Dr Paul Allen

The start of a new year is a great time to assess where you are spiritually and to examine yourself to see where you need to grow in your walk with the Lord. You can look back on the past year and see how your life of prayer went, where it was strong and where it was weak; and you can seek the Lord to help you grow in your strengths and shore up your weaknesses. At the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we see the necessity of prayer in chapter six, verse 18 (“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints”). In spite of how comprehensive all of Paul’s instruction has been to this point, there is still one significant exhortation left to give to believers: prayer. Paul wanted the Ephesians to build a powerful life of prayer – one that was sustained in and out of crises that they faced on earth. He wanted prayer to be part of everything they did. He wanted them to be pe...

In the new year, can I get a car loan? Is the buying power of my dollar going to erode further? Will the challenges with my kids get better or grow worse? Will I gain a new friendship, or will one of my friends stab me in the back? Will the political season stir deeper division in the church? There’s much I don’t know about the new year. But as I turn to the Word, there’s much I can know. The Bible—and Psalm 90 in particular—gives a set of constants on the horizon as the calendar flips from December to January. 1. God will still be my refuge. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. (Ps. 90:1–2) The great constant in my life year after year is the unending fact of the presence of God. He has been there, and he will be there. No matter where I find myself this year, God will be there. God will always be there for me, no matter how strong...