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When my eldest daughter was 13, she flubbed her piano piece at a recital. The silence in the auditorium was broken only by the pounding of her parents’ hearts. She hurried off the stage, threw her arms around me and buried her face in my shirt. “Oh, Daddy.” That was enough for me. At that moment I’d have given her the moon, and all she said was, “Oh, Daddy.”

Prayer starts here. Prayer begins with an honest, heartfelt, “Oh Daddy!” Jesus invites us to approach God the way a child approaches his or her daddy.

Here’s my challenge for you: every day for four weeks, pray four minutes. Then get ready to connect with God like never before.

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

My great uncle’s memorial service featured a meal of roast beef, corn, and beans to honor the hospitality that he and his wife lived out for many years. Each Sunday morning, they would put a large roast and veggies in the crock pot before going to church. After the service, they would look for someone to invite for lunch. Sometimes it was a good friend, sometimes a stranger. Either way, they made sure there was plenty of food at home and those afternoons were especially set aside for hospitality.

Their Sunday habit required an intentional readiness for generosity. The Israelites followed a similar pattern. Through Moses, God commanded them to leave a portion of their food “for the poor and the foreigner” (Leviticus 19:10). During harvest time, they were instructed not to reap to the edges of their field, not pick up what had fallen, and not harvest from a particular area more than once (vv. 9-10). With this redeeming method, those who did not own land could still work to gather food. For the people of God, this wasn’t a one-time, spontaneous act—although that can be a beautiful blessing, too. It was how they lived year after year.

There are opportunities all around us to show Jesus’ hospitable love. Some we can’t prepare for; some we can. As God helps us, let’s consider how we can treat others kindly today (v. 33).

I trudged into the grocery store to buy a Father’s Day card. I had forgiven my father. I had tried reconciling over the years—prayerfully processing the hurts inflicted before and after I left home at fifteen. Sadly, decades later, I still couldn’t relate to the cards that had messages gushing with gratitude for the “greatest” dads. So, desperate to honor my heavenly Father, I stood in that card aisle and prayed for my earthly father.

From Adam and Cain to David and Absolom to my father and me, sin has caused multigenerational strife and heartbreak. Still, the apostle Paul encouraged children to obey their parents “in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1). Honoring parents is a command that comes with a promise and a reward (vv. 2-3). In turn, fathers were meant to raise children to know and love God (v. 4). God’s people are designed to serve each other “wholeheartedly, as if [we] were serving the Lord, not people” (v. 7). Unfortunately, sin can destroy these relationships. 

No matter what our relationship status with our parents, we can thank God for the people He chose to use when He gave us life, and we can pray they enjoy a life-transforming relationship with Christ. A prayer that leads us to Jesus is a wholehearted gift of love and honor that can lead to changed relationships and lives.

In his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich, author Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Hill’s quote epitomizes the American Dream: If you work hard, you can achieve your wildest dreams.

Hard work may lead to earthly benefits; many passages of Scripture—especially in Proverbs—link those things. But as I grow older, I also see a real danger in following Hill’s ideas: my grasping attempts to achieve my dreams can be a self-focused attempt to live independently from God.

In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts two ways of life: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (v. 16). Eugene Petersen paraphrases it this way: “Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness” (The Message). A few verses later, Paul describes what a flourishing life in Christ looks like: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (vv. 22-23).

Many voices in this world compel us to grasp our desires with both hands. The life we long for, though, is not one we earn but one we receive as we yield to the Holy Spirit—freely walking with Him—rather than striving desperately to grasp blessing on our own terms.

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Find the transcript to this program at www.joniradio.org!

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Jesus invites us to approach God the way a child approaches his or her daddy. And how do children approach their daddies? When a five-year-old spots his father in the parking lot, how does he react? “Yippee!” was screamed by a red-headed boy wearing a Batman backpack. “Pop! Over here! Push me!” yelled by a boy wearing a Boston Red Sox cap who scooted straight to the swings.

Here’s what I didn’t hear: “Father, it is most gracious of thee to drive thy car to my place of education. Please know of my deep gratitude for your benevolence. For thou art splendid in thy attentive care and diligent in thy dedication.”

I heard kids who were happy to see their dads and eager to speak to him. God invites us to approach him in the same manner. What a relief!

Read more Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

He was born a slave in the 1860s. A sickly baby, he was sold to a slave owner for the cost of a horse. As a teenager, he witnessed the killing of a black man by a group of white people. Remarkably, George excelled in school, but when he applied to Highland University in Kansas, he was denied admission because of his skin color. But through it all, the young man maintained a deep faith in God. George Washington Carver’s life verse was Proverbs 3:6: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

We sometimes feel overwhelmed by our circumstances. We experience setbacks. We find ourselves at a loss for where we should go. But Proverbs encourages us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” We’re counseled, “Lean not on your own understanding (v. 5). This is the Bible’s way of saying, “Let go and let God” lead your life.

George W. Carver followed God’s path, persevering against all odds, teaching himself botany and geology, and eventually becoming a renowned scientist. He famously developed hundreds of uses for the peanut plant but also developed methods of crop rotation that revolutionized agriculture in the United States. God has a way of making the best out of bad situations. Whatever you’re facing today, the key is to “acknowledge Him” and listen for his voice. Watch him open up the paths of your life.

Visit www.joniradio.org for more inspiration and encouragement!

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.