Growing Episodes

We celebrate Madagascar, welcome The Dominican Republic, and then look at part 2 of our Discipline to Delight series on growing our prayer lives. We use: 1 John 2:14 John 14:23-24 2 Timothy 3:16 To come to the conclusion, if we don’t take the word of God seriously, we will struggle with God’s command/exhortation to: “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 Our So What? Excellen...

After we acknowledge our Donation link and thank Japan, Sierra Leone, and Hungary for the podcast, we begin a more thorough encouragement of the discipline of prayer, growing us into communion with the God who created, loves, and redeemed us, and that our most blessed time of the day. Our "So What:" In part one of "Discipline to Delight," we learn that our desire for full, consistent communion with God is hindered by our fallen flesh. Our first step in growing is our determination to foster a ...

About 2.5 years ago or so, French asked his mom for a Bible, not a kids' Bible, and she, of course, said yes. As he walked away, he told her, emphatically, "And I'm gonna read it!" The amazing part is that he was just starting to learn to read at the time, and he taught himself to read with that Bible! His only motivation for his work was his desire to read the Bible. Thank You, Jesus. It was fitting that French, whom I affectionately call Baby French, chose Psalm 4 as the psalm he wanted to re...

We are talking to my grand-babies again, well, not all of them at the same time, about using the word of God to help form our prayers. The practical portion of: "The Foundations of Biblical Prayer" does just that. I chose a psalm for Lincoln to read and then applied the questions in the journal to the psalm to learn about God and how the word of God very often reflects what we are going through and helps us use what God has revealed to us to form our communion with Holy God. On Lincoln's littl...

My grand-babies have been visiting the last couple of weeks, so I thought it would be a great time to have a little lesson on "The Foundation Blocks of Biblical Prayer" for children at this moment in their lives. I liked the idea of illustrating how one might use a prayer journal, following the format outlined in the "Foundations of Biblical Prayer," to learn and/or teach prayer. The last thing quickly: I was so blessed as I went through the journals, the kids, for a couple of reasons. The fir...

We begin a new feature on the podcast, Real-Time Issues in Prayer. It is one of the ways we have become more interactive. All who listen have questions or comments so that we can consider them in the real-time thread. We now have three ways to contact us with your thoughts: www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com, freerangeprayer@gmail.com and responses to our questions on Spotify We begin with a thought that seems to be in the present-day zeitgeist: "Does God really need our prayers...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. In examining the question, "What is Prayer?" We accidentally learn why we pray. Even though no Biblical person asks why we pray? Their lives reveal our anguished need for prayer. We are sinners. Until glory, we struggle with sin. Prayer is the act of faith that assures our soul. We are complex lonely beings, and prayer brings us into the arms of...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freersangpreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Today began as a sad, bewildering day for the podcast's principal. My fleshly mind and inner man battled all morning over going to church. The Holy Spirit won. We had a guest preacher who immediately drew me in, confessing he listens to (reads) primarily dead men. By the end of the sermon, God's providential timing, Psalm 25, and my prayers came...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freersangpreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Spiritual Fathers: "I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning." 1 John 2:13 We get hints about the "possible" content of fathers in the faith? "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing ...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freersangpreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Using 1 John 2:12-14, we discuss the general stages of maturity, children, young men, and fathers. We have seen examples of my childish prayers, and then we say the critical need to ask God to teach us His word in our younger maturity; today we see fathers, or spiritually mature, know most intimately the Father. It takes maturity to obey the most...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freersangpreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Our website: www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com Our first ever commercial… such as it is. In the last several months, through the providence of others, I have been reminded of the first direction of my calling. That direction was the development of tools for fostering our prayer lives. That vision was for journals to spur us ahead. Today, we int...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freersangpreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Back in the Paddock, examining what we can expect of our growing prayer lives. We say the last episode on growth, John in 1 John 2 spiritually speaking, there are children, young men, and fathers. (The Biblical language here is inclusive. Both sexes are included in his exhortation and description.) Today, we examine our "young men" phase in spiri...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freersangpreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Welcome back… We begin with an apology for the delay, and one because I gave some less than accurate information in the last episode. So thank you for your patience, and Jesus did indeed rebuke John and Andrew when they spoke of calling down fire on an unwelcoming village. It seemed a gentle rebuke reminding them of the gentle nature of His kingd...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Our tagline for the last five years is not to encourage, exhort, and perhaps educate (a little) on the type of prayer life that lifts our affections to the abundant life and glorifies God. Today, we look to the apostle John for the Biblical stages he gives us in spiritual growth in general, and then apply those stages to prayer. John outl...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. New web address! - www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com (long but memorable) Today, we consider the questions asked in installment 1 of this episode: What does it look like to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? How can we love someone so much if we rarely or never interact, talk to, or converse with them? The first is open-ended, and t...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab What is prayer? We expand our definition of prayer a little bit, for we do have a history together. Prayer is talking to God, and thats how we begin. It is talking to God, however, with the purpose of flowering our talks into conversation. We consider two passages today, and two questions. Our passages: “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. It doesn't matter where we begin to pray, but that we start to pray. Gratitude alone will not sustain our prayer lives. Our needs will not maintain our prayers. Being told we ought to pray will not sustain our prayer lives. The answer to those prayers is not the answer; our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is getting to know Him and knowing t...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. It doesn't matter where we begin to pray, but that we start to pray. Gratitude alone will not sustain our prayer lives. Our needs will not maintain our prayers. Being told we ought to pray will not sustain our prayer lives. The answer to those prayers is not the answer; our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is getting to know Him and knowing t...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. It doesn't matter where we begin to pray, but that we start to pray. Gratitude alone will not sustain our prayer lives. Our needs will not maintain our prayers. Being told we ought to pray will not sustain our prayer lives. The answer to those prayers is not the answer; our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is getting to know Him and knowing t...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. We have looked at the three main reasons, from my experience and observations, Christians begin to pray. We then asked: Do you remember your first prayers? Of the three reasons given: Do you see any weaknesses in those prayers? (In the context of developing a consistent prayer life) Which one was not like the others? In this installmen...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. We want to look at the big picture of Biblical prayer. When we begin with the parts of prayer, we usually set ourselves up for a longer and more difficult road to our growing, Biblical, dynamic, sincere, and soup-satisfying, God-glorifying prayer life. I have observed three ways Christians typically begin to work on the art of prayer. Today, we...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. We want to look at the big picture of Biblical prayer. When we begin with the parts of prayer, we usually set ourselves up for a longer and more difficult road to our growing, Biblical, dynamic, sincere, and soup-satisfying, God-glorifying prayer life. I have observed three ways Christians typically begin to work on the art of prayer. Today, we see those ways ...

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. In examining the question, "What is Prayer?" We accidentally learn why we pray. Even though no Biblical person asks why we pray? Their lives reveal our anguished need for prayer. We are sinners. Until glory, we struggle with sin. Prayer is the act of faith that assures our soul. We are complex lonely beings, and prayer brings us into t...

In examining the Duty, Glory, and Excellency of prayer, we are reminded that: I am a Sinner. Being human means being complex beyond what we can express or understand. We are lonely beings because of our sins. Added and expanded from our original episode: We are reminded of the essence of sin: "Sin always aims for the worst: each time it tempts or entices, if left unchecked, it would lead to the most extreme sin of that type. Every impure thought or glance would become adultery if it could;...