Emptied to be Filled

God longs and desires to fill us with an inner drive and passion to pursue Him with all that we are. The inner drive cannot come from ourselves, it must come from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). And if it must come from God, we must ask Him to do this work in our souls. We must take the necessary steps to receive what He longs and desires to give us.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done if we are already filled with things other than what are of God. There will be no room for Him to fill us with the inner drive and passion to pursue Him. We must be emptied to be filled.

Praying for Spiritual Renewal

"Parents" magazine, December 2013, artist unknown.

Before you read any further, I would encourage you to prayerfully, with the Holy Spirit, examine the above picture. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak into your heart and life using this image.

Praying in the Desert

Praying in the desert can be one of the most difficult spiritual seasons of a Christian's life. How do we pray when God is distant? How do we pray when we do not feel like praying? How do we pray when God allows devastation to rip our life apart? These are the questions we face when praying in the desert.

Prayer of Examen

The prayer of examen is a spiritual practice that creates a space and opportunity for us to spiritually reflect on our day. Ignatius of Loyola of the 1500s is accredited with developing this spiritual exercise to assist others in growing deeper in their awareness of God and awareness of self. The prayer of examen is quite simple, yet has profound spiritual impact in our lives.

A High Call

God tests His people. He tests our integrity and obedience. And the decisions we make will determine who we will be. God has a high call.

Simple Prayer

Often times prayer can seem intimidating and complicated. This can discourage us from investing in our prayer life with God and can keep us from living daily life with God. Yet be encouraged. Simple prayer opens up a whole new frontier of prayer and relationship with God that cultivates genuineness and authenticity with our Creator.

Reading Scripture Well

Reading Scripture is a pillar of the Christian faith. If we are to follow Jesus, we will only come to know Him more fully for who He is by reading Scripture. The Old and New Testaments are foundational for a deepening faith and cultivated heart relationship with God.

Whether you struggle with reading Scripture or read it each day, I hope what follows will help you read Scripture well.

Praying on the Armor of God.

Spiritual warfare. This term sparks many different thoughts, perspectives and emotions for different people. No matter our theological or experiential understand of spiritual warfare, Scripture is clear that everyone (Christian and non-Christian alike) are engaged is a spiritual battle.

What Has 5 Legs and Smells Kinda Funny?

My guess is that you are trying to figure out the answer the question above. It's not what you might expect.

Do You Know Your Season?

Back in high school, I had the privilege of flying to Indonesia after the tsunami of 2004 to assist with food distribution. On our way to Indonesia, we had a layover in Singapore. We stepped off the plane and into the air conditioned airport with many different sounds, smells and sights than I had experienced before. We walked through customs encountering a new culture, a new way of life and proceeded to the main exit doors of the airport. Right when we stepped through the invisible layer that separated the air conditioned airport and the Singapore climate, I was struck by a wave of heat and humidity I was not expecting!

God Has a Sense of Humor, You Should Too :)

Awhile back, I was pretty mad at God. I was reading some theology and reflecting on other theology I had read some time ago about the sovereignty and providence of God. Wrestling with God's providence and our free will, I let loose on God about what is the point of even investing in a prayer life or seeking to prepare for a calling if He is gonna do what He is gonna do. Frustrated, I just let God know how I felt. He can take whatever I throw at Him, anyway.

What We All Need, But Often Do Not Want

Sitting in church on Sunday listening to the sermon, a war broke out. Not a war between people over a minor theological detail or that the music was this or that, but a war in my soul. It was as if a conflict broke loose between the Spirit, my flesh and the devil. I heard this quote read on the screen...

Learning to Listen to God's Voice

Standing in Barnes & Noble in 2003, I noticed a woman who could have been the age of my mother. She stuck out to me, and I did not really know why. It was like she was being emphasized by an invisible highlighter. Something stirred in my spirit, but I did not understand or know what it was. I felt a nudge. Not physically, but spiritually, whatever that meant. I felt like the Holy Spirit was prompting me to start a conversation with this woman and eventually pray for her at some point. So, not really knowing what I was doing, I started a conversation with the woman and eventually prayed for her. The woman was very touched and encountered the Living God.

This was one of the first times I learned to recognize the voice of God in my life.

Learning to Suffer Well

Sitting defeated on the small stairs in the prayer chapel, overwhelmed by life and sophomore year of college, I, like Job, sat before God in the depths of my brokenness. With waves of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (due to the trauma of sexual abuse that had surfaced), and bouts of anxiety and depression, I begged God to take it all away. Not only was my soul in turmoil, my body felt deeply sick due to the manifestation of the inner anguish. Why would a good and loving God let me suffer so much? Why would He let me sit here in the ashes of despair and the broken pottery of infliction?

A still, small voice broke into my heart...

Walking with Jesus

Walking with Jesus is all about intimacy, closeness, doing life together with Him. Even more, Jesus longs and desires to walk with us, side by side, sharing life together. Walking with Jesus is living in a continual state of practicing His presence - walking in a God-consciousness, a God-awareness. This happens when Jesus is more and more living His life in our lives. Our aim is that we would no longer be living out of our own flesh, but rather Jesus would be living in us and through us (Galatians 2:20). Simply put, we are doing all things with Jesus.

Will God Really Provide for Me?

This is a question we all wrestle with and face at various points in our lives at different levels of intensity. As I reflect about this question, I think it is really only the topsoil of a deeper rooted question. When we ask the question, "Will God really provide for me?" what we're really asking is, "Can I really trust God?"

Receiving the Love of the Father

The love of Father God.

As followers of Jesus, we have heard from preachers and read in the Scriptures about the love of God for us, His daughters and sons. But how many of us actually experience the love of God in a way that goes beyond mere head theology to a living experience of the heart? From my personal experience and dialoging with hundreds of Christians, there seems to often be a gap between our head knowledge and our heart experience.

Becoming a House of Prayer

Over the past several years, God has been doing a work of grace in me in the context of prayer. I am by no means a "prayer expert," but someone who is seeking a deep, intimate and personal relationship with the Living God, Jesus Christ. At the core of our relationship with God is prayer. Prayer is simply having a conversation with God Himself. In this conversation, we share are hearts, thoughts, desires, dreams and so on.