Category Archives: How to Pray

We all need help how to connect with God in prayer.

Listen To Jesus

It’s so easy to get distracted with good religious things and miss Jesus. Jesus is the focus of the New Testament. Jesus is the main subject. Even the good disciples like Peter could get distracted with doing something “great” for God and miss the Son of God, Jesus, who was standing right there.

So watch this short video on “Listen to Jesus”

In Matthew 17,  Jesus takes His top three disciples up to a mountain, and there Jesus was transfigured or glorified. He probably looked like He might appear in heaven. His top three disciples were Peter, James and John. Peter had a great idea, but God did not agree with the idea and so God spoke from the heavens. God said “This is my beloved Son, Hear Him“. Too many times we have a “great idea” for God. But many times God does not agree and may speak to us and tell us to just “Listen to Jesus”. So how do we “listen to Jesus”, the easiest and best way is to just read the Bible.

God Helps Us Pray

God Helps Us Pray

Here are three key verses in the Bible showing us how God helps us pray.  Even Elijah the great prophet in the Old Testament was weak like us, and many times had trouble knowing how to pray. In James 5, James describes Elijah as a man with “like passions” which means he has feelings and weaknesses like us. So don’t feel bad when you or I feel like we don’t know how to pray, or even don’t want to pray. Elijah had very similar feelings.

In this video I present three key verses in the Bible indicating how God helps us pray.

John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Prayer is Simple

Prayer is Simple

We hate to admit it, but we are pretty good at taking simple things and making them hard. The same is true when it comes to prayer. Our prayers don’t need to be eloquent or profound, nor do they have to be long and drawn out, or filled with emotion.

Deer in the trees

Deer in the trees

Prayer is really nothing more than a conversation between the believer and his God. When we come to the Father in prayer, we should come with a heartfelt attitude of humility and complete dependence upon Him. We should acknowledge that He is the Shepherd, and we are the sheep.

In this video I present three key verses in the Bible indicating how God helps us pray.

We often know what we want when we approach God in prayer, but surprisingly often we don’t know what we need. We can always trust God, and be confident that He knows exactly what we need, and what is best for us in every circumstance of life. This is true whether we are experiencing a mountaintop of joy, or the depths of darkness and despair. He seeks His glory and desires to make us more like Jesus. What more should we desire?

Mount Hood, Oregon from 30,000 feet

Mount Hood, Oregon from 30,000 feet

Admittedly there are times we come to God overwhelmed with anxiety, and full of confusion—so much so, that we don’t even know how to pray. At those moments, Romans 8:26 teaches us that God’s Spirit intercedes and prays for us in perfect conformity with the Father’s will.

Jesus Prayed

Jesus Prayed

California Beach

California Beach

It’s so simple. Let God pray through you just like Elijah allowed God to pray through him. When we do this, you could say we are actually praying the Lord’s prayer—not the familiar prayer in Matthew 6 we have come to know as the Lord’s Prayer, but we are simply praying what God wants us to pray.

California Beach

California Beach

Anger Kills Us – Jonah

Jonah’s anger is killing him. He’s a miserable man because he’s not free—he’s still a slave to his own bitterness, limitations, and weaknesses. Some of us are miserable for the same reasons. God is working on us, teaching us to trust Him (that is trust God) specifically in those areas where it’s so very, very hard to discern what He’s doing and why.

California Beach

California Beach

Friends with God

John 15:13-15

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

California Beach

California Beach

Isaac and Joseph – More Impossible Situations

Luke 1:37  “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

The Birth of Isaac, the Son of Promise
After arriving in the land of Canaan, Abraham and his wife, Sarah, faced an impossible situation. God had promised to make a great nation from Abraham’s descendants. The problem was, Sarah was 90 and Abraham close to 100, and as yet they had no son through which God could fulfill His promise to them. Could God be taken at His Word? Abraham and Sarah faced what seemed to be an insurmountable challenge their faith, so they came up with a plan of their own to have a son. Sarah gave Abraham to her handmaid, Hagar, that Abraham might father a son through her. Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael. Ishmael would become the father of the Arab nations, but Abraham and Sarah were in for a big surprise as they looked adoringly at the son of their own planning. God informed them that Ishmael was not the son He had promised. Sarah, herself, would give birth to Abraham’s son within a year. Upon hearing this Sarah laughed, but God performed a miracle. The promised son was born, and at God’s direction he was named Isaac, meaning laughter. God specializes in impossible circumstances through which He can show Himself strong, and this is no laughing matter!

Priest Lake, Idaho

Priest Lake, Idaho

Joseph: from a Pit, to a Prison, to a Prince in a Palace!
Joseph was one of twelve sons born to his father, Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Jacob loved Joseph deeply because he was the son of his beloved wife, Rachel. Jacob played favorites when it came to his sons, showering Joseph with special honor and privileges. This did not sit too well with Joseph’s older siblings, who eventually hatched what they thought was a clever plan to get rid of their proud teenage brother once and for all. As a result of their jealous and heartless treatment, Joseph was thrown into a pit and left to die, his father being told he had been killed by wild beasts. This looked like an impossible situation for Joseph, but God wasn’t through with him just yet! God moved hearts and men, resulting in Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt, where he eventually became a slave in the house of Potiphar, Pharaoh’s servant, serving him loyally. What was Joseph’s “reward” for all his hard work? He was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife because he would not respond to her repeated sinful overtures. This landed Joseph in prison for many years. There was nothing he could do to help himself, so he waited on God and served faithfully even in prison. In time God vindicated Joseph, taking him out of the dingy prison, and putting him into a palace. Joseph rose to be second in authority only to Pharaoh in Egypt. Impossible! God not only honored Joseph, but He had a big surprise planned for Joseph’s brothers who had determined evil for him so many years earlier. Impossible circumstances sometimes lead to unique opportunities to display God’s glory.

Priest Lake, Idaho

Priest Lake, Idaho

Spurgeon and Prayer Time

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a man of Bible study, prayer, preaching and teaching. It has been estimated that he preached to over 10 million people.

Idaho Sunset

Idaho Sunset

Spurgeon loved Bible study, prayer and preaching.

Here is a great quote on prayer from C.H. Spurgeon:  Of course the preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer.  He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office which he has undertaken.   

Best Time To Pray – Mornings

The best time to pray is in the morning. Enjoy this short video on Prayer in the morning.

The Bible is a book that tells a story. The story the Bible tells is God’s story. So the Bible is not written by God as a theology book, it is written to tell a wonderful story.

So in the Morning enjoy reading God’s story. So enjoy this animation about morning prayer and Bible reading.

God loves morning prayer time. What a great time to pray and think about God, the source of our life. The Morning sets the direction for the day.

Little Spokane River and Reflections

Little Spokane River and Reflections