7 Days of Prayer for the UMC

When we were in Kansas City last week for the Leadership Institute at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, we received a 7 Days of Prayer prayer guide. Many churches are using this prayer guide to join together in prayer for the renewal and transformation of our churches. Here it is … Seven Days … Read more

Prayers for the Transition

A few weeks ago, I prepared a list of prayer points, at Centre Grove’s request, to help guide people in praying for us during this time of transition. I’ve updated the prayer points for this post and invite you to be in prayer for us as well as Centre Grove and West Side as we … Read more

Praying for Your Children

A few months ago, Randy wrote an entry called, Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, which included a few suggested verses of Scripture to pray for children. Another good resource for parents to incorporate into their prayers is an article from Christian Parenting Today called 40 Ways to Pray for Your Children. The article includes … Read more

Remember Brandy & Ben

One of the things we’ve enjoyed with blogging about our adoption journey has been the interaction we’ve been able to have with other families who are adopting. In fact, several comments on the blog were posted by people who are on their own adoption journey. Our adoption journey began 14 months ago with a series … Read more

What’s God up to?

In my journal this morning, I wrote a prayer related to the time crunch we’re currently facing. We are expecting to receive a call to go to Korea to pick up our baby anytime within the next few weeks AND we are actively (frantically?) working toward finishing the first complete, 5-chapter rough draft of our … Read more

Pray for Tricia

Tricia Lawrenson, wife of Nathan Lawrenson, who is the son of Rick Lawrenson, lead pastor of Nags Head Church (a great church to visit when vacationing at the Outer Banks of North Carolina). We’ve attended Nags Head Church once and have shared a couple meals with Rick and his wife Gail. Other than that, most … Read more

Praying the Scriptures for your Children

Regular readers of our blog will know that we are thinking a lot about parenting these days as we prepare to bring Ethan home from Korea. Part of our thinking recently has been about how best to pray for him — now and in the years to come! Randy recently posted several prayers for the … Read more

The Light of the World

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the miracle of the coming of God in human form. Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world” (John 8.12). The world in which we live can be a dark place. It doesn’t matter who you are, you face darkness in some way. It may … Read more

Prayers for the Journey

Do you ever need God’s direction for your life? More than a decade ago, I started collecting prayers in the Scriptures where the pray-er asks God for help on the journey of life. I started this collection at a time when Joleen and I really needed God’s direction in our lives and ministries. Show me … Read more

A Leader’s Prayer

I recently came across the following prayer from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions (edited by Arthur Bennett). The language is a bit archaic, but the spirit of the prayer is relevant. O GOD, I know that I often do Thy work without Thy power, and sin by my dead, … Read more