Satan’s Lies About Prayer

It’s a fair bet that most Christians would see prayer as a vital component of our relationship with God. We can bring our worries and troubles to our Father, we can ask for anything in Jesus’ name, we can be confident in our approach to God because of the blood of our saviour—these are all things we affirm and love.

This is good. Because each aspect of prayer to the Father is the gospel of grace in miniature. I have done nothing to earn the ear of the creator of the universe; quite the opposite, in fact. The relationship I now enjoy in prayer with my Lord is entirely his gracious gift.

So how is it that we can be so often and so easily deceived about and diverted from prayer? Well, for a start, we’re sinful creatures. And often lazy. Distractible. Not yet transformed into glory. Very often more interested in shiny things (or glowing screens) than the invisible, immortal God.   Continue at Sam Freney

Book Review: The Intolerance of Tolerance by D. A. Carson

You might have noticed a strange kind of double-speak going on around us. If you dare to hold a different opinion to the broader culture on a contentious issue, whether on marriage, sexuality, God or something else, you have a reasonable chance of being told to keep quiet because you’re being intolerant. I’m not talking about sanctioning or acting against those with whom you disagree; just holding a different position. If you dare to point out that perhaps your alternative views ought to be tolerated—well, heaven help you.

In his inimitable manner, Don Carson lays out for us the landscape of how ‘tolerance’ is now defined, and the resulting difficulties this leaves evangelistic-minded Christians with. The Intolerance of Tolerance is part cultural analysis, part gospel outline in the face of cultural pressures, and part exploration of how to engage in a Western world that is steadily moving further and further from its biblical foundations. The opening and closing chapters alone are worth the price of the book, but there’s more great stuff along the way.   Continue at Sam Freney