“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”- 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV) “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”- James 1:8 (KJV) John Ortberg continues Chapter 4 of Soul Keeping with this description of a well-ordered soul: “God designed us so […]
“Though you have not seen him [Jesus] you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy; for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”- 1 Peter 1:8-9 John Ortberg concludes Chapter 2 […]
As Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 15 of Prayer, he poses four questions to help us evaluate our situation with regard to prayer. Pastor Keller asks us to imagine that our soul is in a boat, a boat with both oars and a sail. 1. Are you “sailing”? If your are sailing, you are living the […]
Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 12 of Prayer by noting that the last Psalms of the Psalter are all praise. In his book Answering God, Eugene Peterson states that just as the Psalter ends in unbroken praise, all prayer is framed by praise. In the end, all prayer should and will end in praise: “[This means] […]
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”- Ephesians 5:14 “There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation- veneer isn’t worth anything.”- George Washington Carver During my undergraduate years at Concordia- River Forest, I spent my summers practicing with the Ashburn Lutheran Church softball team. Actual […]
“Prayer is a means to energy. Spiritual alertness, vigor, and confidence are the regular spin-off from earnest prayer on any subject.”- J. I. Packer, Knowing Christianity Timothy Keller continues Chapter 9 of Prayer by discussing three touchstones clustered under the title “What Prayer Gives”. Prayer gives us: 7. Perspective- prayer reorients your view toward God. […]
In Chapter 9 (“The Touchstones of Prayer”) of his book Prayer, Timothy Keller writes about twelve touchstones of prayer. Pastor Keller states we can use those twelve touchstones to “judge the relative strength and weakness of our prayers for honoring and connecting us to God.” The first four touchstones are clustered under the heading “What […]
Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 8 of Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by discussing the final two petitions of the Lord’s Prayer plus the ascription. 7. Lead us not into temptation. Pastor Keller states that Augustine made an important distinction about this petition: “The prayer is not that we should not be tempted, but […]
At the end of Chapter 6 of Prayer, Timothy Keller shares one final exercise Martin Luther advocates before we pray free-form about the things on our hearts. Following meditation on Scripture, Luther suggests praying through each petition of the Lord’s Prayer. As we do so, we are to paraphrase and personalize each petition using our […]
“Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.”- Lamentations 3:41 “He [Martin Luther] speaks with the great reverence of one who speaks to his God, and with trust and hope of one who speaks with his father and friend.”- Veit Dietrich, friend of Luther Timothy Keller continues Chapter 6 of […]
“I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.”- 1 Corinthians 14:15 As Timothy Keller continues Chapter 4 of Prayer, he reminds us that while prayer does have a mystical quality, St. Paul calls Christians to […]
In today’s blog, Timothy Keller continues his discussion on the richness of prayer in Chapter 2 of Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God. The next four aspects (of twelve) of prayer are presented. 5. Prayer tunes your heart to God. Pastor Keller observes that when our hearts are tuned to God, our joy will have […]