Living Water - Sermons for All Seasons

There is—or at least ought to be—power in prayer. The Bible, after all, is filled with stories of people who prayed and saw amazing results. Jesus, our Discipler, besides praying often and with the clear expectation of results, taught us “to always pray and to never give up.” Yet, too many of us of lack the power to pray consistently and effectively. Prayer is often a duty seldom performed, instead of a living experience of connecting with heaven’s power. The Bible’s true statement, “Faith without works is dead,” is also true when turned backward: an absence of prayer in our life demonstrates the absence of faith in our heart … faith in the actual effectiveness of prayer as the Bible describes it: If we pray, God will act; if we don’t pray, he won’t.

The sole aim of Power to Pray is to increase this faith in all of us, so that our Father, who eagerly waits for us to pray, can act on earth as in heaven. The rest is up to you … and the Holy Spirit.  My prayer is that the immense purposes of God will be accomplished through your simple prayers.

NEED INSPIRATION?

The answer may be found in the labor of love The Amazing Power of The Holy Spirit by E. James Dickey!

This power-packed writing promises new insights and inspiration to all who are in need of spiritual sustenance today. It is full of examples, stories, scriptural references, and for the deep thinker, strong theological proclamations.

These pages on The Amazing Power of the Holy Spirit promise new insights and inspiration to all who love the written word, especially in relation to the critical need of spirituality today.

The Essential Guide for Beating Temptation

Falling for temptation isn’t inevitable. We don’t have to lose the fight. In fact, we can win if we understand the root of the problem and what Christians have done from the beginning to beat it. Our Favorite Sins shines a much-needed light in our lives’ dark corners and reveals the time-tested methods for getting victory over sin. 

Are you tyrannized by your own desires?

If you are breathing, your answer is probably yes.

The question is: What are you going to do about it?

With more than thirty years of pastoral experience, Todd D. Hunter knows that most people—himself included—struggle every day with temptation. All too often, we fail and fall, and some of us are at our wit’s end, utterly defeated. What do we do to get a grip on the sin in our life and live like God wants? 

There’s good news: despite all our failures and shameful “moments after,” there really is a way out, a way forward, and a way that draws us closer to the life that God desires for us. 

In Our Favorite Sins, Hunter cracks open the problem of temptation and points to practical, biblically based, time-tested solutions. First revealing the role played by our disordered desires, Hunter shows how different temptations trip us up and how we can resist and overcome them, even if we’ve fallen prey to them for decades. Victory starts with reordering our desires, and the church has given us the tools for the job. Hunter shows us how to use them and start beating the temptations that so often beat us. 

Informed by exclusive research from the Barna Group, Our Favorite Sins offers a view that works for any believer wherever they are and no matter how big the battle they’re fighting.

Endorsements:

“The most deceptive part of sin is its ability to blind us to its reality in our lives. Todd Hunter offers sane and helpful guidance about the way out.” —John Ortberg, senior pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church; author of The Me I Want to Be

“It is so easy to miss our potential in life due to getting caught up in our weaknesses and temptations. Todd helps us understand not only how to recognize the subtle sins that can distract us, but how to be like Jesus when facing them.” ?Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus But Not the Church

“Todd Hunter draws on ancient practices in order to provide insight and strategy to face temptations in our lives. This book will help you think about how you can not just ask God to deliver you from temptation but be intentional about finding a way of escape.” —Margaret Feinberg, www.margaretfeinberg.com, author of Scouting the Divine and The Sacred

“In Our Favorite Sins, Hunter combines modern language and research with classic understanding in providing a fresh look at our most deadly sins. His suggestions for ‘ancient and fruitful’ practices will be very helpful to many in reorienting desire toward living life with God.” —Gary W. Moon, M.Div., Ph.D., executive director, Martin Family Institute and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation, Westmont College; author of Apprenticeship with Jesus

“This book speaks powerfully to some of my own deepest spiritual struggles. In offering candid, informed counsel on ‘our favorite sins,’ Todd Hunter has given me, and multitudes like me, an important spiritual treasure.” —Dr. Richard Mouw, president, Fuller Seminary; author of Praying at Burger King

“Todd Hunter is the only man I know who can talk about sin with an appealing easiness and, at the time, with an equally appealing candor. I can almost guarantee that you’ll enjoy his conversation and end up very grateful for having had the chance to read it.” —Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence

“One of the most persistent and least talked about questions for Christians are these: If sin is so bad, then why are we drawn to it? If it wrecks human lives—which it does, every time—then what is so appealing about its temptations? Is there any help for those who want to find freedom from sin? Todd Hunter has delved deeply into this matter, and in this excellent and accessible book Hunter offers us not only insight into why we sin, but how we can begin to turn from its false promises. The body of Christ needs this book." —James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful God