Speak It Like Jesus Did

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When Jesus stood outside the tomb of a man who had been dead four days, He did not organize a prayer meeting or ask the crowd to agree with Him in faith. He simply said, Lazarus, come forth. That moment holds a lesson many of us have missed about how prayer actually works.

A Prayer That Sounds Like a Command

James chapter 5 instructs believers to call for the elders when someone is sick, to pray over them and anoint them with oil. But just a few verses later, James points to the prophet Elijah as an example of effective, fervent prayer, and what Elijah actually said was a declaration to a king that it would not rain again until he spoke otherwise. Scripture calls that prayer. Sometimes what we call decreeing is simply a form of praying that speaks with the same confidence Jesus and Elijah modeled.

Confidence Comes From Relationship

Before Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, He first thanked the Father, saying, I knew that thou hearest me always. That confidence did not appear out of nowhere. It was the fruit of a deep, ongoing relationship with the Father. When we know God hears us, our prayers naturally shift from anxious pleading to peaceful, confident declaration.

Healing and Forgiveness Together

James also connects healing with forgiveness, noting that the prayer of faith will save the sick, and if sins have been committed, they will be forgiven. Neither one depends on our perfection. Both flow from the same place: a Father who is willing and able to help those who belong to Him.

The next time you pray for someone who is hurting, consider whether you are only asking, or whether you are also willing to speak with the same settled confidence Jesus did. He is still teaching us today what He taught His first disciples then, one obedient step at a time.

-Terrence Burton

What God Builds When No One Is Watching

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Every public breakthrough you have ever admired in someone else’s life was quietly assembled in a place you never saw. That is how God works, and it is worth understanding if you want your own life to bear real fruit.

The Secret Place Comes First

Jesus taught His followers to pray in secret, behind a closed door, away from an audience. That instruction was not only about privacy. It revealed a principle: God trusts people privately before He trusts them publicly. The relationship formed when no one is applauding becomes the foundation for whatever platform comes later. Skipping that hidden season rarely produces something that lasts.

Saying Yes Before You Understand

Abraham left his homeland without knowing exactly where God was leading him. His obedience came before his clarity, not after it. Many believers wait for a full explanation before they move, but faith often requires taking the next step while the rest of the path remains hidden. Giving God your yes before you know all the details is not reckless. It is trust in action.

Sensitivity Grows Through Practice

Spiritual sensitivity is not handed to us fully formed. It develops the same way any skill develops, through repeated small acts of obedience. Following a quiet impression today makes it easier to recognize God’s voice tomorrow. Jesus said He only did what He saw His Father doing. If you are going to have that kind of moment by moment awareness it will come from constant fellowship, not a single dramatic encounter.

Wilderness Seasons Are Not Wasted

It is tempting to admire someone’s ministry while overlooking the years of quiet development behind it. The wilderness, whatever form it takes in your life, is not punishment. It is preparation. God is not simply working toward a finished version of you. He already sees it, and He is building you toward it one obedient step at a time.

If you feel like you are in a hidden season right now, take heart. What feels unseen to everyone else is fully seen by God, and it is preparing you for something real.

-Terrence Burton

What Athletes Can Teach Us About Spiritual Discipline

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Whether someone is training for a marathon, learning an instrument, or growing in their walk with God, the same basic principles apply. Scripture actually uses this comparison on purpose. Paul described the Christian life as a race to be run and a body to be disciplined, and there is wisdom in taking that picture seriously.

Start With a Clear Goal

Paul wrote in Philippians 3 that he pressed toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Training without a target becomes aimless, and the same is true spiritually. A believer who has not defined what growth actually looks like will struggle to move toward it. Proverbs 29:18 reminds us that vision gives direction where there would otherwise be none.

Practice Consistently, Even in Small Ways

First Timothy 4:7 and 8 instructs us to train ourselves for godliness, noting that while physical training has some value, godliness holds value for everything, both now and in what is to come. Spiritual growth is not a onetime event. It is built through steady, repeated practice, prayer, worship, and time in the word, the same way muscles are built through consistent use rather than a single burst of effort.

Expect to Be Challenged, and Expect to Rest

James reminds us that trials produce endurance, and endurance produces maturity. Growth almost always comes through resistance, not comfort. But Scripture never asks us to run without rest. Jesus told His disciples to come away to a quiet place and rest a while, and the same God who calls us to discipline also calls us to Sabbath.

Keep Your Eyes on the Right Example

Hebrews 12 calls believers to run with endurance the race set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Motivation fades when our focus drifts. It holds steady when our eyes stay on Him.

Spiritual maturity is not an accident. It is trained. Choose one discipline this week and commit to it consistently.

-Terrence Burton

Why Calling Requires Both a Plan and Power

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Two things have to be present for any calling to bear fruit. There has to be a clear pattern, a sense of what God is asking you to do, and there has to be the ability to actually carry it out. Scripture shows these working together again and again, and it is worth noticing how rarely one shows up without the other.

God Prepares Both the Assignment and the Gifting

Ephesians tells us that we are God’s workmanship, created for good works that He prepared beforehand for us to walk in. The plan comes first. But God does not stop at handing us an assignment and walking away. When He called Bezalel to help build the tabernacle, Exodus tells us God filled him with the Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship. The pattern and the ability arrived together, both gifts from the same hand.

Not by Might

Zechariah gives one of the clearest lines in Scripture on this subject. Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord. Talent and effort matter, but they were never meant to carry the full weight of a calling on their own. Philippians adds to this picture, reminding us that it is God who works in us both to will and to act according to His good purpose. The desire and the strength both come from Him.

Pass It On

Paul instructed Timothy to entrust what he had learned to faithful people who would be able to teach others also. A calling was never meant to end with one person. Jesus modeled the same principle, training a small group of disciples so thoroughly that He said a fully trained disciple would become like their teacher.

If God has given you an assignment, trust that He has also equipped you to carry it. Ask Him for the ability to match the calling, then walk forward.

-Terrence Burton

Getting Ready Before God Moves

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None of the great moves of God in Scripture happened to people who were caught off guard. Long before the flood, before the famine, before the Spirit fell at Pentecost, someone was quietly getting ready.

Noah and Joseph Prepared While No One Else Believed

God warned Noah of a flood that had never happened before, and by faith Noah built an ark to save his household, even while the world around him carried on as usual. Years later, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and spent seven years storing grain nobody else thought they needed. When the famine came, what others meant for harm, God used to save many lives. In both stories, the preparation looked unnecessary right up until the moment it was not.

Readiness Cannot Be Borrowed

Jesus told a parable about ten virgins waiting for a bridegroom. Five brought extra oil for their lamps. Five did not. When the call finally came at midnight, the unprepared ones asked to borrow oil from the others, but readiness cannot be transferred at the last minute. Jesus ended the story with a warning to keep watch, because we do not know the day or the hour. That is not meant to create fear. It is meant to create daily faithfulness.

Prayer Is Preparation Too

Before the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the disciples spent days together, devoted to prayer with one accord. They were not idle while they waited. Their preparation was prayer, unity, and obedience, and when the promised Spirit came, they were ready to receive Him and immediately began preaching with power.

Preparation is not a lack of faith. It is what faith looks like before the answer arrives. Whatever you are believing God for, let this be the season you get your lamp filled, your heart postured, and your prayer life ready, because readiness always precedes the move of God.

-Terrence Burton