Tag Archives: prayer

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 2)

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Public Worship and Private Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

we began a short series looking at why public worship is better than private worship. Public worship is the gathered, corporate worship of the church. Private worship includes smaller, informal times of worship apart from the ordinary worship of the church, including (in my view at least) personal Bible study, personal prayer, and family worship.… Continue Reading

A postscript on Biblical discernment

A postscript on Biblical discernment

Last October I wrapped up my eight-part series on Biblical discernment (parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 8), and I thought I would now, in retrospect, add a brief postscript to that series simply demonstrating that my position is not novel. A couple years ago Scott Aniol introduced to me Matthew Henry’s book on prayer,  A Method for Prayer. I strongly… Continue Reading

The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer

The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer

This entry is part 3 of 18 in the series Books Every Conservative (and Liberal) Christian Should Read You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” “It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute… Continue Reading

Discernment as spiritual wisdom and understanding (Part 3)

Discernment as spiritual wisdom and understanding (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series Discernment for the Glory of God You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is a series on Christian discernment. My first post argued that Christian discernment is necessary for living for the glory of God (Phil 1:9-11). Last week I argued that the ability to choose between right and wrong is a crucial part of spiritual worship to God in living holy lives (Rom 12:1-2). In Romans… Continue Reading

Rambling thoughts on corporate prayer

Rambling thoughts on corporate prayer

Matthew Henry said, “It is taken for granted that all the disciples of Christ pray. As soon as ever Paul was converted, behold he prayeth. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray.” Luther said, “Prayer . . . is as strictly and… Continue Reading

Some Things To Consider Including in Your Worship – Planned Prayers

Some Things To Consider Including in Your Worship – Planned Prayers

This entry is part 6 of 11 in the series Some Things To Consider Including in Your Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

In the free worship tradition, almost nothing is as frowned upon as the idea of prayers that are read or planned. These are seen as the embodiment of vain repetitions, and a clear sign of dead formalism and mindless liturgicalism. For years, I thought that unrehearsed, spontaneous, off-the-cuff prayers demonstrated how very real our connection… Continue Reading

Wesley on prayer in "Soldiers of Christ, Arise"

Wesley on prayer in "Soldiers of Christ, Arise"

This month, our pastor preached through the Ephesians 6 passage on spiritual warfare.  We used Wesley’s “Soldiers of Christ, Arise” (to the usual tune DIADEMATA), but over the course of the series, I introduced a number of the lesser-known stanzas (out of the 12 original ones).  I was pleased beyond measure to find a number… Continue Reading

Reverence in prayer

The section on prayer in John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is surely one of the most beloved passages of that influential work. Therein, Calvin addresses, among other matters, the importance of reverence in corporate prayer. For Calvin, an essential mark of reverence in corporate prayer is attentiveness. He says, Whoever engaged in prayer… Continue Reading

Book Review: Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chapell

Book Review: Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chapell

Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chapell. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009. 307 pp. $24.99. “Structures tell stories.” So opens Bryan Chapell’s recent volume, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, published by Baker Academic. Chapell, noted homiletician, theologian, and author of the popular volume, Christ-Centered Preaching, is president of… Continue Reading