Do you feel the world is broken? Do you feel the shadows deepen? Is your soul weary and burdened by the sin, suffering, and rebellion all around you?

God gives us the solution: intercessory prayer. Lift up your voice in prayer. This is our new role—we are a kingdom of priests to our God.

Today we use Daniel 9 as our model for intercessory prayer, lifting up our churches, our leaders, and our country.

Also, if you would like a free copy of my book, Drink from the River of Delight, pick up a copy on Kindle before September 4.

When is the last time you have enjoyed reading your Bible? Have you been hearing God speak to you? Do you experience the warmth of His love every day?

On this must-listen-to episode, Robert Cale and I unpack the essentials for loving the Bible. If you’ve ever found dust on your Bible, this episode is for you.

When you open your Bible, keep these things in mind.

* Necessary for Life- the Word of God is my food, water, air. I need every word that comes from God’s mouth. 2 Timothy 3:16.

* Meekness, Humility, Surrender. Receive with meekness, like soft soil, to accept this word so that it can grow and bring life. You’ll understand more if you come ready to obey.

* God-Centered, God-Focused, and God-Powered. The Bible is not about you, but about God. Ask Him to help you understand and apply the Word.

* Find out more about who God is when you read the Bible. Let God be God. He is revealing Himself through His Word.

* Repentance: we can always repent over something when we read the Bible. Repent of self-sufficiency, pride, self-righteousness, or unbelief. Repent of idolatry or wanting something else more than God.

* Worship: there is always something to worship God for in every verse.

* Tell Others! You’re a hungry beggar who has found good bread. Tell other hungry beggars around you so they can eat too.

Spend the week reading and studying Psalm 119, the love song to the Word of God. See Jesus as your substitute, your righteousness, and your ability to claim every promise as true for you, even though you are a sinner by nature, saved by grace.

My lemons to lemonade quote came from Steve Cuss: Turn anger into a pause, turn disappointment into prayer, turn frustration into worship, and turn restlessness into Scripture.

For further reading: Henri Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit. Adam McHugh, The Listening Life, Paul Tripp, New Morning Mercies, Nancy Guthrie, Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament.

Mighty Oaks is a foundation helping Veterans and First Responders and their spouses find healing and help in Jesus. Bible apps include: Through The Word, Bible.com.

Don’t listen to this podcast if you never make mistakes.

This podcast came out of a mistake I made last week.

Whether we are avoiding mistakes, or we just made a mistake, or it’s been a while since our last mistake, we can adopt the following attitudes:

* Focus on enjoying God. He is perfect, sovereign, and all-powerful.

* Let humility grow by receiving grace.

* Show grace to yourself and others.

Conceit and pride are deadly—much more deadly than our mistakes.

Reread 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, and thank God for every opportunity for humility. We can always receive grace, infinite grace, buckets of grace dumped on our heads. God’s power is made perfect in weakness, so we can boast in the LORD, and experience His power every day.

Praying for a great week, and opportunities for God’s strength to shine through in our weakness.

For more on accepting God’s perfect plan, even if it’s not what I pictured as ideal, check out my recent article.

Today I sat down with Cathy Ben-Ameh, joining England and Alaska over Zoom!

We met on Substack through our friend, Paul Christopher, and the Salt and Light community. Cathy’s article about Jesus writing His story through us is worth your time.

Being together in the family of God, we have so much in common, and can encourage each other through the Word, and what God is teaching us through the Holy Spirit.

I know our deep and vulnerable conversation will bless you as you hear how God still speaks, still leads, and still does miracles today. We belong to Him, and He will lead us as our Good Shepherd. Cathy talks about some of the hardest times of her life when she had to listen to God, times like grief in the loss of her father, or her own cancer journey, or when she was rebelling.

Thank you Cathy Ben-Ameh for your joy in the LORD, as you radiate His glory in the darkness, may God’s pleasure and delight fill your heart and mind.

God will give us the power to love one another, and to put on the righteousness of Christ every day. Her articles on rewriting tough memories and spiritual warfare are also inspiring.

I am very moved by Cathy’s review of my book, Drink from the River of Delight. If you’re struggling with perfectionism, or wishing for the ideal, my article will help you embrace God’s perfect plan for your life instead.

Do you remember the day that Jesus tapped you on the shoulder saying, “Follow Me,” and you said yes?

We celebrate that day with you, and we encourage you to say the next yes, which is discipleship and disciple-making, following the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20. It’s as simple as telling stories, and asking questions, listening with the love of Jesus for others.

Kevin E Beasley has been gifted with a heart for disciple-making. He shares how he became a disciple and why it’s vital for every follower of Jesus.

Tune in for practical tools to start your own discipleship and disciple-making journey. Jesus is the only Savior and Master and Lord who walks with you as your Friend. Following Him is the most adventurous, rewarding, and eternally significant life purpose. Learn more about doing that with other believers in a discipleship relationship. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is our model, and our realization that Jesus truly loves us, and we share His love with others, rejoicing in the truth together.

Please access Kevin E Beasley’s free resources on his website, follow him on Facebook, and listen to his podcast on YouTube.

Please like, share, comment. Drink from the River of Delight Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. The book and study guide are available on Amazon or on Ingram Spark for bookstores.

It is with great delight I release this conversation I had with Rebecca Riley, author of Deeply Rooted. She has a gift from the LORD to bring the Word, the Spirit, and counseling wisdom—she is wise beyond her years. Her passion is to help root out the sin and lies that we all carry deep within, so that we can flourish in the kingdom of God, all for His glory and honor. Healing is available in Jesus, as we learn to listen and live by faith.

Find out more on her website, Substack (with podcast), or free ebook.

Don’t hide from the light, but let Jesus bring healing and wholeness as only He can. If you don’t know where to start, ask for help. Read Psalm 91 right now and see Jesus protecting you from your ultimate enemy.

I pray for each of you to experience more freedom and joy in your walk with the Lord through the Drink from the River of Delight podcast (available on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple). Please comment below if this encouraged you. Feel free to share with someone who needs it. To God be the glory for the great things He has done!

Today I interviewed Bill Faris MPC about his latest book, Climbing Purpose Mountain.

Have you ever felt stuck? Are you staring down a deep, dark hole, that seems to be sucking you in? (Think Frodo in the swampy marshes!)

Today’s podcast will be life-changing and life-giving. You can’t dig your way out of the sinkhole. You can’t fill in the sinkhole. You can’t even resist the sinkhole.

But God can. And He will. Find out how!

Give Bill a look at his website, or email him at [email protected] for a copy of the book. It’s $10 plus shipping.

Please share this episode with anyone who is sinking down a deep hole. They will thank you for eternity!

My book, Drink from the River of Delight, is available on Amazon, along with a hard-cover study guide.

Feel free to check out my website, and send me an email anytime.

Do you feel hopeless and alone?

There is no place where God isn’t.

Join Robert Cale and I for our conversation about PTSD, Veterans, and God’s redemption of seemingly hopeless situations. He teaches the message of hope, that no one is broken beyond repair. Go to Jesus to get fixed—don’t try to fix yourself first. Shout out to the man who led him to Jesus, Jeremy Stalnecker.

Robert …

I sat down with Deidre Braley, poet, editor, writer, teacher, wife, and mother. She shares her journey and her heart with us in a beautiful way.

Do you believe that you need to show the world that you are competent?

Do you feel like you can’t keep up with the pace? Maybe you feel stuck or that you don’t have any choices. Are things “bad in your soul” right now?

Tune i…

Tune in for the second half of my conversation with Shannon Guerra. Shannon is a wonderful author, wife, mother of eight, and has walked through tough seasons by faith in God. In our last episode, she shared about a dark stretch during her adoption process, and how God brought her through. (Check out her book, Risk the Ocean.)

Are you feeling stuck in a dark season?

How can we trust God more? Where does courage come from?

We will look at Jesus, who courageously went outside the camp to purchase our redemption and salvation (Hebrews 13:12-13).

Obedience can get easier every time we obey Him. Upward spirals are possible with God! Let’s shift our default mode to surrender, faith, and obedience, rather than questioning, grumbling, or rebelling.

Learn to “own it” so you will act on the truths of the Bible, not just know them. You can go from survival mode to crushing it with victory in Jesus.

When He takes away something from you, He will inevitably bring redemption in the end. He will give us “the full package” of what He earned for us on the cross.

Let’s shed performance-based worth, or preconceived ideas of our lives, and embrace our identity in Christ, His provision, and the infinite grace He gives us. Worship our God, the only One worthy of all our praise. His plan is fool-proof, we can shed our dread knowing that He will redeem everything in our lives. Behold the glory of God! (2 Corinthians 3:12-18)

We pray your heart is moved towards love for Christ this week. Look up!