“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 As we draw closer to ...

When I was younger, a nun told me that if I only prayed when I was in trouble, then I was indeed in trouble. That maxim was filed away and revived when I began reading Learning to Pray: A Guide for ...

Buried deep in the Norton Anthology, George Herbert’s little poem with the unpretentious title “Prayer” is easy to miss. Decorously contained on a half-page with regular rhyme and punctuation, it ...

Imagine you love the sport of tennis. You watch every match you can on TV. You subscribe to Tennis magazine. You buy instructional videos and read biographies of famous players. Then one day you pick ...

A friend of mine posted a crowd-sourcing question on Facebook one day: “What are things you try to do every day?” I’m not sure the reason for her question — though she is a cognitive psychology ...

Great figures from church history have much to teach about talking with God. Gary Neal Hansen used to think he had a peculiar prayer life, because his prayers were unlike those of people around him.

As I began reflecting on these Scriptures for this Sunday, I wondered (and perhaps you do, too) what was it about Jesus when he was in prayer that the disciples found so attractive? They wanted to ...

Do you have children?” For most 30-somethings, this harmless question is the opening volley of a round of acceptable chit-chat. Colleagues at the office fill silences with news of recent pregnancies, ...

I have always prayed at night. I always felt like God could hear me the best just before bed, in the stillness before falling asleep. When I was younger it was formulaic prayers (as many as possible, ...