The recent reported moral failure by Christianity Today within the Southern Baptist Convention’s former leadership is absolutely heart wrenching. The National Center for Victims of Crime reports that approximately 1 in 5 girls are subjected to childhood sexual abuse. The number is based on cases that are disclosed. Many cases go undisclosed so this statistic is bound to be on the low side. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center states that an astounding 81% of women report experiencing some sort of sexual abuse, assault or harassment. Eighty-one percent is mind boggling. A list of effects of sexual abuse include depression, isolation, hyper-independence, substance abuse, mental illness,…
Why is Prayer Important?
We began to answer this question of why prayer is important in the previous blog post while discussing what prayer is, pointing out that it is the foundation of our relationship with the Lord. Let’s take a minute to examine that point a bit more. The more we talk to others and listen to what they have to say, the better we get to know them. The same holds true for our converstions with God. The more we share with Him and the more we receive what He has to say, the better we know Him. Knowing Him is one of the primary purposes God has for our lives. He…
What Exactly is Prayer?
In our most recent previous posts, we provided you with some tips and truths about prayer. We’d like to take the conversation a little deeper and will be answering several questions about the practice of prayer in the next few articles. I think the best place to start is with the question: What exactly is prayer? When people are asked this question, a common response is “talking to God”. Even the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as: “an address (such as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought”. While these might be technically accurate answers, they are also incomplete ones. Prayer is so much more. Prayer…
Six Tips for Effective Prayer
Prayer is essential to our relationship with the Lord. It is key to our spiritual growth and development. Prayer is worship, an outpouring of our thoughts and feelings to God and an intentional listening for His voice. When I started my walk with the Lord and began in earnest to develop a prayer life I encountered a couple of challenges. I was a mom with 4 littles under foot so by the time I found a few quiet minutes in the day to sit still and pray, one of two things would happen: I would fight falling asleep or my thoughts would be bombarded by my never ending to do…
