prayer

What is the Sin Leading to Death?

May 12, 2022 // 16 Comments

There are different types of sin, and some more serious than others. Apparently we should pray for those who do the lighter sins, but not waste time praying for those who do the bad ones. Ever heard that? It comes from this verse: If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and [...]

What Does 1 Peter 3:7 Mean?

January 16, 2022 // 8 Comments

A man recently asked me about a troubling verse. “My wife says my prayers are hindered because I don’t respect her enough.” He was referring to this verse: Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the [...]

Does Sin Hinder our Prayers?

November 18, 2021 // 87 Comments

Ever heard this one: “God is holy. If you have unconfessed sin in your life, he will not hear your prayers.” It’s. Not. True. If sin made God deaf, no sinner could be saved. They would pray the sinner’s prayer, but God wouldn’t hear them. Pray all you like, but I’m not listening. Lalalala. I’ve got [...]

What is the Prayer of Faith?

July 13, 2017 // 253 Comments

 Much of what passes for prayer is wishful thinking. “Oh Lord, please heal Mary.” I’m sure you can, Lord. I just don’t know if you will. “I beg you to heal Tom.” But if you do, no one will be more surprised than me. You can pretty much guarantee these sorts of prayers won’t change anything [...]

The Lord’s Prayer

August 20, 2015 // 46 Comments

There’s a myth that we who preach grace dismiss everything Jesus said before the cross. According to the myth, we disregard the red letters of the Bible as law for to those under law. Nothing could be further from the truth! What sort of followers of Christ would we be if we ignored what Jesus said? Take the [...]

Husbands’ Hindered Prayers (1 Peter 3:7)

January 7, 2015 // 77 Comments

A man recently asked me about a troubling verse. “My wife says my prayers are hindered because I don’t respect her enough.” He was referring to this verse: Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the [...]

Endure hardship? Or thresh mountains?

December 31, 2011 // 40 Comments

A few days ago, a house on the Sunshine Coast in Australia was destroyed in a fire that was possibly started by faulty Christmas lights. A family of five were sleeping inside at the time but only the father managed to escape the flames. The neighbours found him in the driveway “burnt from head to toe” and [...]

Not by sight

March 16, 2011 // 46 Comments

Ever since James wrote that “faith without works is dead,” Christians have been busying themselves with all sorts of busy-ness to prove that they really, positively do have faith. But much of what passes for Christian works could be done by anyone, with or without faith. Let’s not kid ourselves. If what [...]

Dealing with unanswered prayer

March 13, 2011 // 49 Comments

“I have been asking God to heal me for years. I don’t understand why He hasn’t me. I guess it’s not God’s will for me to be healed.” If you’ve been following this short series on prayer, I’m hoping you can spot at least two things wrong with these statements. First, it is always God’s will to [...]

Speak to your mountain

March 10, 2011 // 63 Comments

I spent much of my life praying in vain for the sick. Only a few of those I prayed for ever got healed. But in the last couple of years I have begun to discover why my prayers were so powerless. I now realize that what I thought was faith was nothing more than wishful thinking. In short, I have learned that there [...]

A Better Way to Pray

March 6, 2011 // 46 Comments

When Camilla and I started leading a church in 1999, we didn’t have a clue. We loved God with all our hearts and prayed with faith, but our prayers seldom moved mountains. There was this one time when there was a lot of sickness going around so we organized a healing meeting. We laid hands on the sick, prayed [...]