Intentional Encouragement

      "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.  Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock."  Isaiah 26:3, 4      I like Little Caesar’s Pizza. It’s not so much because it’s the best pizza that I’ve ever tasted (though I like it). It’s more because I can run by and pick up a couple of pies on the way home; it’s convenient and doesn’t cost me much.      I remember when the chain really became popular years ago. The “Pizza! Pizza!” slogan was huge. It was a great new concept. Buy one pizza; get the second one free. They used to come in long, thin, white bags on a sheet of cardboard. You don’t get the second pizza for free any more, but they are still less expensive than most and pretty tasty.      The promise in Isaiah 26 that I quoted earlier is that those who are stayed on God; who keep their trust completely in the Lord will ex...

     Back in 1969, a man named Joseph Baylyl wrote down the following little prayer.  It challenges me as I think about how easy it is to seem sincere when, in fact, we are not.  It is more easy to play church than we want to admit.  The biggest problem is that we always think it is the other person that is playing at it while we are the ones serving the Lord with sincerity.  See if these words don't speak to you as they did to me.      " Lord of reality, make me real, not plastic, synthetic—pretend—phony; an actor playing out his part—hypocrite. I don’t want to keep a prayer list, but to pray; nor to agonize to find your will, but to obey what I already know; to argue theories of inspiration, but to submit to your Word.      I don’t want to think another needs me, but I need him else I’m not complete. I don’t want to tell others how to do it, but to do it; to have to always be right, but to admi...

It is interesting to me just how much we like to talk about prayer. We dissect it and analyze it and make acronyms for it. We teach it and preach it and write books (and blogs!) about it. I wonder if we spend as much time actually praying as we do talking and reading and writing about it? One of my favorite quotes about prayer is from Martin Luther. I have seen it duplicated numerous times and every time it amazes me. " I have so much business, I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer. " Really? When is the last time you spent 3 hours in prayer during one day? How about during one week? We have allowed our lives to get so busy and so stressful that when we get home at night after a long day, we feel like if we spent an hour in prayer, we'd fall asleep after 5 minutes. I'm continuing to work at the importance of prayer in my life. I'll spend more time today praying. But I don't think it's a goal of 3 hours a day that is important...