Episodes

Does the Author of Scripture have any content for us as we pray for brothers and sisters we love, have lost contact with, and may never see again, and may never have met? :And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying, 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the gentle...

As children of God, we are guided by the author of Scripture, and our Father leads us to a personal prayer. This same prayer, when extended to others, becomes a powerful tool of unity and connection in our spiritual community. This year, as in the previous two… Acts 20:24 "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."… Has made...

Is it appropriate for one person, maybe you, to confess the corporate sins of your Christian culture? The Author of Scripture, moving on Daniel and Nehemiah, is worth listening to. "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have...

The truth is, I am not all that smart, but one thing I do know beyond all doubt is "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." John 17:3 Nothing is better in the whole world, and our converse with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit also carries us through the deepest valleys. Thank You, Jesus! Our meditation for today: How might we apply these passages to our prayer lives? Move on is Holy Spirit. Now faith is the assurance of...

Day 5 of our October Surprise 2024 One of my most tremendous encouragements to increasing my faith is: "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, 'I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU, AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.' 15 And thus, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 In the same way God, desiring even...

My best days are many times sleepless nights. God has often made the most resounding impact on His hard-headed slave -me- through sleepless nights wrestling with Him. This delayed episode is just one occasion of God's work on a dull hearer. We will see how dangerous it is to believe we pray primarily to get what we want. We follow Balak and Balaam as they persist in prayer, which is clearly against God's will. Ploy 1: Everyone thinks it's a good idea. Ploy 2: Really distinguished men think...

Day 4 of our October Surprise! We saw yesterday Faith, Hope, and Love will Abide. They abide now and for eternity. How, though, do we know God, the God of the Bible, can bring about His glorious promises to us? Two witnesses today: 1. Power Unfathomable: The greatest injustice ever in the universe was the murder on the cross of Jesus the Messiah. The most glorious sacrifice ever given was Jesus' death on the cross for our eternal good. 2. Power Unimaginable: "In the beginning, God create...

Prayer is my personal testimony. Prayer brings us into a true fellowship and community, which, we like to say in my culture, brings us to a close bond with our holy God. He is Creator of the universe, which makes it awesome. He is our savior, which makes us humble and rejoicing; he's the sustainer of our lives, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This podcast tells of all the mercies and joys God has given me, undeserving as I am. But all those things were opened up by talking to him honestly and open...

Day 2 of our 2024 October Surprise: today, we trust the Holy Spirit to apply His word to our hearts, with minimum input from your host/principal. Our So What:? How might the following passages, given us by men moved by the Holy Spirit, inform our prayer concerns? "Many other signs, therefore, Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and th...

"The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." 2 Timothy 4:18 This one verse helps us learn to pray as we walk through how using The Foundational Blocks of Biblical Prayer can lead us to find God, our circumstances, and how we might intercede to God for ourselves and others through a mega-comforting concept from the promises of God. As we mature in our Christian lives, our sins, even ones we though...

Day 1 of our October surprise, this year, we focus on what the author of the Bible says to help sharpen our prayers. Our personal prayers and those we intercede for should be informed by the God-head, Biblically, the Holy Spirit. The witness of Scripture is that God should be the very heart of our lives, and we are designed and renewed to listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance in our prayers. The author of the Bible: "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of on...

We kick off our introduction to our “October Surprise - 2024” by welcoming Romanian listeners and one other country to be named later. Thank you to all of you in Romania and all our new listeners. If we are to consider as serious, "Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’” We agree with Jeremiah Burroughs he con...

We are back today to be tutored again by the Holy Spirit in the art of prayer, as directed through The Foundational Blocks of Biblical Prayer. As we diligently seek conversation with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we long today to find where God is, what of our lives we might find in, and how we might worship, confess, give thanks and request of our King, Savior, and Teacher through Psalm 102:11-16 "11 My days are like a lengthened shadow; And I wither away like grass. 12 But Thou, O LORD, ...

Growing - Encouragement and Edification (repub.) 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 our heavenly Father, who knows us, holds us, and comforts us. Some of my favorite prayer...

Welcome to our supplemental series on using and encouraging The Foundational Blocks of Biblical Prayer, a series of demonstrations using the Free Range Preacher's prayer journal. Reality: God's mercies have sustained me through this Christian sojourn through our conversation. The Foundational Blocks of Biblical Prayer lay the Biblical underpinnings for our converse with Holy God and then provide opportunities to build on those underpinnings, leading us through the Psalms. Our So What? The Ho...

Welcome to Portugal, the oldest nation in Europe, I have it on reliable information, and one of the movers in the Age of Discovery. We are glad you are listening! "Whatever Leads us to prayer is a good thing." One of the earliest sermons I read, as a novice Christian from Charles Spurgeon, and he included all manner of negative circumstances. We also include your hosts concerns. My confession is my problem with two "prayer movements" I am undecided on. Primarily, I am troubled with movements a...

Today, we highlight Brazil, a country with a fascinating history, and we learn one little thing about Dom Pedro I. More importantly, as I know a little of the countries where there are listeners to our podcast, I am amazed by the intricate web of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ there really is. Thank you to all our listeners in Brazil! In part one on what a dynamic relationship, prayer life, looks like we consider three concepts: We expect truth in our conversation with Almighty Go...

We learn some surprising, to me facts about Qatar, and Bahrain! Eternal life is a dynamic life. "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. The very fact that we are learning to know and apprehend our Creator and Savior is an active process and will be for all eternity. The import of our new life in Christ means it is a real relationship we have and, therefore, dynamic. It only follows then as we learn of Him; through communion...

This is an episode from the past. (Different title) We have cleaned up the audio; thank You, Jesus! We walk and pray by faith. So important is faith to our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, who repeats Himself, that the righteous walk by faith. Believing Him causes great rejoicing.. We rejoice and draw close to our Savior, the great I AM, as he strengthens our faith through the struggles of Jacob. We follow Jacob, who says: "…You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more,...

This episode is a repeat of our episode on forgiveness. This episode was well received, and as you will hear, praying that 2023 will be a year of Jubilee and Forgiveness and revisiting just how serious God is about His children forgiving as we have been forgiven seems like a good idea. Thank You, Jesus! The host is weak, faltering, and wholly inadequate for the task, but the word of God is none of those. The call for the children of God to forgive is serious, and the Bible uses: Seri...

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 our heavenly Father, who knows us, holds us, and comforts us. Some of my favorite prayers: Hannah, 1 Samuel 1. Fathers calling out for their child...

Housekeeping, you can now buy "The Foundational Blocks of Biblical Prayer" on Amazon books and Kindle; it is available in printed and ebook formats! If you are looking for a Biblical tool to begin, sharpen, or help others, please check out "The Foundational Blocks of Biblical Prayer." Today, we look at our Biblical prayers. There are precepts and commands covering prayer, the grammar of prayer we sometimes call it, but what of the tenor, or mood, or the affections that characterize our prayer...

When your host struggles in seasons of conviction of my sins, there is a pattern, and it is not is not joyful. There are two millstone attitudes that grind, this principal to discouragement. I tell myself, "I should be better than this," and "I am failing in the worthy walk." Neither of these self-accusations brings me closer to obedience or joy; just the opposite is true. Neither helps me love God more, either. You might say they are counterproductive. Confession and repentance i...