A Moment of Hope

by David Chadwick Stories are filled with heroes and villains. Every good story has to have bad guys who resist the plotline and good guys who carry out the author's intent for victory. The Philippian jailer is our hidden hero. Paul and Silas were put in prison for sharing the gospel and delivering a slave girl from a demonic spirit (Acts 16:25-40). The owners of the girl were irate that she would...

by David Chadwick We have been looking at many hidden heroes of the Bible. Each one has played a significant role in God's story. Whether great or small, hidden or well-known, God has created each person with a purpose. I love to find the lesser known, equally important heroes in God's story. Pilate's wife, who remains unnamed in the Biblical account, is my next hidden hero. Pilate was the only on...

by David Chadwick An unnamed widow is our next hidden hero. Someone whose name we do not even know, but who played a profound role in God's story. Her story is found in 2 Kings 4.  This woman was greatly in debt. The creditor was banging down her door to reclaim the money she owed. He said he would take her two sons as slaves if she could not come up with the funds. All she had was one small flask...

by David Chadwick The Bible is full of good guys and bad guys. Heroes and villains. Some are well known. Others are more hidden. One of my favorite things to do is to look for some of the Bible's hidden heroes. The people who might otherwise go unnoticed, but still carry great significance in God's story. Ananias is our next hidden hero. Ananias was a follower of Jesus in Damascus. His story is fo...

by David Chadwick Today's hidden hero has a most unusual name, but it's because it's the Egyptian name of someone you probably know very well. Do you remember a biblical character named Zaphenath-paneah? Well, if you haven't yet made the connection,  this was the Egyptian name given to Joseph, someone you probably remember very well. Why would I list his Egyptian name as the hidden hero? Mostly, b...

by David Chadwick Stories are full of heroes and villains. Good guys and bad guys. My favorite thing to do lately has been to dig into God's Word to pull out some of the lesser known, more hidden heroes. There are so many! Bezalel is one of my favorite hidden heroes. His story is found in Exodus 31:1-11 and Exodus 36-39. Bezalel was the chief artisan of the building of the tabernacle. Caleb was hi...

by David Chadwick Hidden heroes are threaded throughout the Bible. Good guys and bad guys that God uses to accomplish his purposes in the world. It's one of the things that I love most about the Lord. He is able to take even the worst of situations and use them for good (Romans 8:28). Asenath. Our hidden hero for today. She is Joseph's wife, the daughter of the Egyptian priest Potiphera. She is al...

by David Chadwick So many hidden heroes are found in Scripture. Big and small. Young and old. All of whom played tremendously significant roles in God's story. Enoch. He is today's hidden hero. We only know what a few verses in the Bible tell us about him. Let's take a look. Genesis 5:22-24 says of Enoch,  "Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughte...

by David Chadwick Eliezer is today's hidden hero. If you haven't heard of him, there's a good chance you've heard of Abraham. Husband of Sarah. Father of Isaac. Remember him? Well,  Eliezer was Abraham's faithful servant. Abraham wanted his only son, Isaac, to find a wife from his own country. In true Abraham fashion, he decided to take matters into his own hands. This was a common theme for Abrah...

by David Chadwick I love the Word of God with all of my heart. I believe it is breathed by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Through the Holy Spirit, God led different people to record his heart for the world in the Bible. It is the greatest story ever written. I want to highlight some more hidden heroes from the Bible. So many people are biblically illiterate, with no clear understanding of his Word or th...

by David Chadwick We are wrapping up our journey of learning how to pray. Each day, you have been given a different key to open a new door that you may have never opened before in your prayer life. This week, we have focused on the Lord's Prayer. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. We are going line by line, using what he taught his disciples to teach us. Here is your last ke...

by David Chadwick We are learning how to pray. The Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 is Jesus's recipe for prayer. Each line is another key I want to give you to unlock another spiritual door of understanding. Today's key is this: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." In order for prayer to be powerful, we must forgive. It is not optional. Chances are, if you have lived any amount of lif...

by David Chadwick Jesus used the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 to guide his disciples in how to pray. I want to take you through this prayer line by line. You can think of each line as another key for your prayer life. We must first enter into the presence of God with deep awareness and appreciation for both his Fatherly love and his divine holiness. After that, we can ask with boldness and conf...

David and Marilynn Chadwick join Jenn Houston in a discussion about today's blog.

by David Chadwick We are continuing to learn how to pray. The Lord's Prayer is the guide that Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). It will help guide us, too. Each line is another key for how to unlock spiritual doors and enter into the presence of our Daddy in heaven through prayer. "Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven." Here is...

by David Chadwick We will wrap up this week with another key to powerful prayer. A key you can use to gain access and entrance into the presence of God. A key to open the locked places of your own heart and find healing. A key to unlock a deeper understanding of who God is and  how much he loves you. Here is today's key: don't be anxious about anything. This is a hard one. Especially when it seems...

by David Chadwick Isaiah 22:22 foreshadows the power that would be accessed through Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. Jesus was given keys to open doors that no one can shut and shut doors that no one can open. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in his followers (Romans 8:11). Because of that,  we have been given keys to use for the glory of God alone. I am sharing some...

by David Chadwick Keys are used as a means of gaining entrance or access to something. We are spending some intentional time looking at keys for your prayer life. Marilynn and I have a  strong value for prayer. We believe it is an under taught, underused, mighty weapon to be used by the Church. I am sharing a new key with you each day. Each key is meant to help you gain access into God's presence...

by David Chadwick I am handing you a different key each day to learn how to access the powerful presence of God through prayer. When doors seem to be locked,  God desires for us to learn how to open them. His Word gives us so many insights that should guide us as we pray. Another key to powerful prayer: persistence. One definition of persistence is "firm or obstinate continuance in course of actio...

by David Chadwick I want to explore some different ways for developing a powerful prayer life.  There has never been a more important time for the body of Christ to learn how to contend in prayer. I want to see a display of God's glory on the earth. Do you? If so, the Church must prioritize prayer. It is a supernatural weapon. I want you to picture each one of these tips as a key that I am going t...

by Marilynn Chadwick Be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live (Deuteronomy 4:9a NIV).  Forgetfulness may be one of the most serious hindrances to answered prayer.  Scripture points to how forgetting God's power and blessings hinders the flow of answered prayer. Even more serious is how forg...

by Marilynn Chadwick Why do we break faith with each other, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? (Malachi 2:10b CJB). We saw yesterday how strife among believers can hinder our prayers. Today, let's look at what the Bible calls "breaking faith," another type of strife which hits closer to home. Faith in Jesus is serious business. But God's Word also calls us to a type of "faith" in each other...

by Marilynn Chadwick For where envy and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:16 KJ21). We've seen how unforgiveness and unbelief can thwart our prayer life. Strife is another common hindrance.  If we want more power in prayer, we must be unified as believers. Jesus gives us a prayer tip that points to the importance of unity. He promises that "if two of you on earth agree ab...

by Marilynn Chadwick But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6 NIV). Another hindrance to prayer is unbelief. Put another way, if we don't believe we won't be able to experience all God has for us through prayer.  "Believing" is the very currency of God's kingdom. It's only by grace through faith...

by Marilynn Chadwick Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matthew 6:11-12 ESV). Do you ever wonder what it was like to be one of the twelve disciples? Just imagine. They walked and talked with Jesus, learned from his wisdom, and enjoyed his close friendship for three years. They saw him heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead....