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Fasting That Transforms: A Sacred Rhythm for Real Breakthrough
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 Shower of Prayer
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?
Theological Study as a Spiritual Practice
Be honest – what is your first reaction when you hear the word “theology”?
Some of you might have internally eye-rolled – no judgment if you did! Many perceive theology as a quaint hobby akin to stamp-collecting. In this view, theology is a relic of a bygone era, detached from “real life.”
Or maybe you find yourself drawn to theology, but you assume serious study is not for you – or maybe it was for you if you’ve been to seminary, but those days are now behind you. In this view, theology is for academics and is, once again, detached from real life.
Or maybe your reaction was a different one altogether. Maybe you recoiled. Maybe “theology” is what was thrown in your face to attempt to exclude you from ministry. That has certainly …
Lectio Divina
As a child, I loved the Bible stories. They told of far-off times and places. And the people taught us about qualities that were good and noble. Despite the fact that I grew up in a Unitarian church, God was part of the tradition. We had a creed, short though it was, and it included “the leadership of Jesus.” Of course, I had no idea that Jesus was much more than a leader.
The only time I had a glimpse of something bigger was through…
Prayer Driving
Prayer walk? When am I going to find the time for that? I recently watched a blog on the fact that there would be an official New England prayer walk day at the end of May. I was inspired and wanted to participate, but when could I carve out the time?
I don’t know about you, but I spend more time in my car than I do walking outside.
Don’t get me wrong. I love walking and noticing God’s beautiful creation, especially in spring when I literally stop and smell the flowers, but with…
Journaling as a Spiritual Discipline
The Spiritual Discipline of Journaling helps us reflect on God’s faithfulness in the past to build trust for the present. Reflecting is about building perseverance based on what God has done so we can keep pressing forward (James 1:2-4).
The Prayer of Examen
Since we have the Spirit within us, we too can expect God will meet us where we are in the throes of daily life with all its joys and challenges. Even if the life we have right now is not the one we would choose, God is right there in our midst. Since we aren’t necessarily good at recognizing him in the ordinary, examining our day with him can be a help. The Prayer of Examen, a spiritual practice developed by Ignatius of Loyola in 1522, allows us to discern his presence and promptings and gives us insights into living and responding with grace.
3 Things I Remembered from My First By Design Retreat
After over 25 years in ministry author Kim Findlay attended her first women’s retreat with By Design. Initially excited, she soon felt nervous and insecure, unsure how to simply “be” instead of lead. Encouraged to let God minister to her, she was reminded that God desires her heart, not just her deeds. God showed her three important things:
“But I’m Not a Leader” - By Design’s Philosophy of Participation
Have you ever considered attending a By Design Ministries event but hesitated at the sight of the word “leader” or a registration question asking you to list the position of leadership you hold in your church or organization? Wherever God has you right now, you are leading and influencing others for the Kingdom.
Why I Stopped Praying for Clarity
We’ve all heard the admonitions “Be careful what you wish for” and “Never pray for patience.” But more problematic for me is my tendency to ask God for clarity in unclear situations … and my ensuing frustration when it doesn’t come.
When my oldest was in high school, a well-meaning adult encouraged her not to worry about her future by reminding her it was in God’s hands. As my daughter said to me later,
Identity
We have so many labels for ourselves. Labels we are given, labels we claim, labels we try to get away from. We sometimes confuse our labels with our identity, thinking we are good or bad based on our performance in those areas, and we lose focus on who we are called to be. It can bring hopelessness into our lives. Thoughts like “I will never be good enough” and “There will always be someone better” enter our minds, and we are left confused.
Being Phoebe: What It Takes to Be a Woman of God
Do you ever feel like you’re tied up in knots trying to be everything everywhere all at once?
Maybe you’re a mom or a grandmom, and you really want to be there for your family whatever their current needs. Your employer has needs, too — ones you’ve been hired to meet. And what about the church or parachurch organization you volunteer for? There’s so much to do and so little of you to go around.
But how can you step down when there are too few willing to step up?
Motherhood Is Our Weakness
Dear moms: “My strength is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Here is our trap: We knowingly and unknowingly view motherhood as our strength. But motherhood is our weakness. We think that we can plan and prepare and dream and structure in such a way as to carve and mold out the children’s hearts that we dream of. But we ...
Summer Sampler: Unexpected to Unbelievable!
I love living in New England, and I welcome the diversity of all four seasons. The new birth of buds blossoming, the splash of salted waters, painted crisp fall leaves, and a fresh snow blanket descending from the sky.
Not so welcome are the unexpected seasons/storms that abruptly knock at our doorstep. Yet we all have those uninvited visitors barging in. For some it may be a …
Summer Sampler: Persevering in Our Suffering
Forty years ago, I began my journey of growing in the knowledge of God’s gracious provision of persevering endurance through my health challenges. In the spring of 1983 – my sophomore year in college – my kidneys began failing. I began dialysis in July of ’85, and after six months I received my first cadaveric transplant. Nine years later when…
Summer Sampler: Persevering with Perspective
Wars. Protests. Rebel takeovers. Tornadoes. Floods. World leaders denying wrongdoing. Innocent people suffering. Lives and homes destroyed. All these events and their repercussions are just one day’s news.
We can be alarmed and anxious, and say, “Surely Jesus must come back soon!” But we also want to know the best way to live each day when such horrible things are going on in the world.
One thing I’ve learned from living in big cities like New York City and London, where worrying events make headlines on a regular basis, is …
Summer Sampler: A Shattered Faith
In the mid-1980s, “Stress Test Biofeedback Cards” were all the rage. They were plastic cards with a colored scale and a testing square – you held the card with your thumb lightly pressing on the square and counted to 10. The color of the square told your stress score.
I think my stress square might be stuck on black based on the last 10 years of my life.
Summer Sampler: Gratitude in the Midst
In the mid-1980s, “Stress Test Biofeedback Cards” were all the rage. They were plastic cards with a colored scale and a testing square – you held the card with your thumb lightly pressing on the square and counted to 10. The color of the square told your stress score.
I think my stress square might be stuck on black based on the last 10 years of my life.
Summer Sampler: Journey to the Summit
“I would rather die.”
People asked, was I serious? Totally. When the surgeon told me I had a ruptured bowel and I needed a colostomy bag, I refused. The hospital staff said they would make me comfortable until the end. That’s when my family came over the top.
They took my hands, begging me to continue fighting. I thought, “What’s the point?” I had stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer with not long to live. Finally, …
Summer Sampler: In His Grip While in the “In Between”
Celebrate the seasons –– a time for everything! Solomon trumpets this theme in Ecclesiastes, championing that each season will be made beautiful in its time with God as its designer.
There are only a few people in scripture for whom we have the privilege of celebrating their seasons over a lifetime: Moses, Joshua, David, and Mary, to name a few.
But we have seasons of our lives as well! Seasons come and seasons go. Some arrive suddenly –– with the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a sudden move to a new city –– the plot twists of life we never see coming. Other seasons arrive so gradually that we barely notice we’ve entered a new season. When did…