In one way or another, effective prayer always leads by declaring the supremacy of Jesus’ Name. When Jesus declared, “I AM the Bread of Life,” He gave us one of seven strategically selected names with which He disclosed Himself. Each of the seven are recorded for us in the Gospel of John. “Bread of Life” is the first of the seven great “I AM” statements.  Read More

When you pray, do you lead with Jesus’ Name? Or do you tack it on the end? It’s easy to get in the habit of tacking on Jesus’ Name at the end of prayer. When Jesus constructed His prayer pattern, however, He told us to lead our prayer with Jesus’ Name, and for good reason. Jesus’ Name clears the atmosphere and properly establishes His authority as we pray.  Read More

Declaring the deity of Christ in prayer is absolutely essential. Without it, our prayers will never get off the ground. Early in Jesus’ ministry, He was questioned by the religious leaders who were trying to diminish His self importance by degrading Him as one less than Abraham, like all the rest of the Jews. Jesus responded with unequivocal clarity, invoking the double oath of, “truly, truly,” and then making the profoundly revealing statement, “Before Abraham was, I, I AM.” When Jesus clearly stated His own deity, the Jews immediately picked up stones to kill Him, but Jesus walked quickly away from them.  Read More

The early disciples came to know Jesus better following His ascension into heaven than they did when they lived with Him for three years. The words, "He is not here, for He has risen," pointed them to the new normal. Think about it. The disciples never understood that Jesus would die, be raised from the dead, and then ascend to Heaven, even though Jesus told them many times. Now they experience the shock of their lives! This is one of the greatest a-ha moments in history.  Read More

Today is a unique day on the Christian calendar-- the day between the Friday of Christ’s crucifixion and the Sunday of His resurrection. As you take time today to identify with Christ, consider what it means to be buried with Him. This may seem like a morbid reflection, but it is entirely accurate as well as profitable. When Christ was crucified, your old sin nature was crucified with Him. When Christ was buried, your old sin nature was buried with Him. And when Christ was raised, you too were raised with Him in a new life.   Read More

Today is known as Good Friday, the day on the Christian calendar when we pause to honor the crucified Christ. At 12 noon that day, darkness was over the entire land until 3 PM. Not only did the sun seem to be extinguished, but something else equally phenomenal took place in the temple-- the enormously thick tapestry that separated the holy place from the holy of holies was torn right down the middle.  Read More

On the Christian calendar, today is what is known as Monday Thursday, or the Thursday prior to the crucifixion when Jesus gave the mandate to love one another. This was a major upper room encounter for Jesus and his disciples. Every upper room encounter with Christ affirms our true identity. There is no place on earth where we discover who we are more than in the upper room. Once Christ shows us our true identity, we are willing to stoop to anything to serve others.  Read More

On this day, March 31, in the year of our Lord 1739, John Wesley preached his first sermon. He stood in an open field as he preached his heart out. On that day, many responded to Christ. This sermon was the first of over 40,000 sermons John Wesley would preach. Although only 5 foot, 3 inches tall, and weighing a mere 128 pounds, Wesley was a spiritual giant. He traveled nearly 250,000 miles, mostly on horseback, wrote approximately 250 books and tracks, and had a most significant impact for Christ.  Read More

As you pray for your pastor today, would you ask God to set him on fire? On this day, March 30, in the year of our Lord 1596, four hundred ministers met in Edinburgh, Scotland for a Concert of Prayer. They interceded for the nation of Scotland as they openly and humbly confess sin before God. Within an hour, the Holy Spirit moved upon the entire group, and they responded with sobs and moans and contrite hearts. They wept before God for hours. Over the next four hours many were converted to Christ. This extended, concerted prayer of pastors became a pattern that spread throughout Scotland. And it began on March 30!  Read More

As you pray today, it is important to declare the supremacy of Christ. On the night of His execution Christ was put on trial by the Jews. The High Priest asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61), to which Jesus replied in a most profound way. In His native Greek language, He declared two words of unmistakable distinction, “Ego Eimi,” which literally means, “I, I AM.” Jesus was the only person in history to ever make this declaration, using these words of dramatic emphasis. The High Priest knew immediately what He was saying as Christ declared Himself to be God, the great I AM.  Read More

If you are having trouble loving someone, the problem may be more of a spiritual issue than a relational issue. Perhaps you have noticed the ingenuity of God in strategically placing extra-grace-required people right next to you in order to show you your own limitations. Only God can give you an I-never-met-anyone-I-couldn’t-love empowerment.  Read More

There are not many times in the Gospels where we find Jesus this impressed with someone’s faith. During His earthly ministry, Jesus was a faith connoisseur with a high aptitude at recognizing someone’s faith or lack thereof. What’s surprising about Jesus’ comment on the man’s faith is not the fact that Jesus had the ability to see beneath the surface into the man’s heart; what is surprising is who the man was and who he was not!  Read More

When Christ was physically here on earth, He was able to spot faith a mile away. It was as if He had a faith-Geiger counter inside His chest that would start to vibrate whenever He got close to faith.  Read More

Most of us have faced dark moments when we have beaten ourselves up for having weak faith. We reason that since faith is required in order to get anything from God, when we are desperate for a miracle, we think we need to pump up our faith into a heightened state of optimism. Tragically, this happens most often when we are already in a life-crisis like an emergency room at the hospital when our loved one is in surgery. What a burden this can be!  Read More

As you grow in Christ, you grow in faith and as you grow in faith, you grow in Christ. It’s not one without the other, but it is one in front of the other. When it comes to faith-building, you want Jesus to go first.  Read More

As you read the Bible today and as you listen for the voice of the faith-building Holy Spirit, be prepared to gain new faith. Much like a newly planted seed in the compost heap, the Word of God is looking for even the smallest element of faith inside your chest cavity in which to germinate.  Read More

At the young age of 12 years, Edwards entered Yale College and graduated Valedictorian at the head of his class. He went on to become the third president of Princeton University. These facts are common knowledge. What is not as commonly known is that Edwards frequently encountered the manifest presence of Christ.  Read More

During Jesus’ discipleship ministry, He did not rebuke His disciples often. In fact, there is only one reason for which He ever rebuked His disciples—because of their unbelief. He rebuked them three times for being, “an unbelieving, sinful generation.” (Matthew 17:17, Mark 9:19, Luke 9:41) He rebuked them six times for their, “little faith.” (See Matthew 6:30, 8:26, 14:31, 16:8, 17:10, Luke 12:28).  Read More

On this day, March 20, in the year of our Lord 1858, Burton’s Theater in New York City, New York, was filled with the manifest presence of Christ. Three thousand people were miraculously converted in a single service. What a day!  Read More

“Lord, I believe.” This is always a good place to start. God not only wants you to trust Him, He wants you to express your trust in Him. No matter how small your faith is, the more you use it, the more it will grow.  Read More

Patrick was born in England, not Ireland. When he was 16 years of age, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and held captive for four years. After he escaped God appeared to him in a dream and told him to forgive his captors and to return back to Ireland where he would serve them as a missionary.  Read More

Hudson Taylor was unquestionably a man of great faith. During his lifetime, he recorded thousands of specific answers to prayer. He was known to pray-in hundreds of thousands of dollars at just the right time from unknown sources. It was his policy to never mention a financial need publicly; he took all of his financial needs directly to the throne of God in prayer. With God as his Provider, he never went hungry.  Read More

Some people pray with a whimper. Some casually knock. Some seek if they have nothing better to do. Others, however, ask as if their life depended on it; they strain every nerve as they are seeking, and they knock until their knuckles are raw.  Read More

Everyone prays, but not everyone is devoted to prayer. A person who dabbles in prayer dabbles in the manifest presence of Christ. Anyone who dabbles in God’s presence has obviously missed the point. Those who are devoted to prayer are normally those who are devoted to God’s presence.  Read More