The Way Home: J.D. Greear prayer and leadership

Today, J.D. Greear joins me again on The Way Home podcast. J.D. is the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and the senior pastor of The Summit Church in North Carolina. J.D. Greear wrote a new book called “Just Ask: The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer.” On this […]

Pray for Hobby Lobby

Tomorrow is a consequential day in the history of religious liberty. The United States Supreme Court is taking up a case involving two Christian-owned businesses: Hobby Lobby Stores and Conastoga Woods. Hobby Lobby, of course, is the most prominent of these two companies. The conflict is this: can the government compel a business to endorse […]

The God (little “g”) in Your Pocket

I was talking to my mother last week about the readily available technology we have in our smart phones. She was telling me, half-joking, “I can always Google something. So if I’m in a conversation and I don’t know what they are talking about, I can quietly Google it and sound smart.” We laughed, because […]

The Lord’s Prayer and the Self-Made Man

In America, we pride ourselves on our rugged independence. We’re a self-made people. There is much good in this kind of pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps way of life. Hard work and ingenuity are hard-wired into the Creation mandate by a God who gave man the gift of work in the garden and who commanded him to “subdue” the […]

5 People We Should Pray For Even Though We Don’t Want To

Let’s be honest. There are certain types of people we are conditioned, by our culture, to not like. These are the people that nobody is going to give us credit for liking, the people we tend to distance ourselves from. For good reason. And yet, these are the sinners Christ most likely would have sought […]

My Prayer Before the Illinois General Assembly

I had the honor of delivering the convocation on Monday afternoon before the Illinois General Assembly in Springfield. I was graciously invited by the state representative whose district includes Gages Lake, Rep. Sam Yingling. I brought my eight-year old daughter, Grace. We are kindly hosted down in Springfield by my friends, Dan and Linda Anderson […]

Prayer That Starts With God

On Sunday I started a brand-new series on the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) entitled, “Teach Us to Pray.” Let’s remember that this is not a prayer Jesus prays, but that a prayer He offers for his disciples to pray. One of the things that really strikes me about Jesus’ model prayer is just how God-centered this […]

Friday Five: Andrew Wheeler

Today I’m delighted to talk about prayer with my good friend, Andrew R. Wheeler. Andrew organizes the prayer ministry of the elders and Sunday service teams for Willow Creek Community Church–McHenry County. A member of the Church Prayer Leaders Network, he maintains the website Together in Prayer as a resource for churches growing in prayer […]

5 Ways to Pray for Your Church

A couple weeks ago I wrote a blog, How to Help Your Church. It was one of the most popular posts of this year so far, perhaps because it struck a chord with pastors and church leaders working hard to serve God’s people. Interestingly, I wrote a similar post a few years ago. However it […]

John Chrysostom on the Power of Prayer

  The potency of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, it has bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the fates of heaven, assuaged diseases, dispelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested […]

Friday Five: Craig Von Busek

Today I have the privilege of interviewing my friend, Craig von Buseck. Craig is the Ministries Director for CBN.com, one of the largest Christian websites in the world. He is a prolific writer and popular speaker. His latest book, Praying the News has recently been released by Regal. Today, more than ever, we are inundated […]

Friday Five Interview: Jennifer Kennedy Dean

When my first book was published, I remember attending my very first ICRS (then it was call CBA Convention). It was in Indianapolis and I had a radio interview scheduled. I was as nervous as a cat. I had just driven 5 hours from Chicago area, got a speeding ticket, and was a bit overwhelmed […]