Streams in the desert

God brings streams into the desert. Let’s talk about how God can bless you.

Work and rest

It’s a four-letter word

If you lose millions of dollars, you can get it back. If you lose your health, you can get it back. You can get back just about most anything. But the one thing you can never get back is t-i-m-e.

Many things we think are a “waste of time” are not. Those things we hold to be a best use of time, actually are a waste. Time will run out into the ocean of eternity one day and will stop marching forward. On that day, you and I will be in either Heaven or Hell. What we do here on earth in favor of eternity is the best use of time.

Have you hugged your family yet? Have you hugged God in prayer today?

Don´t junk prayer

Working 17-hour days, Michael Milken epitomized an age of unrelenting ambition. Peddling high-risk, high-profit “junk” bonds, he made millions in the 1980s. Milken despised sleep. It interfered with making money. Tens of thousands of business men emulated his work ethic.

But now, this do-without-sleep mentality is totally discredited. Today high-flying execs extol a good eight-hour night of Zzzs. Sleep doctors warn that minimizing sleep cuts your lifespan. Bed manufacturers boast about the latest technology. If the 80s generation thought they could skip sleep, their credo is debunked.

So here´s the comparison. Just as you can´t skimp on sleep without consequences, so too you can´t scrimp prayer. We are the hurry, worry, and scurry nation. With long to-do lists, prayer seems expendable compared to “urgent” priorities.

Actually, the truth is the opposite. Neglect all your ministerial work before neglecting prayer. Just as sound sleep leads to health and enhanced performance, so too your prayer time — how ever long it is — can´t slacken.

Prayer is God working for you. Lack of prayer is you working for you. If you work, it may not work out. But when God works, nothing can impede.

In 1990, Milken plea-bargained guilty to six counts of securities and tax violations. He paid $200 million in fines and served 22 months in prison. He is now a philanthropist.

Milken´s anti-sleep motto fell into disgrace with him. Remember the “junk bond king” offers “junk.” Don´t junk prayer.