, Hymns, Personal Laments, Petitions, and Intercessions. Name Prayers. These were…
The prayers found in the Bible are not separated from time and location. While the message and principles in the Bible are timeless, the stories are couched in the culture, language, history, ab viewpoint of an ancient world—a world that is quite foreign sometimes to modern Westerners. Over the next few weeks, in between our…
One of the prayers often used in Celtic devotions begins in this way: Oh Lord, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the One in Three As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever more shall be. This short introductory and closing phrase for a prayer…
