In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. –Ephesians 1:7

The apostle Paul reiterates here the essence of the Gospel message: It is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus (“his blood”) on our behalf that we can say we’re forgiven of every sin.

The word he uses here for this transaction is “redemption.” This comes from the realm of the slave trade, where slaves were redeemed or purchased by someone else and brought into the household of the owner.

In a sense, we could say that once we were slaves to sin and selfishness, but now are slaves (servants) of Jesus. He bought us with a price (his death) and is now our new owner. We live from now on with an obligation to serve and love him, not in grinding servitude to a cruel master, but in joy and gratefulness to a kind and giving Lord.

This is not good news at all to many people in our day. We don’t want to become slaves to anyone. We like to think of ourselves as free and independent agents, obligated to no one and certainly not servants of anyone or anything besides our own will.

But that’s not the way things are.

This life just doesn’t give us the option of total independence of all authorities. By nature we’ll either become servants of God in joyful service to him and his kingdom, or we’ll become slaves to our own selfishness or the selfishness and tyranny of someone else.

We are hard-wired to function in joyful fulfillment of the divine purpose, and if that isn’t happening we’ll find that we are living in joyless servitude to the wrong master. Just take a close look at the life of anyone around you and you’ll see that either one of the two options is evident.

It’s God’s intention that when our lives are set free from slavery to a sinful life and its unexpected addictions and disillusionments, we will realize that life lived in his service is the only way to the joy and fulfillment we ever really wanted by being independent.

All this is in accordance with the riches of his grace, namely the first-class benefits and privileges of being first redeemed from slavery, and then adopted into his family. So we start out in life as slaves, and then through Jesus end up as children of God and heirs to all that God has.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, take away anything that enslaves and entraps my heart and leads me away from you. Help and rescue me, I ask in your name. Amen.

Today’s Commitment

Today I turn over to God all that enslaves me:

This week in a worker's class, the worker was speaking of a musical instrument that is used in a religious service. Afterwards a front row student asked about it, saying he had seen it in a church. This made the worker wonder. The worker asked the student if he is a Christian. The student replied, 'yes.' When the worker inquired further, he learned that the student and his sister are former Muslims who had recently become believers in Jesus. The student appreciated that the worker was sensitive in asking and talking with him before others, as the student's parents are not keen on this belief.

The student seems bold and eager. He wants to get together with the worker, as he has questions that he wants to ask about the Bible. The worker would like to know the student's story. Pray that the student would have grace to continue growing, become united with a worthy group of believers, and become strong in knowledge and faith.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:2

If Jesus did for us what we couldn’t possibly do for ourselves, what keeps us from fixing our eyes on him and keeping them fixed where they belong? As believers through the centuries have discovered, the problems arise when we take our eyes off Jesus and fix them on someone or something else—some theologian, philosopher, a political ideology, a religious movement, even ourselves.

It’s always going to be true: Jesus is the author of our faith and it’s he who will bring it to perfection (or completion). He endured the shame and agony of the cross for us, in our place, taking upon himself the punishment for our sins and rebellion so that we never have to experience it.

For the believer in Jesus, the final judgment for sin is past. It’s a done deal.

The author of Hebrews isn’t just trying to tell us what Jesus did, as if it’s merely a classroom lecture on theology. He wants us to contemplate what Jesus did, then to emulate it in our struggles with sin, temptation, and suffering.

With God’s help, Jesus endured the terrible time of crucifixion because of the exceedingly great joy set before him—the resurrection from the dead, the total vindication of his ministry, and the glorious position as the risen Lord.

Remember, Jesus came to live the perfect human life, to do what the first humans failed to do and fulfill the divinely appointed human job description.

He became the pioneer who beat a path through the jungle for us, so that we can follow him not only through the suffering of this present life, but out of the grave and through the great doorway into unending life and joy.

In your prayers, as you wait upon God for deliverance, rescue, healing, vindication, or whatever it is that’s filling up the screen of your life right now, remember that just as Jesus (who suffered far more than we ever do) was ushered into eternal joy and permanent glory, so he intends to share it all with us. Whatever we lose in this life is regained a hundredfold in the next.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are the author and finisher of my life in faith. I am trusting that you will bring to completion what you have started, in your name, I pray. Amen.

Today’s Commitment

Today I fix my eyes on Jesus to...

I once had a person who disliked me very much and tried to discredit my every action. In fact, at times, they were quite proactive in their attacks on my family and on me. How should I have prayed for such a person? The human side of me wanted to pray evil on them, to ask God to just remove them from my life. In fact, David, in his psalms of judgement, often called “the imprecatory psalms,” repeatedly asked God to punish his enemies. As an example, David once prayed to God about, “those who hate me without a cause” (Psalm 69:4). After much thought, I decided to go with Paul, who wrote, “Repay no one evil for evil” (Romans 12:17), but rather leave vengeance for God to repay (Romans 12:19). While I never got to the friendship point of Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote - “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” – I did find some comfort in the thought of Epicurus, the ancient Greek philosopher who said, “If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.” So how will you pray for those who tend to bring harm on you? “Be kind to one another” (Ephesians 4:32) and let God handle it.

An Introduction

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
–John 11:25–26

Most of us are familiar with the verses above, but think about the last part of the Scripture—do you believe this? This is the heart of our discussions about our faith, and something we should continue to ask ourselves daily. Do we really believe this? Because if we do, it should affect every single part of our lives.

What happened on Easter morning is the center of the Christian faith; without it we have nothing to tell others about or personally hope for. The resurrection and what it implies for us and also for the whole creation transforms all of life’s struggles, sorrows, and joys.

Join many across the world in prayer during this great week of celebration, and then allow yourself to be renewed as the meaning of God’s visitation penetrates everything we do in this life.

May the power of the resurrection become a reality to you as you fill your mind with Jesus’ incomparable sacrifice and his gift of joy-filled, eternal life.

Day 1

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

–Matthew 21:9–10

As we begin the first day of our Holy Week prayer journey, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, joining his people with shouts of “Hosanna!”

We’re all familiar with this unusual word “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday, with the songs of celebration as children walk down the aisles of the church waving palm branches. It’s a joyful word! But strangely, the “Hosanna” we now know, used in this passage of Matthew, was originally a plea for help turned into an expression of praise.

How did it take on this meaning?

The simplest explanation is that in the history of Israel, whenever God’s people cried out for deliverance and salvation, he was faithful in coming to rescue them. It was because of this connection that “Hosanna” naturally developed into thanksgiving and praise for all God had done.

So why would this word be connected to Jesus himself? That question is answered by Jesus’ unique identity.

Jesus Christ is the incomparable Son of God who came into the world to reveal both who God is and what, by God’s grace, a human being should be and one day will be. He calls people everywhere to be his disciples and follow him into the eternal kingdom of his Father.

He paid the penalty for all our sins by his death on the cross and offers the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life to those who come to him in simple humility and repentance. His identity, authority, and ministry were validated and vindicated by his physical resurrection from the dead.

The clear meaning of the Gospel is that God offers to us the most extravagant grace and mercy the world has ever known. Let us enter this Holy Week confidently trusting in his boundless mercy, love, and grace that are the same today as they have been for thousands of years.

Today’s Prayer

Hosanna Lord God! We praise you for your rescuing and delivering power. We thank you for sending your Son to give his life for us and to do everything necessary to save us. Amen.

Today’s Commitment

Today I’ll lift up my hands to receive all the love God has offered to me and…

Lies, false witness, denial, slander, scheming, injustice, rejection of truth, hypocrisy—human sin and daily life are played out vividly in the events of Holy Week. I recommend reading Matthew, chapters 26 to 28, either by yourself, together as a family, or with your friends.

In Matthew 26:1-5, we read: When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,

As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. "But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.

With this, we watch as Jesus begins his walk to Calvary. Jesus saw clearly into Judas' heart and his betrayal of his Master, predicted his beloved disciple Peter's denial, and he prayed,

My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.

Jesus stood before the high priests and Sanhedrin and watched as countless false witnesses came forward. He faced their mocking and malice:

Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?

He stood before Pilate and was condemned. Instead, "The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed." Barabbas, the insurrectionary, was released on the basis of the crowd's lies and screaming shouts of "Crucify him!"

Jesus carries his cross and bears the mocking of the Roman soldiers. On the cross, we hear his anguished cry,

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?).

As they say, the rest is history—resurrection! The glorious rescue and final delivering event for all those who call on him.

What does this all mean for us today? Freedom and deliverance!

It would be difficult to calculate the number of times in the Bible we find the theme that someone felt abandoned, cried out to God, and was delivered and set free. This freedom is a gift from God from all that oppresses, all that harms, all that sends us into despair, disillusionment, or final destruction.



So this Easter cry out to the Lord about your pain, your frustration, your anguish, your sorrow, and trust in him to deliver and comfort you. Express to God your grateful confidence that whatever oppression or captivity you face today, freedom is on the way. Take heart in the fact that nothing can stop it.

Whatever you’re facing—divorce, death, the loss of a loved one, foreclosure, bankruptcy, credit card debt, betrayal, loneliness, illness—God is with you and he is trustworthy.

Alleluia! He is risen.

May you and yours have a very blessed and hope-filled Easter season.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
 he turned to me and heard my cry.
 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
 out of the mud and mire; 
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. 
Many will see and fear the Lord
 and put their trust in him. -Psalm 40:1-3

Is your heartbreak so great that the idea of a song in your heart might be too remote even to imagine? You’re wondering and asking yourself, “Will I ever sing again? Will I ever even want to?”

The answer is, “Yes, absolutely.”

Why? Because it’s the kind of God we serve. He is the Source of the grateful song, and it’s his character to lead you out of whatever slimy pit you’re trapped in, and bring you out with a strong hand.

The psalmist waited patiently for the Lord, and the Lord turned to him and heard his cry. Now he who suffered so long waited around long enough to see what would come of it (he didn’t throw in the towel!), and his waiting was rewarded with a hymn of praise to God. That’s really what the Psalms are all about: songs sung to, and about, God for his incomparable goodness.

It’s natural to look into the Bible to read of God’s faithfulness and rescuing power. Believers do it everyday. But we tend to overlook the fact that the church’s hymnal is also a powerful witness to the healing, delivering, and restoring power freely given to God’s people throughout the centuries.

Just think about it: page after page of almost any hymnal (or praise book) is a testimony to the fact that God has arrived on the scene, at just the right moment, in order to save from us every kind of sorrow and disaster known to man. It is a record of God’s family reminding us that he never sleeps, that he is ever mindful of our plight, and that at the right time a new joyful song is ready to be written—perhaps even by you.

The predictable result of God’s saving and healing action is the overwhelming desire to sing, to give voice and music to what emerges from the pain-ridden human heart that experiences the deliverance of God. The hymnal or praise chorus book should always be right next to the Bible. These are the perennial complements to each other. Trust that isn’t disappointed can’t help but sing.

We can add a third book to this powerful witness—the personal biographies of God’s people, all the innumerable stories of human experience, ancient and modern, that tell of his greatness in taking his servants out of the slimy pits of grief, disappointment, disillusionment, and heartbreak. You can’t even read them all.

This triple witness has no parallel in all the history of religion. Scrawled on the walls of caves, ruins of building, and on ancient papyrus scrolls are the bitter words of people utterly disillusioned with the gods of their own making and their failure to help in time of need. Read history—any history, in any era, by anyone. The sad story is the same.

But this isn’t you. Your trust is in the one and only God, the One who appears regularly on the scene of history to comfort and restore. If it isn’t happening to you right now, just keep waiting and you’ll see. Then you can write your own new song and sing it out to him.

It has to happen.

It is promised.

Prayer:

Dear God, my Father in heaven, even though I may not be able to sing a song to you right now, I look forward to the day I can. Maybe soon. But soon or late, I hope and wait for that day to arrive. Until that time, please grant me the unwavering confidence that a new, happy song will one day be mine. Amen.

The Christian Grandparenting Network (CGN) recognizes the desperate moral and spiritual climate our grandchildren must navigate in a world hostile to truth. Satan has launched an aggressive attack on all fronts using media, technology, education, social influences, and political pressures to desensitize and cloud the boundaries of truth and righteousness that hold nations and families together. An urgent call to prayer is crucial in this spiritual battle, for the thief has come to destroy the family unit.

 Will you take about two and a half minutes to learn how to get involved in the Grandparents Day of Prayer? Watching this brief challenge by Cavin Harper, Executive Director for CGN you will see the need to pray intentionally for your grandchildren and their parents in the world, we live in today. christiangrandparenting.net/grandparents-day-of-prayer.

For that reason, CGN is asking grandparents around the world to unite in prayer for their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s parents by participating in the Eighth Annual Grandparents’ Day of Prayer. This day of prayer is scheduled to coincide with National Grandparents’ Day, September 9, 2018.

Will you be a part of the solution?

On our website christiangrandparenting.net/grandparents-day-of-prayer/, you will find two ways that you can participate in Grandparents’ Day of Prayer.

1.   You can pray. Click on the “I will pray” button if you commit to joining us as a prayer warrior on Grandparents’ Day of Prayer. Participants who register through this button will receive an eBook “30 days of Prayers for your Grandchildren”.
2. You can mobilize and lead other grandparents in prayer. If you are willing to organize a Grandparents’ Day of Prayer event in your church, home, retirement complexes, etc., click on “To find out more about becoming a volunteer.” to follow the process. You too will receive the eBook “30 Days of Prayers for your Grandchildren.”

Will you join us to mobilize grandparents to unite in prayer

on September 9th?

 CGN is prepared to provide step-by-step guidelines, resources, and online tools for creating successful events. Check our website christiangrandparenting.net/grandparents-day-of-prayer/   for more information, testimonials, promotional materials, and free downloads. Please contact me if you have any questions or need more information.

My prayer for you is that you will consider participating in this year’s Grandparents’ Day of Prayer event.

For additional information, contact

Lillian Penner lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net

Deborah Haddix Deborah@deborahhaddix.com

Where is your anchor fixed? In my first post in this blog I referred to the storm in acts 27. Let me call your attention to something a little unusual in that account. Still in the night after they had discovered the danger of a coast they could crash into, some sailors sought to escape the ship. They lowered a boat on the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow. They had already cast four anchors from the stern. They needed four anchors to slow their progress from the wind and waves. These anchors could have been dumped overboard. But an anchor from the bow would have needed a boat to take it to a place where the ship could be pulled forward. I suppose that was what they were pretending to do.

Another scripture pictures an anchor that is used like this. Hebrews 6:19,20 reads thus.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.”

The curtain refers to the veil of the temple. That was where The Mercy Seat was. That was where the High Priest would meet with the Lord every year to make sacrifice for the sins of the people. Because the Scripture reads, “where Jesus has gone before us”, we understand that this passage is talking about the veil in the presence of God in heaven.

While I could not find another ancient reference for this use of an anchor (with the possible exception of Acts 27), this passage seems to say our anchor has been carried all the way into the harbor and where we will be drawn past the reefs and rocks into the safety of the presence of God.

The only safe place to anchor our lives is in heaven. If our lives are anchored in the stock market, if our lives are anchored in the culture or our politics, if our lives are anchored in our own desires or ambitions, we will certainly be lost in the storm.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

httphinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

Earlier when I asked if there were any books on Christian writing, someone answered that books on writing were books on writing. A book on Christian writing would be like a book on Christian auto mechanics. This was a clever picture. I immediately thought of Robert Pirsig’s book, Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Repair.

There is a sense, of course, in which that is absolutely true. Writing is a craft. We would not expect subject matter to effect it. Most of us have been moved by art depicting Christian themes, but who would write or read a book on Christian painting or sculpting?

However, there is more to what I am thinking than that. There is something about weaving writing into our spiritual disciplines that is on a different plane. There is more to learning to listen for the voice of God, hearing His voice, sensing His direction, than writing a tweet on fixing a fuel pump. I have been reaching for this in this Writing Prayerfully blog. But I believe a book, written by a clearer thinker than I, would help Christian writers connect with the Holy Spirit in ways that will shake the Earth in these crucial days.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

For some time I have been planning to write a book on our hope in Christ. So I have decided to give you a foretaste in a regular blog. I am calling this new blog, “THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL." 

Have you ever been in the storm from Acts 27? I did not ask if you have read it, although I recommend that you read it. I am asking if your life has been besieged by such a storm. 
It began with a gentle southerly breeze promising that the troubled seas were behind them. Then Euroclydon fell on them without warning. First they dumped their cargo, the purpose and profit of the voyage. Then they threw the ship's tackle into the sea. For many days, they may have lost count, they were driven, who knew where, across the open sea. In the dark of night long after the crew and passengers had lost hope of being saved the sailors sensed that they had come near some land. This was not primarily hope. They were terrified of dashing the ship upon the rocks. So they cast four anchors and longed for daylight.
But there was hope beyond what any of them could see. Paul stood before them all and declared that God had sent His angel to assure him that they would all be saved. 
One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible yes Hebrews 6:19. 

Do you have an anchor that keeps your life stable in the midst of the storms that assail? God has given His children the anchor of hope that will hold our hearts fast in the wildest storms.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/ ;

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/


http://daveswatch.com/


YouTube





https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

Are you going through a storm right now? Something so difficult or traumatic that you aren't sure you'll make it to tomorrow?

Don't give up hope.

It often takes a storm to get our minds off our own plans and ways and onto God's greater plan—to realize there's a purpose for our life that is far better than our own. Our storms help draw us closer to God than anything else.

So when we're facing a storm, let's remember three things as we learn to ride it with God, instead of letting it control and overwhelm us.

1) Nothing that happens to us happens by chance. Everything comes by way of a plan and purpose, no matter how chaotic or random it may appear to us at the moment.

God is God and we aren't. It means he's in charge of the universe and has a purpose and a will that far exceeds our own. God uses both good and evil to accomplish his will. Whatever it is, good or bad, it has to pass first by the Creator of all things. We may never have an adequate answer in this life to our questions, “Why does God permit evil?” or “Why did this happen to me?,” but we do know that God intends to exploit evil to the full, to bring about his good purposes in a world of tornadoes, cancer, genocide, violence, human foolishness, financial reversal, divorce, and all the rest.

2) No matter how utterly our hopes and dreams have been devastated by a life storm, in the midst of the ruins we can see the foundation for hope and recovery.

In the aftermath of a tornado or hurricane, it appears that nothing is left to salvage. But right there under the shards of glass, piles of rubble, and splinters of wood, is the foundation. Similarly, if we look closely enough at the crumbling ruins of our life, there in the destruction is the most obvious evidence of hope to rebuild—our foundation.

Our immovable foundation is Jesus Christ and the ever-reliable mercy and grace of God. It isn't our faith that's so great, but God's loving kindness, which created our faith and brings it back again when it seems to have blown away. The foundation, the character of God, always remains the same.

3) Even though nothing in our lives is so secure it can't be taken away, there is nothing that can be taken that God can't restore to us.

This really does sound impossible when taking into account the loss of a loved one, but this truth is at the heart of the Christian faith. It's called the resurrection. It means that even our life on this earth—which we know absolutely will end one day—can be restored. We come to believe in the reality of resurrection of our bodies and all of creation based on our daily life experiences.

God knows that it's very hard for us to believe in what we can't see, so he gives us many little resurrections (the God-incidences) in our present life. He rescues us time after time in the most obvious ways. We can't possibly fail to recognize it as the work of some invisible, intelligent force, and can expect the same at the end of life.

So let's be a Storm Rider.

Let us be absolutely confident that God will do what he loves to do and has done since the very beginning: to create for us a rescue ex nihilo (out of nothing). When there is no way out, no exit, no human hope for survival, God speaks into existence a way out and a way in—a way out of our plight and a way into a real, joyful life of fulfillment. This is the meaning of an exodus. So pray, even when your faith seems to have vanished, and wait for a full, God-designed exodus, not merely an exit from your problem.

Keep on asking until something happens.

If you don't know what to say, try this:

My faith is at very low tide, Lord. I don't know how to trust you right now. I'm too weary and wounded even to believe that you're there. I really don't know if you are. And if you are, I'm not able to believe that you know my name or care about me. I'm sorry for all this, but right now it's the best I can do. Help me when I can't believe anything.

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

Recently, a friend of mine spent the weekend with her grandchildren. She told me, “It was shocking to see how fast my four grandchildren are growing up and the challenges they are facing.  I am experiencing a lot of heartache over the world they are growing up in and concern over their response to it. Seeing my sweet grandkids living in such a godless culture is heartbreaking.” I can identify with those thoughts and I am hearing those thoughts expressed by many grandparents.  

Using media, technology, education, social influences, and political pressures to desensitize and cloud the boundaries of truth that hold our families together is launching an aggressive attack. The enemy’s attacks against our families and our nation’s moral foundations are relentless and growing worse with time.

Ask your grandchildren about their friends, their teachers, their activities, what is going on in their world and how they feel about it. Keep an open mind and open ears so you know how to pray for them. If you are alarmed, they may not feel open to share with you. Appreciate their perspective, listen to their opinions.

However, Daniel, the one in the lion’s den for not obeying the king, stood strong for God in a very complicated ungodly culture. Today, we as grandparents can stand in the gap for our grandchildren, praying they will stand strong for God. Just as Esther stood in the gap for her people, the Israelites when their lives were threatened physically, we can stand in the gap for the spiritual lives of our grandchildren.

Suggestions to pray:

• Pray your grandchildren will invite Jesus into their hearts.
• Pray your grandchildren will grow strong in their walk with the Lord.
• Pray your grandchildren will recognize the difference of truth and deception in their culture so they can flee from it.
• Pray your grandchildren will respect authority and pray for those in authority over them, like their parents, teachers, and others.

Our hope for the future generation can only be in the Lord, not in this complex world.

Will you be a part of the solution?

Special Announcement

For that reason, Christian Grandparenting Network is asking grandparents around the world to unite in prayer for their grandchildren and their parents to participate in the Eighth Grandparents’ Day of Prayer. This day is scheduled to coincide with National Grandparents’ Day, September 9, 2018, making it a day of prayer for our grandchildren.

Watch for details next week.

Perhaps the #1 reason why we pray is because we need God. We come in great need to Someone who suggests that He might meet our needs for us, something no man has ever done before. We have not seen this kind of love this side of heaven. We discover God’s amazing goodness and generosity, and we are compelled to love Him more.

But prayer is not meant to end at the meeting of our needs! We begin here, but soon realize that our needs are meant to be a gateway into greater experiences with God. It is always relationship that God seeks with us. He means to be Father, not justProvider! To focus on God as Jehovah-Jireh alone is to miss the myriad other aspects of His character and Names, to miss the greatness of Him.  
​
The short story that follows is meant to illustrate our passage from beggars to sons and daughters. Our story unfolds like that of a weary traveler: 

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