I’m raising four teenagers. So, y’know. Maybe you know how to pray for me?
But one of the techniques that’s helped in dealing with occasionally/chronically angry kids is to ask myself about what’s beneath their anger.
Devout Muslims pray Sura One every day, reminding themselves of God’s sovereignty, the day of judgment, and the importance of finding their Straight Path.
In the name of God, the most gracious and merciful. Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe, the most gracious and merciful, Ruler of the day of judgment. You are the one we worship; you are he whose help we seek. Guide us on the Straight Path, the path of those whom you have blessed, With whom you are not angry, who have not gone astray.
Both the Qur‘an and Islamic tradition erect barriers which inhibit Muslims from considering who Jesus is and what He’s done for them.
Muslims are often taught
Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared on Rebecca Hopkins’ blog, Borneo Wife, when she and her husband served in Indonesia. She now blogs from her new American home at rebeccahopkins.org .
A window in my kitchen faces our backyard. Much of my days are spent cooking and watching, washing dishes and listening, making granola and checking. The kids are often dangling or running or whooping outside, playing on our mini-playground with the zipline.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]“I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.” Dr. Peter Kreeft[/su_pullquote]Sure, you may not be there yet.
But from the beginning of time, God has already preparing his field, his connections, his ways–so you arrive at just the right time, to share the hope you have with the people he’s planned. You’re part of the Body of Christ not just in this moment, but in history as God’s Gospel sweeps the globe.
And in tandem with the Holy Spirit, your personal work in this common mission can begin far before you set foot in a nation–if you set foot in it at all.
Go. Serve. Love is happy to welcome Timothy, a student with Fusion, the dynamic missions program at Spurgeon College in Kansas City, Missouri.
The sun beat down on the back of my neck as I struggled to will each step forward.
We were heading into the mountains to hold workshops for lay leaders and pastors.
But I had a problem. I needed to talk with four different men: one to set up a team coming from a supporting church to show the Jesus film. Then three others for details about the very workshops we had come to give that weekend.
Confession: I’ve never been that trendy of a person. (Maybe you could have guessed that from my regrettable personal trends in the last post?) I have never actually been cool. I have just been a person cool people liked.
But missions trends, see, aren’t on par with whether you listen to Maroon 5 or wear maroon skinny jeans.