Kie Bowman

Whether you fast one day, one week, one month, or longer, the goal of fasting is to disconnect from worldly distractions and prayerfully seek God. During your fast, indulge deeply in the reading of Scripture and longer seasons of private prayer. In addition, any opportunity to join with other believers in heartfelt praise, worship, and singing to the Lord will strengthen you spiritually. 

The baseball legend Yogi Berra offered humorous and seemingly contradictory advice when he said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” All of us come to proverbial “forks in the road” when the choices we should make or the directions we should take are not immediately obvious.

The late Tom Petty was right: "The waiting is the hardest part." Unfortunately, even prayer frequently requires waiting. The trouble is, we’re not patient. In fact, Americans are so impatient that recent studies can pinpoint what we’re most impatient about and how long it takes for us to grow agitated when waiting. 

The 20th century was witness to some remarkable lives, but few were so universally admired as the Albanian nun known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India. Her work with the poorest and the most vulnerable people on earth gave her a moral authority rarely seen in modern Western culture. 

Reading books on prayer is an important way to motivate your own prayer life. Since this is true, which ones should you read? Rather than merely reviewing titles, let’s look at some categories. 

Pete Greig is a pastor, author, and the principal founder of 24/7 Prayer, a movement which now operates in about half the countries on earth.  When asked why he and his small congregation south of London started the first 24/7 prayer room in 1999, he said it was because they figured prayer was important and “we were really, really bad at it.”

Judith Greenberg, Ph.D., is not an evangelical. In fact, she is not even a Christian. She claims to be an atheist. Professor Greenberg studied at Yale and described herself as “a New York Upper West Side liberal, [and] a firm believer in science and rationality.”

Most of us agree with John Maxwell’s well-known adage, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” By that definition, the pastor’s leadership influences the ministry of the local church. This is particularly true in building a culture of prayer. Your culture determines your future, so it cannot be left to chance. 

There are about 20 biblical examples of Jesus praying. Here are 3 that serve as lessons for our prayer lives.

A large number of Americans are optimistic about personal change. We make resolutions and set goals even though we are generally terrible at keeping them.