Talking to Jesus

Talking to Jesus

by | Apr 24, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Grandma used to pray out loud
By her bed every night
To me, it sounded like mumbling
Like she was out of her mind
She said, “Boy, this kind of praying
Is what saved my life
You outta try it some time”
And now I know she was right”

Talking to Jesus, Maverick City.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

I grew up with parents who prayed.

They would make time, early in the morning, after waking up to seek the face of the Lord.

My dad had a simple philosophy – pray every where and all the time.

I often had to remind him to keep his eyes open while driving and praying.

My mom kept a regular and disciplined devotional time. She would sit in her room or in the downstairs lounge – where ever she could catch the most sun that day – and read her Bible and pray.

As children living in Dubai, whenever the Muslim call for prayer would sound throughout the city – broadcast over what felt like every speaker and every television set – my mom would switch off all the devices in the house, gather her three young boys and teach us to talk to Jesus.

As a teenager I started going to church more and more – it was very much a refuge for me.

I had a pastor who took me under his wing and to this day I maintain that he taught me everything I needed to know in regards to ministry – and it wasn’t the theology, or history, or practical ministry… It was much simpler and much deeper than that.

I spent a lot of time as a teenager and a young man sitting with him in his office just talking to Jesus.

As if face to face.

Sometimes for hours.

And the more time I have spent in prayer the more I have seen the Hand of God move in my life and the lives of those around me.

There were times where it felt like all I really had was a prayer – and God came through!

Still today I have never lost the habit of conversing with Jesus.

There are as many ways to approach prayer as there are shoe sizes. But all of them have this one thing in common – we’ve got to start talking to Jesus.

It doesn’t have to be a ritual. It doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated.

I often find myself sitting in the living room, doing household stuff, or walking outside – even in public – and a conversation starts.

It comes naturally. But only because of practice.

At first it might seem strange, it might feel a little awkward – just like building a relationship in the natural – but the more time spent in prayer the more it becomes nature.

Our prayers do not need to be perfect. They don’t need to be rehearsed or refined. They just need to be.

All we have to do is start talking. He will hear you.

He is always there – He is always on the line! His ears are always open. God does not slumber or sleep.

All you have to do is start talking.

I want to urge you to pray with others. I learnt a lot from my parents, from my mentor and from many others over the years – just by spending time with them in prayer.

If you are new to prayer – find someone to pray with in your family, your circle of friends or your community of faith. If you can’t find anyone in your immediate vicinity contact me and I will pray with you.

If you are a person who prays I would like to encourage you to pray with your children, pray with your family, pray with your friends so that they might learn and be encouraged through your effort and example.

Let us start talking to Jesus – as individuals but also as family.

Let us start talking to Jesus and introduce as many others to Him as we can as well.

Prayer: Lord, as I start talking to You today I pray that it won’t stop. I thank You Lord that Your ear and Your heart are turned towards me. You hear me when I call. As I spend time in prayer help me identify the ways in which I can grow and help others grow as well through effort and example. Help me make prayer as natural and essential as eating and breathing. In Jesus Name.

Back to Life

Back to Life

by | Mar 8, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“No longer I who live, but Christ in me
For I’ve been born again, my heart is free
The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind
Hallelujah, You brought me back to life”

                        Back to Life, Zahriya Zachary

“20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

                        Galatians 2:20:


‘Back to Life’ by Bethel is one of Kailie’s favourite songs. I often hear her singing in the kitchen, or while doing the laundry, or just walking down the hall: “Just like Lazarus, You brought me back to life!”

And it is one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. Not only because it is the sweet songbird voice of my wife, but because of the content itself – HE BRINGS US BACK TO LIFE.

I was very much dead but Jesus brought me back to life.

Christianity is not so much about the handing out of an ultimatum. I’ve been involved with evangelism for a very long time, and one of the most frequent objections I’ve heard is in regards to the sort of ‘turn or burn’ preaching that happens at some of these events. 

“How can a loving God be so cruel? Why would a God that is so full of love and compassion judge and condemn the sinner? It seems unfair to say “choose Me or go to hell…”

This is the fruit of us preaching ultimatums. 

I unashamedly preach repentance and holiness – heaven and hell – I unashamedly preach fire and brimstone, but at no point do I believe that God is issuing threats or ultimatums. 

We are already dead. We are, in a lot of ways, already in hell.

Jesus does not offer us the opportunity to choose where we go next – as if this life is some sort of neutral ground – He does not offer an ultimatum. Instead Jesus offers, through His sacrifice upon the Cross, a solution. He offers us a way out of our current situation.

Jesus very much is the Right Hand of God reaching out to pull us up and out of the grave and into newness and freshness of life. 

A victorious life where we do not have to be ruled by sin and fear – but where we can prosper as children of our Father who loves us.

In the story of Lazarus his sisters were discouraged when Jesus did not come immediately. They call on Jesus when their brother falls ill, but He knows and tells His disciples: “This sickness will not end in death.”

Two things come to mind. Some of us are Mary’s and Matha’s and we have been praying – calling on Jesus – in regards to our family or our friends that they might encounter Him and be set free. We have been making intercession for a sibling, a parent, a spouse, maybe our children – and we have become discouraged. Why isn’t He showing up?

Don’t stop praying, and don’t stop loving!

A friend’s mother told me how she had prayed, sometimes through the night, for her son to be saved. He was a drug addict. Her pillow would sometimes be soaked with tears as she cried out to the Lord. 

Today he helps many drug addicts break free and recover from the chains of addiction. 

It took more than a decade – but at the right time God stepped in. And when she tells the story you can’t help but marvel at the goodness of God – when you hear his side of things it becomes even more of a miracle.

Some of us are a little bit more like Lazarus. I was a Lazarus.

I was dead. All seemed lost. It had reached a point where I felt it was too late for me. 

Hope had run out.

I was suicidal, I had no will to live. I knew I had strayed from the path God had had in mind for me and could see no way back. All I had was darkness eating away at my heart and soul. 

The enemy thought he had me… but Jesus said: “YOU ARE MINE!”

And the moment I realised that, the moment I truly encountered the boundless, unconditional love and resurrection power of Jesus my whole life changed.

He called me out of that grave. And I have never looked back. I stepped from death to life. From the darkness I stepped into the light of His grace and mercy. I stepped from chaos into His peace. 

God does not give us ultimatums – He offers us a solution. He offers us salvation.

It’s not about choosing where we go when this life is over – rather it is about staying where we are, dead and hopeless, or taking His hand and coming out of the grave.

I chose to take His hand and come out of the grave. And in doing so I chose to serve Him. To live a life worthy of the Life He Gave. I serve Him by becoming the echo of His call to me – “Lazarus! Come out of that grave!” 

Prayer: Today, Lord, I choose life. I choose to hear Your voice calling out to me. I will get up and step out of death and into life. Lord, forgive me, come and cleanse me – come and make me clean. I throw myself upon Your mercy and ask that You might drench me to the bone in Your love and clothe my nakedness with You grace. And as I renounce the things that have kept me separated from You, oh Lord, draw near to me. Come alive in me so that I, like Paul, might be able to say “It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me.” Let everyone I encounter and interact with today see You, feel You and hear You as I become an echo of Your call to me. Let others come to Christ through my coming to Christ. In Jesus Name. Amen.

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

by | Mar 1, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

John 15:13-15: “Greater love (agapáō) has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (philos). You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

The word ‘philos’ translated here as ‘friend’ indicates a ‘personal’ and ‘experienced’ kind of affection – whereas ‘agapáō’ translates into a kind of ‘decision-based’ love driven by values and choices.

The book of Romans, in chapter 5, makes it clear that Christ died for us while we were still His enemies.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It is through the reckless, unconditional and amazing love of Jesus that this transformation takes place – through the ‘agapáō’ decision of God we are reconciled with Him and restored to right relationship – in His sacrifice He pours out His ‘Philos’ – His personal affection – and pulls us close and into relationship with Him

It’s through this great love that we are transformed – pulled from enmity into friendship with God, from separation into relationship – pulled into the embrace of God by the Right Arm which is Jesus Christ.

James 2:21-24: 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

It starts with the belief of our heart and the confession of our mouth that Jesus is Lord – that He died for our sins and in the process devoured death through His resurrection.

We are resurrected through The Resurrection.

But it does not stop there. The Resurrection is only the beginning. It is only the first breath. We are called to life so that we may live.

Jesus, through this ministry of reconciliation, calls us to friendship.

Through our faith in Him we are called ‘friends’ – but this relationship is sustained by action.

We cultivate our friendship with Christ – if we treasure it we will nurture it. We maintain our friendship with Jesus through prayer, through meditation – thinking on His Word and life – and through our worship.

And as our friendship with Jesus grows, as our love for God grows – so should our love for neighbour. We start living like Jesus lives.

As we grow in our “Philos”-relationship with Christ we will grow in our “Agapáō”-love for others.

I want to urge you today to cultivate your friendship with Jesus.

Friends on Earth might let you down – but Jesus never does!

He is the best friend you could ever ask for – and He will always be there for you! No matter what!

As your friendship with Jesus grows you will see His love and grace flood your life.

When I was a kid my parents and teachers warned me not to fall in with the ‘wrong’ friends. The wrong friends have the potential to lead you towards wrong places and wrong choices.

Jesus leads you towards the RIGHT things, the right places, the right choices.

Our friends have the potential to mould and shape who we are, to influence who we become. Friendship is a powerful thing.

Friendship with Jesus transforms us. Friendship with Jesus restores us.

Choose friendship with Christ today.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your love and grace today. The same love that calls us out of enmity and into right relationship with You. Thank You Jesus that You have called me as Your friend. Show me Lord how to draw near to You, how to be a good friend. Pull me deeper into prayer, study, worship and acts of service. Teach me what friendship looks like. And as I build my friendship with You Lord, let my relationships with those around me be restored as well. In the Mighty, Lovely Name of Jesus. Amen.

They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

by | Mar 1, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

At the last supper, just before His crucifixion, and after predicting His betrayal, Jesus shares the following in John 13: 

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In this verse we see Jesus talking about ‘agapé’ – which is a value-driven and decision-based love. It is not rooted in experience or in feeling.

My dad used to say, ‘I don’t have to like you to love you.’

There are a myriad of situations where I might not like the other person, or feel like loving them – but I CHOOSE to love them because that is what Christ would have me do.

And yes, it is hard – at first.

Just like any discipline. It took a lot of practice to learn how to play the guitar. It took a lot of work to get good at your craft. It takes work, commitment and practice to progress in our love of others from mere feeling to decision.

“They will know you are my disciples if you love one another.”

Love in this context is a choice.

And it only works if we cast aside the fetters of pride and arrogance that would have us think that we are in any way, shape or form better than those we aim to love.

Heidi Baker, in her testimony, tells how the Lord sent her to sit with the poor – she was doing massive tent meetings at the time, and God stopped her, saying, “You don’t know anything about my Kingdom. You need to sit with the poor.” And that became her journey.

I personally learned a lot from going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Teachers like Rob Bell and Richard Rohr went through the same journey – when an older man came up to a young pastor Bell and said, “You can learn everything you need to know about running a church from going to an AA meeting…”

I learned how to really love in AA meetings.

Before that it was easy for me to judge, or to think myself superior – but that is not the Kingdom. 

The Kingdom is not about being raised up – it’s about choosing to go down. 

It is about choosing humility and being stripped of self so that Christ can be exalted in and through us. It is about going down to the level of and sitting with the poor, the lost, the addict – Jesus demonstrated that. God Himself stepped down from His heavenly throne to come and walk barefoot in the dirt among us… And not just ‘among’ us – but with us!

Christianity is about CHOOSING to love.

We are called to a higher standard as Christians. We are called to be different. 

Even when we don’t like the other person. Even if we disagree. Whether they belong to our church or even if they don’t go to church at all. We do not pick and choose who to love, but instead we choose to love everyone regardless.

We are called to love – not like we love ourselves – but as Christ has loved us.

I got saved because someone chose to share the love of Christ with me even when I did not deserve it.

You got saved because someone chose to share the love of Christ with you. 

John 15:13: “No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.”

But Jesus proves His love in dying for us while we were still His enemies.

That’s the kind of love Christ would have us show the world.

The kind of love that lays down its life even for its enemies.

Christianity is about CHOOSING to love.

We are called to a higher standard as Christians. We are called to be different. 

We are called to love – not like we love ourselves – but as Christ has loved us.

Prayer: Lord, in this day, show me and teach me how to love. Help me to not be blinded by ego and self-interest, but rather let me love regardless. Let me love like You love. Lord, in this day, show me how I can make a difference in the lives of those around me. Help me to walk as You walked. Not among people, but with people. And let my brothers and sisters who have strayed come back home in Jesus name. Amen

I Speak Jesus

I Speak Jesus

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

Acts 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is power in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is the power of God unto salvation.

As Christian’s we know this – we know that His Name is the name above every name. The Name of Jesus makes the enemy tremble. 

The Name of Jesus is power – it is healing – the Name of Jesus is freedom.

The Name of Jesus makes Jericho walls fall down and mountains crumble into the sea.

The Name of Jesus lights up the darkness and pulls down strongholds – His Name very much is life.

I like what Paul writes in Philipians 2:9-11:

“9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The power that is in the Name of Jesus – that beautiful, powerful, wonderworking Name above all names – is rooted in our faith in the Name.

When we believe that He is who He says He is – the Right Hand of God reaching out to pull us from the miry clay – and we proclaim His Name over our situations we will see change.

It is very much about believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth. The two go hand in hand.

When we believe that Jesus is who He says He is – and speak the name of Jesus over your situation – you will see that situation bow before the power of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

He said upon the cross: IT IS DONE.

Your healing and restoration is there.

Your provision is there.

Your deliverance and freedom is there.

In the mighty Name of Jesus – in the Name of the risen and exalted Christ.

In the midst of your storm speak the name of Jesus. Call Jesus – cry out to the Lord.

David says he waited on the Lord and that He heard his cry (Psalm 40), he called on the Lord and was saved from his enemies (Psalm 18). He pours out forgiveness and lovingkindness in abundance upon all who calls on Him (Psalm 86).

Speak the Name of Jesus in your situation today. He will incline His ear to you and pull you up and out of the miry clay.

Psalm 18:3: I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. 

Jesus saves us from our enemies. He saves us from the voices in our heads. He saves us from ourselves. He saves us from death and destruction. He keeps us from drowning.

He is worthy of our praise.

He is worthy of adoration.

His name is high and exalted above every other name.

Walking in His name means walking in His victory.

Today I urge you to speak the Name of Jesus over your life, your situation, your circumstances – start walking in victory!

I also urge you to speak the Name of Jesus over your family, your church, your community – your country and continent.

2 Chronicles 7:14: 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It is time we get serious about speaking the Name of Jesus over every facet of our life, into every sphere of influence, and every circle of concern.

It is time we become a people of prayer again.

Revival is conceived in the womb of prayer.

Restoration is conceived in the womb of prayer.

The womb of prayer is where we speak the life-giving Name of Jesus.

Shout Jesus from the mountains. From the rooftops. Speak Jesus in the valley and in the streets. Speak Jesus over your family, your friends – and even your enemies. 

Speak Jesus and you will see the ocean split open before you.

Prayer: Lord, I know that there is power in Your Name, in the mighty name of Jesus. I speak Your name over every situation, every circumstance today, confessing what I know in my heart to be true – the Name of Jesus changes things. The Name of Jesus sets the captive free. The Name of Jesus heals the sick and makes the cripple walk again. Where life has sought to cripple me, Lord I speak Your Name. In the Name of Jesus I will get up and I will walk on the water. In the Name of Jesus I pray for revival, for restoration in my family, my church and my community. I pray that you will guide me in prayer today and show me other situations, people and places that I should speak Your name over. Help me make a difference here in the womb of prayer. Help me speak life over my life and the lives of those around me. And as I do, help me see the change it makes so that I can testify of Your goodness, grace and love – so that I can testify of the power of Your name. In the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.