A PERSONAL PRAYER              Yahweh Yireh, God who provides,You have always provided for all my needs. In times when I wondered if we would get by, we got by. In times I thought we would have enough, you poured in more than enough. My cup runneth over. I trust you. But I confess, God, that I don’t always act like I trust you. I have spent too much time worrying about money. I have rationalized selfish actions and greed. I have worked for deals that are fair, but are more fair to me than they are to others. I have given to others out of [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER              Gracious God, I thank you God for my marriage, for the gift of a partner in life, for a love that is real and gritty and resilient.     Here is what I want: I want so much to be a man of my word, to be trustworthy, to keep all of my promises. I want to feel loved and appreciated, wanted and respected. I want loneliness to go away and to experience real intimacy. God, thank you for offering me what I want. I pray that you would show me how to grow my marriage so that my wife and I [...]

We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God of love, Sometimes you just expect too much. Prohibiting murder seems sensible enough. But Jesus tells us we can’t be angry at our sisters or brothers? Seriously? And we can’t call them fools? And I am supposed to reconcile with my enemies? What you are asking for seems beyond the reach of possibility. I can’t do it. And yet, the words of Scripture echo in my mind. “If you can? echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him [...]