Articles Comments

The Practical Disciple » Entries tagged with "prayer"

New Lenten Activities and Suggestions for Using Them

I have added two lenten activities to the Lent page making a total of  10 downloadable handouts of lenten activities for you to pick from during Lent.  The two newest ones are: Faith P.E.G.S. In the spring of 2009 I was inspired to take time everyday to Prayer, Encourage, Give and Study; hence, the acronym P.E.G.S.. You can read the original post about that by clicking here. I found that a little work in each of these areas daily strengthened my faith and relationship to God tremendously. The Examen. The examen is a nearly 500 year old practice of reflection at the end of the day that originated with the monk, St. Ignatius. This model of reflection gives you serious pause to consider where God was in your day and … Read entire article »

Filed under: Uncategorized

Powerful Prayer though Visualizing

A number of years ago, I listened to a tape series about prayer by Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline.  One lesson that stood out to me and made a marked difference in my prayer life was his recommendation to visualize prayer.  There are at least four beneficial shifts you will experience if you strive to visualize your prayers. First, specificity. When you take time to vividly imagine what your prayer would look like answered and lift that image with all its details upto God you tend to be far more specific in what you pray.  For example, I had an extremely unruly Sunday School class of Junior High kids once. (Okay, may be more than just once)  I was about to give up on the class and it was … Read entire article »

Filed under: focus, meditation, prayer, Uncategorized

P’s in the Pod–Obstacles to Experiencing God.

P’s in the Pod–Obstacles to Experiencing God.

Do you ever feel like you are just leaving voice mail for God?  Does your conversation with God seem one side?  The Podcast in my article, Finding Bam!!!, addresses some of the common obstacles to seeing, hearing, and experiencing God.  I am going to unpack the core of that podcast here for those who aren’t audio listeners.  First, a brief confession. P’s in the Pod–Refers to Principles in the Podcast. I realized recently that in my … Read entire article »

Filed under: Uncategorized

Finding BAM!!!

This past Sunday was an amazing Sunday. For whatever reason everything just seemed to click and flow. It didn’t start that way, at least not for me. Sunday starts on Monday for lots of preachers. That was me this week. I read the text I was planning on preaching from. I prayed about it. I started reading commentaries. I looked online at what other preachers had to say about the text. I offered a devotional on the text for our men of the church breakfast. And guess what? Nothing was happening. I don’t mean to say that I didn’t learn anything. However, I wasn’t feeling any connection to the text or what I had to say. It just … Read entire article »

Filed under: Uncategorized

Happy Thanksgiving and a word to post T-day shoppers.

Happy Thanksgiving and a word to post T-day shoppers.

Blessings to you on Thanksgiving Day.  I hope you take time to express your thanks to God.  Consider slipping off on your own for 30 minutes to just sit in God’s presence and with joy voice all of the ways you have seen God’s gracious hand at work over the last year.  Extol God for who God is.  Let God know just how much you love Him.  You might find it meaningful to journal a … Read entire article »

Filed under: Uncategorized

What is your favorite substitute?

I was reading a blog on blogging and it was flagging the fact that many bloggers get trapped in activities that might help them, but typically serve as mostly distraction.  For instance, they might habitually check stats or obsess on the design of their blog.  Those aren’t bad activities, but the heart beat of blogging is actually creating valuable content.  I find that I sometimes do the same thing with my faith.  For example, I recall in seminary one time going to the bookstore and browsing what I refer to as the “Christian self-help section.” (what an oxymoron)  Anyways, I am browsing books on prayer when I realize that I had shelves of these.  I didn’t need another book telling what I needed to do.  I just need to pray. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Uncategorized