A common question I get is this: is it more beneficial to be structured or to be spontaneous in our approach to prayer? My answer: why not have both? I employ both structured and unstructured strategies in my times with the Lord. The main structured activity I do each day is utilize the book Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Common Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro (a free version can be found at www.commonprayer.net). The book provides me with…

When we're very close to God, we receive a steady stream of insights and guidance from Him. That's because we're quite sensitive to God's presence and He knows we're receptive to what He has to say to us. We're also in a posture of deeply desiring to obey whatever His will is. God loves it when we're eager and ready to obey Him. As I grow closer to Christ each day, I'm at times astounded by…

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses instructed the Israelites to "keep [their souls] diligently" (Deut. 4:9 ESV). We should expect that shaping and growing our souls takes hard work. It takes intentional and diligent effort enabled by the Spirit to keep our souls in a proper state of being. So, our times with the Lord will necessarily be…

Steve Jobs is known for envisioning and developing the iPhone. Kobe Bryant is known for his impressive basketball skills. Taylor Swift is known for her amazing musical talent. These are some very impressive personal achievements that these individuals have reached that people all over the world know about. These individuals have put in a lot of dedication and hard work over the years towards what they consider to be their greatest life’s work. What will your greatest life’s work be? I wonder if…

We all have only twenty-four hours in a day. No more. No less. All the things we want to do in a given day must fit within that span of time. This poses a challenge for anybody who wants to spend plenty of time with the Lord in prayer and meditation while at the same time not neglecting the other parts of their life.I have discovered that as I commit myself to…

As I draw ever nearer to Christ through daily rigorous spiritual disciplines, I must be very careful not to fall into the trap of a works-based form of righteousness. It’s easy to see how a person may come to believe that all the things they are doing for the Lord (i.e. prayer, meditation, service, etc.) will help them…

Everybody seems to want things to be faster. I want things to be slower. I try to practice a posture of slowness in my everyday life. It's not because I'm getting old (perhaps it is). I try to practice slowness as a way to live in opposition to the world and in opposition to the fast-paced lifestyle that the world pushes on us. But the more important reason I practice slowness is to…

The magic is in the margins. In my observation, the average believer in Jesus chooses to live a very average Christian life—one that consists of a little bit of faith and prayer, a little bit of Bible reading, and of course, a little bit of "church" for a couple of hours on Sundays. But I highly doubt believers were called to…

How many of us want to be a better human being? I know I want to be. The daily work of connecting deeply with God helps me become that better human being who lives more consistently with Christ's values. Honestly, living out Christian values in our world today is very hard. This makes sense because…

I spend an average of 3.5 hours a day in prayer and meditation to the Lord. I say this not to boast nor to judge. Who am I to judge anybody and their relationship with Christ their Master? But I mention my average time to hopefully…