It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My holy name. Ezekiel 36:22 (NIV) In my earnestness to pray for things, I all too quickly forget the most significant reason why God chooses to grant answers. Yes, He loves me. Yes, His loving-kindness knows no bounds. Yes, He’s compassionate, the God of comfort. And I believe He delights in answering prayers, the heart of a father who is excited for a child to open a gift. But

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1 (NIV) So here’s what I want you to do…Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life — and place it before God as an offering. Romans 12:1 (the Message) I’m in the middle of re-writing a draft of what will become the first of a three-part in

Jesus told them a parable that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1 Nothing provokes my inner Rocky Balboa faster than the phrase, “It’s too late.” Just ask my husband. “I think we should return this and get our money back,” I say. “Naw. It’s too late,” he’ll say. And off to the store I go, receipt in hand. Running late for the start of a movie… “But if we leave now, we’ll get to the theatre just as the previews have ended,” I say with sunny and determined dispo

I was in prison and you came to visit me. Matthew 25:36b I participate in a prison ministry called Forgiven Prison Ministry (http://www.forgivenministry.org). It was founded by Scottie Barnes several years ago and is headquartered in the foothills of North Carolina. Scottie grew up as the daughter of an inmate. Her father eventually came to Christ while in prison. Because of her story, she’s passionate about seeing incarcerated men and women reconcile with their children, des