How might Jesus advocate for you with his Heavenly Father? Here is an idea, inspired by Revelation 1-3, taken from my book, The Complete Guide to the Prayers of Jesus (Bethany House, 2018): “Father, as the Alpha and Omega, I appeal to you on behalf of our servants. Consider their hard work and perseverance in the faith. They have endured hardships and yet keep pressing on. However, they have lost some of the passion for the faith and the desire to make you their first priorit

How do we push through the mountain of tasks that seem impossible? We can learn a lot from Hebrews 12. 1. Look to Jesus. First, we can let the life of Jesus inspire us. He had a call on his life–to share the good news of salvation for us all and to make that walk to the cross for our sakes. Knowing our call helps us decide what gets a YES in our life and to what we can say NO. His life also gives us perspective: probably nothing we are experiencing compares to his suffering.

“Pray without ceasing.” Oh, this verse used to just make me mad. I mean, what was Paul thinking? Pray all day? How could I possibly do that? But the thought haunted me and led me to a book, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence was a monk who lived in the seventeenth century in France–a man who performed menial kitchen tasks and learned how to stay in communion continually with the God he loved. But that book did not help either. I mean, he