What to Ask God For

I asked God to take away my pride, and God said no. He said it was not for him to take away, but for me to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped ...

The Discipline of Prayer

The paradox of prayer is that it asks for a serious effort while it can only be received as a gift. We cannot plan, organize or manipulate God; but without ...

Seeking God's Face

We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the face of man.

Secret Sin Blocks Prayer

In his book Why Prayers Are Unanswered, John Lavender retells a story about Norman Vincent Peale.

When Peale was a boy, he found a big, black cigar, slipped ...

Not Strange Bedfellows

Many "sophisticated" political and social commentators complain that issues like school prayer are "distractions" having nothing to ...

Faith Plus Works?

Among the remembered prayers of the very wise and holy St. Thomas More is this: "The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor ...

A Problem with Simple Faith

Several years ago, my father passed away at 88 years of age. During his last adult years, my father lived with us in Texas. Before that he lived in New ...

A True High-Pressure Situation

Going to bat in the ninth is nothing compared to praying in an intensive care unit.

The Blessings of Spiritual Struggle

Blessed are you, if the struggle grows fierce against you at the time of prayer.

Praying Well

To pray is the greatest thing we can do, and to do it well, there must be calmness, time, and deliberation.