Statement designed to encourage prayer

Over on Travis Main’s website, Doug Dingley writes in “The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man”:

How tragic that a statement of encouragement by design becomes a statement of discouragement through our misunderstanding of it. As Christians, we are made righteous, not by living a perfectly sinless life, but by virtue of the fact that the Lord died for us, and His shed blood keeps us cleansed and forgiven of our sins (cf. 1 John 1:7-10). Therefore, God may hear our prayers!

Read the whole article at this link.

How Hard, O Lord, to Make a Start

How hard, O Lord, to make a start,
To reach the end, much harder still!
What joy to know that in my heart
You work to give me strength and will!

— ‹‹«»›› —

Read Philippians 2.12-13; 4.13.

Try gourmet prayers

How about trying gourmet prayers — where you gather many ingredients, not just one? They take longer, but are very special and rewarding.Your menu is your prayer list. People on your list don’t even have to be people who [you] know personally. They can be from the newspaper, teachers at a local school, government officials, your neighbors, your congregation. List people by name. Pray for them by name.

via Inspirations By Katheryn.

From Water of Glory to a Desert Fast

From water of glory to a desert fast,
The Lord was taken to test his strength;
With a word of Scripture from first to last,
He kept temptation at arm’s full length.

And I, oh Lord, when the soul is dry,
When the eye of faith is weak and pale,
Put in my mouth, from the temple high,
Your word of truth, that I may not fail.