God’s call to rest, to be still and know that he is God, is a calendared event as well as a disposition of the heart. For my husband Dave and me, in addition to our daily quiet times, it is the primary spiritual discipline that has set the sails for our marriage, family life, and ministry. It includes Sabbath rest, commanded and modeled in Genesis 2:2-3, where the pattern of six plus one in the week was established. But it is also nestled against the backdrop of …

Fasting is a powerful but often neglected spiritual discipline. In a culture full of noise, indulgence, and distraction, fasting helps us realign with God’s heart. 

Jesus said, “When you fast …” (Matthew 6:16). Not as a suggestion, but as a rhythm of spiritual transformation and intimacy. 

While fasting is typically associated with completely refraining from food for a set period of time, that is only one of the ways to fast. There is also, for example, a

A young girl laid her head down to sleep, the whispered words of a prayer on her lips: “Dear God, could you please let Miguel kiss me beneath the basketball hoop tomorrow at recess. Amen.”

This little girl’s prayer did not come true. I know this because it was mine, and no recess romance would ever bloom between Miguel and me. What would eventually come of these innocent words was a deep sense of shame and guilt. How could I have said such a thing to God? How sinful. How embarrassing! Combine this with the fact that most nights I’d fall asleep before saying amen, and I truly thought I was a failure at prayer.

Can you imagine?