Tag: prayer

Anger and the Christian

~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

Should Christians be angry? What are the dangers of human anger, and how do we avoid them?

By Mark D, Harris

Several weeks ago, my son David was engaged in a discussion with a classmate about whether a Christian should ever be angry. My son argued that God shows anger and Paul writes “Be angry but do not sin (Ephesians 4:26).” His disputant suggested that God alone can be angry, but humans never should. Like many conversations, this one dragged on, with neither man convincing the other. David remained calm, but his counterpart did not. Resolving nothing, they parted company.

Continue reading “Anger and the Christian” →

The Purpose of Prayer

~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

Why pray? When prayers don’t seem to work, and we doubt God, what do we do? May we ask the Lord for a sign in prayer as Gideon did? Answers here about the Purpose of Prayer.

By Mark D. Harris

A few days ago, our family dog, Serena, found wrapped chocolates that my sons had left in their bedroom. Within minutes, truffles, peppermint patties, and a host of other delectables were gone. The same day, close friends visited from northern Virginia. The chocolate and excitement were too much for Serena, and she couldn’t go to sleep. Instead of sleeping, she barked and barked and barked.

Continue reading “The Purpose of Prayer” →

Whose Will?

Garden of Gethsemane
~ MD Harris Institute ~ Leave a comment

Do we trust God to do our will for our lives, or His will? Do we know what is good or wise better than He does? Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (above), do we ask for His will, not ours?

By Mark D. Harris

The teenaged son of a good friend seems to be wasting away; not of cancer, AIDS, or drug addiction, but of an inability to keep down what he eats. The boy has seen the best specialists in the US, has had every reasonable medical test, and has tried a panoply of medications, procedures, exercises, and behavioral health interventions. Hundreds of people have prayed earnestly for his healing. Still, the food comes up and his weight goes down.

The middle-aged wife of our music minister was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. She had surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and a variety of experimental therapies. Christians in churches across the country prayed for her healing, and hundreds of us joined hands in a prayer chain around her house. Nonetheless, in Jan 2017, this wonderful woman slipped the bounds of this earth and into glory.

Continue reading “Whose Will?” →

Encountering God

~ MD Harris Institute ~ 1 Comment

As we approach death, we realize that only an encounter with God is big enough to save us from despair. Too bad we don’t realize that earlier. And how do we encounter Him?

By Mark D. Harris

When children are young, their world is little bigger than their neighborhood; their home, their school, their friends’ houses, and their church. When people reach young adulthood, their world expands, perhaps even to encompass the whole globe. Slowly though, muscles weaken and eyes get foggy. Women lose their ability to conceive, and hair grays. At those moments, pensive people begin to truly understand that though the world will not leave them, they will leave the world. While little children anchor themselves in their parents and young adults in career and family, the aged realize that these anchors will not hold.

Continue reading “Encountering God” →