Articles for tag: Daily Prayer

March 1, 2023

Reprioritize God’s Word

By Megan Rawlings Question: What is black and white and re(a)d all over? Answer: Not the Bible. This may seem like a trivial schoolyard joke, but I wanted to get your attention. The American Bible Society (ABS) reported alarming statistics in its 2022 State of the Bible survey. Based on their findings, I fear Christians are moving away from the Bible in the hopes of finding something that makes them feel better. I have seen an influx of “do what’s best for you,” “what you put out into the world will come back to you,” and other well-intentioned pieces of

December 31, 2018

Michael C. Mack

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Make Next Year a Great One for Your Staff, Elders, Group, or Family

(Start your year off right by considering our editor’s suggestions in this brief item we first published two years ago. This approach can be used successfully among a wide variety of people who meet regularly and seek to love and honor God.) _ _ _ By Michael C. Mack When we make resolutions, we usually emphasize what we will do under our own power and will. When we run out of willpower, we begin to fail at keeping those resolutions. For Christians, there’s a far better way. Move from New Year’s resolutions to spiritual reconstitutions! Here’s how. At your first

September 16, 2017

Christian Standard

Prayer Worship & Prayer

The Engine that Powers Our Progress

The Vital DifferenceÂ Between a Church that PraysÂ and a Praying Church By Derek Dickinson I thought planting a new congregation in Fairbanks, Alaska, was a terrible idea. The winters are brutal. It occasionally hits 50 degrees below zero! In the winter, it”s a place of darkness, with only four hours of sunlight per day. This “terrible idea” wasn”t mine, thankfully, but God”s. I was so opposed to planting a congregation here that I fasted from all solid foods for 30 days on two occasions and prayed that I could plant somewhere else. But God”s answer was clear: I was to be

November 17, 2010

Christian Standard

Colleges & Seminaries Organizations & Events

Churches Participate in “˜Just One Sunday”

By Jennifer Taylor Churches around the country have participated in “Just One Sunday,” a challenge from Christian college and university presidents to pray for “just one” person who might become a vocational kingdom worker and to make Matthew 9:38 a special prayer emphasis during worship services. Parkway Christian Church (Surprise, AZ) created a “Just One Challenge” card for each child at the church, from newborns to high school students. During the service, PCC members each selected a card and committed to pray for that young person at least once a day. David Doty, senior minister at Woodland Hills Church of

June 2, 2010

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

The Best Kind of Sermon

By Mark A. Taylor What sermons do you remember? I remember a sermon preached by Wayne Smith at a Talent Rally at Lincoln Christian College when I was just a teenager. God used that sermon to prod me toward vocational Christian service. I remember a sermon by Paul Jones preached at Cincinnati Bible College chapel that moved me and most who heard him to express appreciation to our parents. Another time in that same chapel building John Wilson preached about his daily prayer routine. And I”m still challenged to pray like he described. I”ve listened to sermons that have helped

February 3, 2010

Christian Standard

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

What Will Make My Next Decade Different?

By Mark A. Taylor Her question has stayed with me for weeks. At a family gathering between Christmas and New Year”s, she challenged the group at the table, “Think back to the beginning of the decade that”s about to end. What would the person you were then think of the person you are today?” A day or two later I read a Facebook update from a friend anticipating a family meeting with her husband and two school-age daughters. The agenda: to discuss individual and family goals and dreams for the coming year. As simple as this is, it strikes me