Tag Archives: Prayer

From apathy to advocacy for the sake of the gospel

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From apathy to advocacy for the sake of the gospel | World Vision Blog
Having worked in many churches and Christian communities, I have seen numerous well-intentioned Christ-followers living simple lifestyles, but apathetic to many of the world’s travesties around them. We are well-meaning and profess to love Jesus. We care about our neighbors — those we encounter on rare occasions. We give money to the church and to the poor, but often, we don’t know any poor people by name. I think there are many reasons for this. Perhaps we are too consumed with full schedules — TV shows, committee meetings, soccer games, and taekwondo practice — or are overwhelmed because the surrounding problems seem too big to tackle. Have we become apathetic to the things that break the heart of God because...
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Should we pray for our public leaders as much as we pray for ourselves?

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Should we pray for our public leaders? | World Vision blog
Should we pray for our public leaders as much as we pray for ourselves? When praying for our elected officials, what should we be praying for? These are the questions I ask myself every year around this time in October as the first of the month marked the start of a new fiscal year for our federal government. That means some reflection on the past fiscal year, including major accomplishments and major deficits regarding federal policies. In my position at World Vision, these are especially important. October 1 is also the first day of a new fiscal year for World Vision offices. To appropriately honor the day, our staff members, volunteers, and World Vision supporters from all around the world...
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On prayer… (LINK UP)

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On prayer | World Vision Blog
I thread the glass beads between my tired fingers in my left hand. My right hand holds the pen to paper. I scratch out prayers in the quiet morning over coffee. God and I meet best in the early hours, my mind needing awakening and my bones still heavy from sleep. I suppose He’d meet me anytime, but I’m most sincere in the morning. I’ve never done well with prayer. It’s always been a hurdle to jump, my brick wall in the marathon of faith. Putting me in a group of people who speak whispered prayers makes me uneasy, and I clam up tight and choose to be quiet. If I speak my prayers, my language changes. I don’t sound...
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A network of prayer [infographic]

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A network of prayer [infographic] | World Vision Blog
About six months ago, as my team was putting together the autumn 2011 issue of World Vision Magazine, I asked our social media team if we could pose a question to World Vision Facebook fans — and potentially use the responses in the magazine. At that stage, we had an article from Rich Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., about how World Vision’s faith plays a role in every community where we work. I think it’s a great article that shows the big picture of how our faith motivates our staff around the world. But something was missing. Of course, it is important to see how faith motivates World Vision staff, but I also wanted to show that faith motivates...
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