As I’ve spoken on the different prayer types with folks, there are two that seem especially remarkable to people. More than any others, these two seem to stop people in their tracks and draw them to say, “I need more of that.” In this post, we’ll unpack listening prayer.

You may remember the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus (and probably his disciples) visit the home of these two sisters. True to custom, sister Martha busies herself to serve her guests,...

Psalm 84 says, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty.”

So you may have dreams for different parts of your life—your dream marriage, your dream children, your dream friends, your dream job, your dream house, your dream body, your dream bank account, your dream retirement. We could go on.

But let me ask you—have you thought about your "dream" prayer life?

Psalm 84 says, “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD.”

We have many...

We’re in this series on taking a coach approach to prayer. Last week you answered some questions about your prayer life. This week I’m going to share something personal. Usually a coach doesn’t divulge much about his own life—the coach approach is all about the client.

But the point is worth making, and the story important to tell, in making it.

A few Christmases ago, I visited the hospital with chest pains. I was 36 with a wife and three children at home. The chest...

If you want to get more from your prayer life, you’ve got to work on your prayer life. It’s that simple. There’s no magic pill. A way to work on your prayer life is by taking a coach approach to prayer.

Taking a coach approach means you get curious about your prayer life. You begin by asking, “Where am I now?” This is the “present” question. It wonders about your current reality. What is the present state of your prayer life? How are you getting...

I’m on a kick to read books on employee engagement. My reading list for the New Year is full of them. As the head of our company’s human resources function, my role is help drive employee engagement. The reason is simple—when employees are engaged, everyone wins.

So how do we drive engagement?

In his book, The Truth About Employee Engagement, Patrick Lencioni shares three causes of “job misery” (what a wonderful, yet terrible term). If you’ve ever been...

Although spiritual gifts are one of God’s ways to build a healthy Church, many Christians aren’t operating in them.

• They don’t know what a spiritual gift is.
• They don’t know what a spiritual gift is not.
• They don’t know what their spiritual gift is.

And consequently, the Church isn’t benefiting from their gift nor is the individual experiencing joy from operating in their gift. The Body is dismembered.

But the Bible exhorts us to pursue spiritual gifts...

When I was a senior in college, I struggled with depression.

It started as a deep gray feeling, then widened and darkened into a black abyss. I lived with five of my college friends, but felt all alone. It got so bad I dropped out of school and entered treatment.

The doctors said I had suffered from low grade depression for years. I don’t know if this was true, but it’s what they said. Apparently I had a knack for coping. But this current season of depression, this slick and...

Praying the Bible is praying the words of the Bible as your prayer. God’s words become the content of your conversation with him. You say his words back to him, and as you do, you tap into the ancient words that are alive. And when you do, you connect with the generations before you who prayed God’s Word.

You pray like Joshua. Joshua was the leader who took over for Moses on the Israelite’s forty-year exodus out of slavery and into destiny. The former slaves were on their...

Life is a process of becoming more aware of yourself and others. As you do, you become more effective at life and work. As you pay attention to those around you, you notice different types of people.

Understanding things like what drives them, how they communicate, how they contribute, what they need, and what can be their downfall, will help you as you relate to them.

In addition, it may be helpful to see examples from the Bible, key verses, and a word to remember.

Everyone is different, and...

One morning I sat down to spend time with God.

Sometimes I make a specific appointment with him and other times I don’t. I’ve found that he’s flexible and can always see me on a whim. I don’t know how he does this with such a full schedule, but I’m grateful.

Our time didn’t start off well. Yeah, I showed up, which is an accomplishment because half the time we make plans, I ditch. But here, now, something was off. We didn’t have the usual...