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In Matthew 6 Jesus prayed, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

A prayer that begins…May I not view you as a distant father, but as one who has come to earth and understands the challenges and temptations of my life.  Be near me today, whisper reminders that you’re close.  My friends need you today as they make difficult decisions in their workplace and in their families.  Show them you are closer than even their earthly fathers. Thank you for hearing me and listening to my pleas.  It’s in Jesus’ name I pray this, amen.

Here’s my challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Prayer really is simple.  Resist the urge to complicate it.  Don’t take pride in well-crafted prayers. Don’t apologize for incoherent prayers.  No games.  No cover-ups.  Just be honest.  Honest to God.

Climb into His lap, tell Him everything that is on your heart.  Or, tell Him nothing at all.  Just lift your heart to heaven and declare “Father, Daddy.” Stress, fear, guilt, grief…demands on all sides. At times, all we can summon, is a plaintive, “Oh Father.”  If so, that’s enough.  Your Heavenly Father will wrap you in His arms.

Here’s my challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before.

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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We prayer wimps fear “mis-praying.”  What’s the expected etiquette and dress code of prayer? What if we kneel instead of stand?  Jesus’ answer?  In Matthew 18:3, He says, “Become as little children.” Carefree. Joy filled. Playful. Trusting. Curious. Trust more—strut less.

God prefers this greeting:  “God, you are my Daddy, and I am your child!”  It’s hard to show off and call God “Daddy” at the same time.  Impossible, in fact.  Remember, prayer doesn’t depend on how you pray.  The power of prayer depends on the One who hears the prayer!

Here’s my prayer challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  And get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Yes, I’m a prayer wimp—but a recovering prayer wimp. Not where I long to be, but not where I was.  This simple, easy to remember, pocket-size prayer has become a cherished friend.

“Father, You are good.

I need help.

Heal me and forgive me.

They need help.

Thank you.

In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Jesus’ disciples faced angry waves and a watery grave.  You face angry clients, a turbulent economy, and raging seas of stress and sorrow.  Let this simple prayer punctuate your day.  “Father, you are good.”  As you commute to work or walk the hallways at school, “I need help.”  As you wait in the grocery line, “They need help.”  Keep this prayer in your pocket as you pass through the day!  Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and His child!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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This much is sure:  God will teach you to pray.  Don’t think for a minute that he’s glaring at you from a distance with crossed arms and a scowl, waiting for you to get your prayer life together.  Just the opposite!  In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with Me.”

Jesus waits on the porch.  He taps…and calls.  He waits for you to open the door.  To pray is the hand of faith on the door handle of your heart.  The happy welcome to Jesus says,  Come in, O King.  Come in.  The kitchen is messy, but come in.  I’m not much of a conversationalist, but come in.

Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer!  God changes His people through such moments.

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer!

Jesus set a compelling prayer example.  He prayed before He ate.  He prayed for children.  He prayed for the sick.  He prayed with thanks…and with tears.  He had made the planets and shaped the stars, yet He prayed.

Here’s a prayer for us today:

“Father, you’ve made me your child through your Spirit.

In your kindness you adopted me and delivered me from sin

and death.

Remind me today what it means to be your child.

It’s so easy for me to live every day on my own terms.

Help me live it in light of your grace.

Thank you for accepting me as I am but not leaving me the same.

In Jesus’ name, amen.”

This is my prayer challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Prayer isn’t a privilege for the pious, not the art of a chosen few.  Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and His child.  When we invite God into our world, He brings a host of gifts: joy, patience, resilience.  Anxieties come, but they don’t stick.  Fears surface and then depart. I’m completing my sixth decade, yet I’m wired with energy. Happier, healthier, and more hopeful! Struggles come, for sure, but so does God.

My friend, He wants to talk with you.  Even now as you hear these words, He taps at the door.  Open it.  Welcome Him in and let the conversation begin.

Here’s my prayer challenge to you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Mark 1:35 says, “Jesus went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”

This dialogue must have been common among His friends:

Has anyone seen Jesus?

Oh, you know. He’s up to the same thing.

Praying again?

Yep. He’s been gone since sunrise.

Jesus would even disappear for an entire night of prayer. Prayer for most of us, isn’t a matter of a month-long retreat or even an hour of meditation. It’s a conversation with God driving to work, or waiting for an appointment. God will teach you to pray. We speak, He listens. He speaks, we listen. It’s prayer in its purest form. God changes His people through such moments.

Here’s my challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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We can’t even get the cable company to answer us, yet God will?  The doctor’s too busy, but God isn’t?  We have our doubts about prayer!

Jesus raised people from the dead. But a “How to Vacate the Cemetery” seminar?  His followers never called for one.  But they did want Him to do this:  “Lord, teach us to pray.”  Might their interest have something to do with the jaw-dropping promise Jesus attached to prayer?  “Ask and it will be given to you.”

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray He gave them a prayer Could you use the same?

Father, You are good.  I need help.  Heal me and forgive me.

They need help.  Thank You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer.

Punctuate your day with it!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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When I pray, I think of a thousand things I need to do.  I forget the one thing I set out to do: pray! Can you relate?

But wouldn’t we all like to pray. . .More?  Better?  Deeper?  Stronger?  With more fire, faith, or fervency?  Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. We want to pray, but when? We want to pray, but why?  We have our doubts about prayer, our checkered history of unmet expectations, unanswered questions.

We aren’t the first.  The sign-up for Prayer 101 contains familiar names:  John, James, Andrew, and Peter.  The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance.

Here’s my challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before.

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Some people excel in prayer.  They are the SEAL Team Six of intercession.  They’d rather pray than sleep.  Why is it I sleep when I pray?

It’s not that we don’t pray at all.  We all pray some.  Surveys indicate one in five unbelievers prays daily.  Just in case, perhaps?  When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them a prayer.  A quotable, repeatable, portable prayer.  Could you use the same?

Father, You are good.  I need help.  Heal me and forgive me. They need help.  Thank you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Here’s my challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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I’m a recovering prayer wimp.  For years my prayers seemed to zig, then zag, then zig again.  Maybe you can relate.  Perhaps your prayer life could use a tune up, a reboot?  If that sounds overwhelming, I’m inviting you to a simpler plan.  Four minutes, plus four weeks, equals forever change!  Every day for four weeks, pray for four minutes, focusing on these core elements of prayer:

“Father, You are good.

I need help.

They need help.

Thank you.”

It’s that simple.  Really!  Talking with God doesn’t have to be complicated or complex.  The power isn’t in the words we pray—but in the One who hears them.

Here’s my challenge for you!  Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes.  Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Jesus has seen every backstreet, back-seat, backhanded moment of our lives.  And he has resolved, “My grace is enough.  I can cleanse these people.  I will wash away their betrayals.”  For that reason we must make the Upper Room of Mercy our home address.

Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14–15).

You are the creation of a good God, made in his image.  You are destined to reign in an eternal kingdom.  Secure in who you are, you can do what Jesus did.  Throw aside the robe of rights and expectation and make the most courageous of moves.  Wash feet.  This is how happiness happens

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Resentment sucks satisfaction from the soul.  Bitterness consumes it.  Revenge has a monstrous appetite.  One act of retaliation is never enough.  Grudges send us on a downward spiral.

Some people perceive the path of forgiveness to be impossibly steep.  So let’s be realistic.  Forgiveness does not pardon the offense, excuse the misdeed, or ignore it.  Forgiveness is not even necessarily reconciliation.  The phrase “forgive and forget” sets an unreachable standard.  Painful memories are not like old clothing, easily shed.

Forgiveness is simply the act of changing your attitude toward the offender; it’s moving from a desire to harm toward an openness to be at peace.  A step in the direction of forgiveness is a decisive step toward happiness.

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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“His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.  Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word.  We can’t get away from it—no matter what” (Hebrews 4:12–13 MSG).

Unsheathe God’s sword, the Word of God, and brandish its glimmering blade in the face of evil. When you read or quote a scripture in the face of pain or doubt or evil, you activate a weapon of the Spirit.  Say… I know a verse in the Bible that might help.  Or… A scripture that means much to me is… (your selection).

My go-to list includes scriptures like these:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

“I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

This is how happiness happens.

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Not only did Jesus not make it to the deathbed of Lazarus, he didn’t make it to the burial.  He was four days late.  Martha was forthright.  “Lord, if only you had been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).  Martha was to Jesus what your hurting friend is to you.  How can we respond when our friend is undone?

Here is what Jesus did.  He looked Martha in the face and said these starchy words: “I am the resurrection and the life. . . . Do you believe this?” (vv. 25–26).  The Bible’s word for such a response is admonishment.  Above all, admonishment is truth spoken into a difficult circumstance.  Yes, we hold the hand of the struggler.  And yes, yes, yes, we speak words of truth into moments of despair.

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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“Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Paul gave these instructions to the Romans and repeated them to other churches. Twice to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:20 and 2 Cor. 13:12); and then to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:26).  Peter flew the friendliness flag as well in his first epistle (1 Peter 5:14) when he said, “Greet one another with a kiss of love.”

We tend to overlook these passages.  Why the big deal?  Why should we be careful to greet one another?  The answer is out of respect.  Respect is a mindfulness of another person’s situation.  Respect says “Hello” to the new kid in class. Respect says “Good afternoon” to the cashier at the checkout stand.  A greeting in its purest sense is a gesture of goodwill.  Simply greeting one another is not that hard.  But it makes a significant difference.  And this is how happiness happens.

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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We are not God’s gift to humanity.  God can use each of us, but he doesn’t need any of us.  We are valuable but not indispensable.  You love.  But who loved you first?  You serve.  But who served the most?  What are you doing for God that God could not do alone?

How wise of us to remember Paul’s antidote to joy-sucking self-promotion.  “With humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (Philippians 2:3).

Here is a helpful exercise that can turn your focus off yourself and on to others.  During the next twenty-four hours make it your aim to celebrate everything good that happens to someone else. Keep a list.  You will move from joy to joy as you regard other people’s success as more important than your own.  And this is how happiness happens.

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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“Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?  Tell her to come and help me!” (Luke 10:40).

Of all the ironies.  Martha was in the presence of the Prince of Peace, yet she was the picture of stress.  Martha’s downfall was not her work or request; it was her motivation.  Rather than making a meal for Jesus, it seems she was trying to make a big deal about her service.

Might there be a bit of Martha within us?  What begins as a desire to serve Christ metastasizes into an act of impressing people.  And gifted Marthas become miserable mumblers.  Yet the Martha within is not easily silenced.  Mark it down.  When ministry becomes vain ambition, nothing good happens.  And Jesus does not get served.  No wonder the apostle Paul was so insistent when he said, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition” (Philippians 2:3).

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

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Doing good does good for the doer.  Research bears this out.  When volunteers were put in a functional MRI scanner and were told they would be giving some of their money to charity, the areas of their brains associated with pleasure— like food and sex— lit up like Christmas trees. Giving to others triggers dopamine.  Perhaps that could be a new fund-raising slogan?

In another study a team of social psychologists distilled happiness factors into eight common denominators.  Two of the first three involve helping others.  Happy, contented people “devote a great amount of time to their family and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships.”  And “they are often the first to offer a helping hand to co-workers and passers-by.”  Seeking joy?  Do good for someone else.

Read more How Happiness Happens – Finding Lasting Joy in a world of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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