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New to the Faith: How do I Pray?
Part 3: Prayer For many believers, old and new, prayer feels overwhelming. The idea of approaching the Creator of the universe and speaking to Him feels more than a bit intimidating. I know this from my own personal experience. I grew up in church, so my personal prayer life reflected what I heard in church, which, to me, sounded formal, even stiff at times, and definitely repetitious as I found myself saying “Heavenly Father” several times throughout my prayers (I still do, but I’m making more of an effort to stop saying the same words over and over again). Several things have helped me in my prayer life. To begin…
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Jesus and His Distress
“And going a little farther, He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” (Mark 14:35-36) I recently re-read these verses as I was preparing to write a devotional for a contest I was entering. The contest theme focused on fear, anxiety, and stress. I know I’ve read these verses hundreds of times, but I didn’t make the connection, until now, that Jesus could not only relate to my feelings of anxiety, stress, and fear, but…
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Deep Roots
Within the last month or two, we have seen at least two prominent Christian figures leave the faith. The Bible warns us of a “great falling away” during the last days. Some versions use the word “rebellion” while others use “apostasy.” The original Greek word is “apostasia” and it means “a falling away, defection, apostasy.” (Strong’s Concordance). Basically, it means to abandon or leave the faith. I don’t know why these two people left the faith and it’s not my place to try and guess. For those of us who are still walking in faith, though, we need to stay strong. But how do we do that? The first thing…
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What I’m Reading: July
I greatly enjoy reading. I also enjoy hearing recommendations from my friends as they share their favorites. It’s been an enriching experience. In this new series, I will post my recommendations for books. I hope you enjoy! I read these three books within the last year or two. Since this is my first post in this series, I wanted to share them with you because they have greatly impacted my life. Prayer by Timothy Keller: This book has greatly improved my prayer life. It gave me a new perspective as well as reminding me the purpose of prayer. I admit, I had to read the book in small chunks because I…
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What I’m Reading: August Edition
