Almost 20 years ago I received a letter from a young mother in my church at the time. Her name was Jan, and this is the story she wrote me:

It was the end. I knew it. I could no longer fight. I sat here emotionless. I was totally alone. Others had tried to help—doctors, nurses, parents, husband, children. But they were gone. Hours earlier I had come into the hospital on an emergency basis. I ...

I hail from a long line of worriers. From my dad, I inherited an inability to sleep until I resolve whatever issue is currently on my mind; from my mom, I received a proclivity for stomachaches before exams.

It's not all bad, I suppose; worry has historically been a powerful motivator for me. One Saturday night I went to sleep unprepared for the sermon I was set to deliver the next morning. I dreamed ...

On January 12, 2002, the [Tampa Bay Buccaneers] had suffered a crushing 31-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. Two days later, [head coach Tony] Dungy was fired.…He was now the former head coach of an NFL team.

"At that time in my life, it was hard to remember God's promise from Romans 8:28," Dungy says, "that all things work together for good to those who love Him. But I also ...

Bishop and author William Willimon tells of an encounter he once had with a dying woman:

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When I entered the room that afternoon, I could see she was very near the end.

"Would you like me to pray for you?" I asked. "Would you like me to summon a priest?"

With her last ounce of energy, she held out the crucifix toward me, which depicted the body of Christ nailed to the cross. She said, "Thank you—but ...

In his book entitled Prayer, Philip Yancey writes:

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Singer-songwriter and author Jennifer Rothschild shares her story in Decision magazine:

As a little girl, I was captivated by colors. I loved to get the biggest box possible and read the titles of each crayon. I would study the differences between garnet, scarlet, maroon, and burgundy. My dream was to be a commercial artist. I remember taking a crisp white paper from my dad's office, and with a black ...

What happens to our prayers after we send them out? For 300 people living in the New Jersey area, the answer to that question is not very encouraging.

Bill Lacovara was fishing on the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, when he spotted a plastic bag floating in the water. Inside, he found about 300 prayers that had been mailed to a local pastor—most of which were unopened. The pastor had died ...

When I was 10, I first heard Matthew 21:22, where Jesus, who never lies, said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." It was the "whatever" model of prayer—believe, ask for whatever you want, and it's yours.

I remember running outside, standing on our driveway, closing my eyes real tight, and praying: God, I want to fly like Superman. And I believe you can do it. So ...

While working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Lee Strobel was assigned to report on the struggles of an impoverished, inner-city family during the weeks leading up to Christmas. A devout atheist at the time, Strobel was mildly surprised by the family's attitude in spite of their circumstances:

The Delgados—60-year-old Perfecta and her granddaughters, Lydia and Jenny—had been burned ...

In his book The Unnecessary Pastor, Eugene Peterson writes:

My two sons are both rock climbers, and I have listened to them plan their ascents. They spend as much or more time planning their climbs as in the actual climbing. They meticulously plot their route and then, as they climb, put in what they call "protection"—pitons hammered into small crevices in the rock face, with attached ropes that will ...