Free Range Preacher on Prayer

The King of glory, might in strength, also is our Good Shepherd, and He leads us like a flock. Today we meditate on one of the most beloved Psalms, reminding ourselves that our ultimate destination is glorious eternity in the presence of our Creator, Savior, and Sustainer. Psalm 23 "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet w...

My best days are many times sleepless nights. God has often made the most resounding impact on His hard-headed slave -me- through sleepless nights wrestling with Him. This delayed episode is just one occasion of God's work on a dull hearer.  We will see how dangerous it is to believe we pray primarily to get what we want.  We follow Balak and Balaam as they persist in prayer, which is clearly...

Morocco has beautiful landscapes and movie sets from around the world. My favorite is Casablanca, which stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Thank you, everyone in Morocco, for listening. Our impossible need: To understand prayer, we need to understand what it means to be human. We cry before we can talk, but the reasons we cry and talk are the same. We are sinners. The natural state of our s...

This episode is a repeat of our episode on forgiveness. This episode was well received, and as you will hear, praying that 2023 will be a year of Jubilee and Forgiveness, and revisiting just how serious God is about His children forgiving as we have been forgiven seems like a good idea. Thank You, Jesus! The host is weak, faltering, and wholly inadequate for the task, but the word of God is none o...

Who is this King of Glory? In the 17th and 18th centuries, the sport of fox throwing was a big attraction. Augustus II the Strong, the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, was a champion fox thrower. He threw foxes to show off his strength, not his humanitarianism! David on the other hand, fought a lion and a bear because he was not just a shepherd, but a good shepherd. The King of Glory is our G...

Who is this King of glory? He is our Shepherd, and we will find out how much the Good Shepherd means to His sheep. Today we find: All I know about shepherding I learned from: The Bible "A Shepherd's Look at Psalm 23" -W Phillip Keller Basque friends with a shepherding background. And YouTube videos of Shepherd and their work dogs. Sheep, it turns out, are the most needy of animals; t...

Our Creator, Savior, and Sustainer assures us, not only that He is our compassionate Father, but that our salvation is entirely His doing. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author...

Have you ever heard or read a preacher say, "We must daily remind ourselves of the Gospel"? That is key in our battle against discouragement. Our second conundrum stems from our struggle against sin. Our comfort is the Gospel; we have been moved by God's mercies from God being our Judge to God being our Father. There are four Biblical principles we need to keep top of mind. 1. The ba...

We are reminded that we have everything we need for life and godliness, and that part of what —or who — we need is a Strong Tower. "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.&quot...

Today we call out to our God who suffered temporally so we can live eternally. Our greatest sorrow, though, is our separation, even for a time, in the death of those we love. In that separation, we are most obviously bruised and weak. Today, we glory in our faithful Savior, not breaking us in our weakness. "A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTI...

So apprehensive is my nature that, as a boy, before our nightly entertainment was in any way under our control, if I saw that "The Rockford Files" was going to be a two-part episode, I would go to my room to read or listen to music! I didn't and still don't like suspense! But what else is worrying, other than not knowing the future and being fearful of what is going to happen nex...

Our conundrum? We, as humanity, believe ourselves to be the center of all things, and yet we know how awful we are in our thoughts. We also face what seem like meaningless events in our lives and erratic circumstances we don't understand. Solomon summed it up for us: "All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hea...

Hagar, with a child running away from her mistress, in an awful circumstance, not of her doing, heard the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 16, and believed Him. Alone, pregnant in a circumstance not of her choosing, Hagar believed the Lord and went back to the source of her troubles. Her attitude is revealed in her worship as she submitted to God, for she now knew: "Then she called the name of th...

Who is this King of Glory? The Builder and Architect of All Things. "For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God." Hebrews 3:4 "The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens." Proverbs 3:19 "Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps...

“Let Israel be glad in his Maker; Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King. 3 Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre. 4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.” We are trained for war, but battle is scary. Today we see how exactly we are held and protected by our Father, Son and Holy Spirit...

No longer will I make the claim to catch up. The Lord has something else in mind, obviously. But we will crack on with our October Surprise and see what other surprises are in store! Today, we look at God, our Trainer. We know the battlefield terms are: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely p...

Growing up where I did, not England, France, or Germany, when I think majestic, I think of starry nights, mountain ranges, and most of all beautiful sunrises. So there's no more fitting picture for me than that of the majesty of our God, than just that of a sunrise. Imagine my joy to learn, not only is God: "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, bu...

Unless the Lord has any more surprises for the Free Range Preacher, we should be on track to catch up, for real this time. First-timers and you, patient, faithful listeners, it is my blessing and wonder that you listen. We do pray the King of Glory separates His wheat from my chaff, and His word does not come back void as you listen. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, trustwort...

On a recent walk, I passed a little girl with her mom (going out and back). The first time, she was a few feet away as I walked between them. The child was apprehensive. On the way back, she was holding her mom's hand. She smiled at me, waved, and even told me a little story. (In Baby talk) Why the difference in demeanor? "For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says...

History has consistently shown that being aligned with the correct King makes all the difference. Just ask Gelimer and Martin Luther. David teaches us to install Yahweh Sabboath as our King. "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." Psalm 2:6 and "Worship the LORD with reverence, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry,...

What a wonderful day, a friend shared a song her band is practicing, and it was a great blessing. We praise God with David in Psalm 34: Center to our praise in God's comfort. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear it and rejoice. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears...

A long life is a blessing. Psalm 128 assures us that we are blessed when we see our children's children. A long life is a double-edged sword as well, for we grow weary of our sins. If you have ever just been tired of yourself, and you're unsure how to express those feelings, Psalm 38 is a lesson in purging our sorrows to the Lord. Just a sample: I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan bec...

We begin with the reason my mom and our family need prayers. Thank you for praying. As is fitting for this moment, we look to David to see that God is the God of all comfort. He is our comfort even in our loss. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those w...

Welcome to the Free Range Preacher on Prayer podcast. A Podcast principal Paddock Focusing on Who is this King of glory, as many facets of God as He has revealed Himself, as we can in October. Special thanks to Richard for making me smile again, this last few days, and especially with the intro. Been delayed a little because of two events, one sad, and the other just inconvenient, but we are back...

Richard's intros are always a joy! Three weeks ago, at our Production Meeting, which our wives call our play date, we discussed the introduction, and I didn't receive it from him until September 30. Richard is. Pro! Our goal is to have short, contemplative episodes every day in October, with the end result of broadening and deepening our relationship with our Creator, Savior, and Teacher....