Tag: Praying

Digging in Deeper: 1 Thessalonians 5:17

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“…pray without ceasing…”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Pray without ceasing?  What on earth is this supposed to look like?  Are we supposed to be on our knees 24/7?  Are we to go around talking to God all the time such that people will always wonder if we are talking to ourselves like someone talking to a Bluetooth headset out in public?  How are we supposed to give our full attention to other things that demand it if we are praying constantly?  Clearly, I’m not as faithful a follower of Jesus as I should be.  Have you ever thought like this before? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 106:16-17

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“When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Reading through verses 16-31 here leaves a couple of strong impressions, both of which are important for us today.

The first is that the people of Israel were stupid.  There were times they were misled and times they were weak or short-sighted and even times when they were deceived.  But on many occasions they made the wrong decision in full awareness of the consequences and without any prodding from the enemy.  They were stupid.  They turned away from the Lord constantly.  And they did it in spite of what we can now see as His obvious action in their midst.  They did it in spite of experiencing the consequences of such actions in ways that were both dramatic and, often, immediate.  It’s like they were dead set on going their own way instead of in the direction the Lord was leading them.  They couldn’t even receive the good things He wanted to give them.  Again, they were stupid. Read the rest…