I’m generally a failure when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. Based on the statistics I’ve seen, I am not alone in that. We tend to be good at making resolutions, but fewer than 10% of us actually keep them for more than a week or two.
Tag: prayer
God Isn’t Impressed by Long Quiet Times
When I was in college, one of my roommates had very long quiet times every day. He would pray and read his Bible for at least an hour every day, if not longer. Sometimes I started my quiet times exactly when he did, but I always finished mine much sooner. I would read several chapters of the Bible and then pray for everything I could think of. If somebody in my Bible study had asked me to pray for their sick poodle, I prayed for it. But for some reason, I always found myself running out of things to say long before my roommate did. I’d look over at him and wonder what was taking him so long. Did he talk slower than I did? Or was he genuinely a better Christian than me?
8 Things to Pray for When You’re Not Sure How to Pray
Most Christians believe that prayer is important. If you’re like me, though, you sometimes wonder exactly what to pray for. There are so many problems and needs in our lives and in the world that we can easily grow overwhelmed. When I feel that way, I find it helpful to look at what the Scripture says about what types of things we should pray about.
How Can We “Pray Without Ceasing”?
When I was young, the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 confused me. “Pray without ceasing,” Paul says. How exactly can a person do that? After all, I have things to do! Am I supposed to simply stay in my closet all day and pray, neglecting my family, my job, and my friends?