Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.—Luke 18:1

Why should we pray? The simple answer is because Jesus told us to. Jesus himself was a model of prayer. He was always praying.

In the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus contemplated the horrors of the cross, He prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

On the cross, Jesus prayed for His enemies, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, we read that He lifted up His eyes to heaven and prayed (see John 11:41–42).

Continue reading Greg Laurie – A Model of Prayer →

The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions. —Proverbs 28:1

Although she was chosen by King Xerxes to become the queen, Esther was not some vain girl who liked to stare at herself in the mirror. Esther resolved to stand up for the salvation of her people, the Jews. We have to admire her bravery as she approached the king, uninvited—at the risk of losing her life.

In a way, we all have our own king, of sorts, whom we have to deal with. It might be a boss. It might be a husband who doesn’t know the Lord. Maybe it is a Christian friend who is compromising. Maybe it’s someone who needs to hear the gospel.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – Godly Boldness →

Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride. —Ecclesiastes 7:8

The Bible is filled with stories of people who started well but finished horribly, like King Saul and Samson. Then there are those who started poorly but finished well.

Think of Nicodemus, whom we read about in John 3. He was just a guy coming to Jesus at night with some questions. There is no indication that he was a believer at that point. But at the end of the Gospel narrative, after Christ had been crucified, who stepped forward publicly, along with Joseph of Arimathea, and asked for Jesus’ body to give Him a proper burial? It was Nicodemus the Pharisee. Maybe he didn’t start all that well, but he ended very well.

The same could be said of Esther. We can argue as to whether Esther should have been upfront from the beginning about being a Jew when she was chosen by King Xerxes to be the new queen. But if the king knew she was a Jew, maybe he never would have married her. And if he hadn’t married her, maybe she wouldn’t have been in a position to save a nation. But even if Esther made a mistake initially, even if she compromised, even if she may not have started all that well, she finished very well.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – A Great Ending →

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. —Acts 12:5

Acts 12 opens with a bleak scenario. James has been executed, and Peter has been arrested by King Herod. He was going to be killed next. But then we read that “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church” (verse 5). The church took this seriously and began to pray. So God sent an angel to deliver Peter from prison, and the story has a happy ending.

Then as Acts 12 closes, King Herod, who orchestrated these events, was giving a great speech, and the people began to cry out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” (verse 22). God judged Herod and killed him on the spot.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – When Things Look Bleak →

Some have defined revival as a community saturated with God or an invasion from heaven.

Richard Owen Roberts said, “Revival is an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results.” And A.W. Tozer defined revival as “that which changes the moral climate of a community.”

Listen, revival is nothing more or less than a new beginning of obedience to God.

It’s a church word, revival. It is not for the nonbeliever. Revival starts with the church and then affects the world. The world does not need revival; the church does. The world needs evangelism.

Evangelism does not bring revival, but revival always brings evangelism.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – What is Revival? →

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”—Jeremiah 29:11

Sometimes people will ask me to sign their Bibles. And sometimes they will ask me to include my favorite verse. That can be difficult, because I have a lot of favorites. What I choose to write down typically depends on what I’m experiencing at the time.

If I’m going through a stressful situation, I might write down Philippians 4:6–7, which says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Continue reading Greg Laurie – God’s Thoughts toward Us →

Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.—2 Kings 6:17

We often imagine Heaven as a faraway place. We automatically think it is beyond our solar system. But the Bible doesn’t say that Heaven is far away. Maybe Heaven is closer than we think. Heaven is another realm. Right now as we live in this physical realm, there is also a supernatural realm.

In 2 Kings 7 we find a classic example of how God can work both naturally and supernaturally at the same time. Supernaturally God cleared out Israel’s enemies, the Syrians, by allowing them to hear the noise of an approaching army, complete with chariots and galloping horses. This wasn’t an illusion or sleight of hand. This was a glimpse behind the veil into the supernatural realm.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – Closer Than We Think →

At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid.—2 Kings 5:2

In 2 Kings 5 we read of a young Israelite girl, whose name we don’t even know, that had been kidnapped and carried away to Syria. How easily she could have been bitter against God for allowing this to happen. And certainly she could have been angry with the people she was working for as a slave.

So when her master Naaman was stricken with leprosy, she could have thought, He deserves it. But that isn’t the way she felt at all. She was concerned for him. Her heart went out to him. And she saw the opportunity to tell Naaman about a prophet in Israel named Elisha who could pray for him. Elisha was Elijah’s successor. God was working through him and had used him to raise someone from the dead. Like Elijah, he had miracle-working power.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – The Power of a Godly Life →

“Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.”—1 Samuel 2:3

I was born in the generation known as the Baby Boomers. Our children are now called the Millennials, also dubbed the Me Generation. My generation thought the problem with the world was low self-esteem. Therefore, a lot of emphasis was given to, and a lot of money was spent on, the self-esteem movement. (This was never the problem, by the way, because it never has been a problem for us to learn to love ourselves. The problem is that we love ourselves enough already.)

As a result, a sense of entitlement—the idea that you don’t have to work hard and that everything should be given to you because you’re so wonderful—is now a big problem in our country. If you don’t believe me, then just watch some auditions for American Idol. People with no ability whatsoever are completely oblivious to it. And when a judge has the audacity to tell them that singing is probably not what they should do with their lives, they get upset.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – Our Number One Goal →