Bob Greene

[Carey Nieuwhof @cnieuwhof]

What if I said Christians should stop saying the phrase "prayer works"

WAIT 🛑 Hear me out...

Do prayers work? Should we really stop saying that prayer works?

Well, yes and no.

Most people who say prayer works these days really mean God did what I wanted him to do. As if prayer was a button to be pushed to release exactly what they wanted from the vending machine.

Prayer does ‘work,’ but it works very differently than we’d like. Prayer works as a relationship to be pursued; NOT as a button to be pushed.

It still ‘works’…

👉🏻 When the opposite of what we prayed for happens.
👉🏻 In those moments when we feel very distant from God.
👉🏻 When we bang down the door of heaven for years and are not sure anything is going on up there at all.
👉🏻 Prayer is not a button to be pushed; it’s a relationship to be pursued. SHARE ON X

There are scores of people inside and outside the church whose spirits are crushed because they prayed (fervently) and…

👉🏻 They didn’t get the job.
👉🏻 Their mom died of cancer.
👉🏻 Their child was born without a heartbeat.
👉🏻 They ended up in a car crash that left them permanently disabled.
👉🏻 Prayer doesn’t ‘work’ because I got what I wanted and they didn’t.

The parade of saints across the centuries would have been shocked to see prayer reduced to God-doing-what-I-asked-him-to-do-when-I-asked-him-to-do-it. God is not a puppy to be trained or a chef in the kitchen who prepares food to suit our every whim. He is sovereign.

I think Christians can take consolation in the fact that when we pray, we often don’t know what to pray for or even how to pray, yet the Scriptures tell us the Holy Spirit will translate the prayer into something better than we could phrase at the moment.

So pour your heart out to God. Prayers work, but we should pray about the things the scripture says are close to God’s heart. And when something ‘goes your way,’ be grateful and offer it back to the God who gave it to you.

And when things don’t go your way, understand that God is still very much in control and very much loves you. Just because God is silent doesn’t mean God is absent.

[Nicky Gumbel @nickygumbel]

#thoughtfortheday #bibleinoneyear

[Peter Anderson @peteedinburgh2]

Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.

[Timothy Keller (1950-2023) @timkellernyc]

The greatest nightmare of the approval addict is rejection; of the power addict, humiliation; of the comfort addict, suffering; and of the control addict, uncertainty.

[Jonathan Leeman @JonathanLeeman]

Josh Manley, a pastor in UAE, has been emailing and messaging with pastors in Afghanistan over the last couple of days and hours. Here's how they're asking you to pray. https://t.co/LwDowKwBsL

[Northwood Church @NorthWoodChurch]

Jesus calls us to a pilgrimage, not a mission. A pilgrim is on a journey, experiencing Jesus in relationship—not a task that must be completed. @bobrobertsjr

[Bob Greene @drbobgreene]

Most leaders are perfectly prepared for a world that no longer exists. https://t.co/TQ7cJh8vXg via @cnieuwhof

[Timothy Keller (1950-2023) @timkellernyc]

The issue on which everything stands is not whether or not you like Christianity, but whether or not He rose from the dead.

[Bob Greene @drbobgreene]

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” –George Müller

[Jon Acuff @JonAcuff]

Perfectionism is just fear wearing a tuxedo. It masquerades as a character trait, as if it's an asset, but it's not. It's a poison that pretends to be a vitamin.

[Rich Stearns @RichStearns]

The best 17 minutes you will spend today. Understanding institutional racism in seventeen minutes. Thank you Phil Vischer!

[Mark R. Levin @marklevinshow]

Anonymous Berkeley professor shreds BLM injustice narrative
https://t.co/o12THcmxwD

[Bob Goff @bobgoff]

Loving people the way Jesus did means constantly taking cuts to the back of the line.

[Grant Huhn @granthuhn]

@HenriNouwen One of my favorite quotes is:

"Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference."

[Tony Campolo @TonyCampolo]

Today, @TonyCampolo shares his first experience anointing with oil and praying for healing. And, he presents how he ultimately learned what real healing looks like.
Check out the latest edition of the @CampoloCenter's video series:
https://t.co/yqUtipQWJu

[Jon Gordon @JonGordon11]

A friend shared this with me. Not sure who created it. I love it and it’s a must share.

[Jeremy C. Young @jeremycyoung]

It's easy to get people to come together in common sacrifice in the middle of a war. It's very hard to get them to do so in a pandemic that looks invisible precisely because suppression methods are working. But that's exactly what we're going to have to do. /end

[Renovaré @renovare]

"The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark." —Henri Nouwen

[C. S. Lewis @CSLewisDaily]

“We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” – C.S. Lewis