PRAYING WITH THE SPIRIT
I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind (1 Corinthians 14:14-15). Prayer with the spirit stems from the human spirit, rather than the understanding, in other words, praying in tongues. Paul told the Corinthians that […]
PRAYING WITH THE UNDERSTANDING
The essence of praying with the understanding is just that–praying with the understanding. In other words, praying thoughtfully and intelligently. There are wonderful prayers recorded in Scripture that still inspire us today, thousands of years later. These include the song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-18), the prayer of Hannah […]
PRAYER IS THE ACT OF A CHILD
Prayer is like the act of a child talking with its parent. It needs to be trusting, genuine, sincere and personal. Sometimes we feel inadequate to express ourselves appropriately, but God is more interested in the substance than the style. While there have been many beautiful prayers composed and recorded over the centuries that are […]
KEEPING IN TOUCH
One of my favourite songs as a teenager was — I keep in touch with Jesus, and he keeps touch with me and so we walk together in perfect harmony. There’s not a day that passes, there’s not an hour goes by, but that we have sweet fellowship, my precious Lord and I. (Margaret W […]
A CHANGED LIFE
Ken, an up-and-coming youth leader in his local church met a couple who told him they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit. As with the Ephesian believers, the initial sign of the Spirit’s coming had been speaking in tongues (Acts 19:6). Ken began searching for the same divine enduement. One night, as he fervently […]
EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ken was an up-and-coming youth leader in his church. At 19 years of age, he felt that God was calling him to the ministry and he was eager to do all he could for the church. He was concerned that his local congregation was not holding the young people as well as they might. When […]
WE NEED HIS POWER
‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ (Acts 19:1-7). The resultant coming of the Holy Spirit was a seal upon what the Ephesian believers had just done in committing themselves to Jesus Christ. First they believed, then they were baptised and then the Spirit came upon them, authenticating their experience. We might ask […]
CHASING THE DRAGON
One of the most stirring missionary reports published in recent years is Jackie Pullinger’s Chasing the Dragon. It tells the moving, exciting story of a young English woman who was rejected by missionary councils and went alone and unsupported to the slums of Hong Kong. Two things really stand out. One is the reinvigorating strength […]
LOVE GIVES US THE CONFIDENCE TO SERVE
Love is a great boost to self-confidence. In one of his best-known statements, John writes, ‘There is no fear in love’ (1 John 4:18). This means that we have confidence before God. We can approach him boldly and without shame, because we know that his love has covered our sins through the death of Christ […]
THE GREATER OUR LOVE, THE GREATER OUR FAITH
Love is a powerful quality. We are more likely to receive answers to prayer when we love. This applies to our ability to forgive one another. Have faith in God… I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but […]