Here’s an excerpt from St. Patrick’s Confessions:

“After I had come to Ireland I daily used to feed cattle, and prayed frequently during the day; the love of God and the fear of Him increased more and more and faith became stronger, and the spirit was stirred; so that in one day I said about a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same; so that I used even to remain in the woods and in the mountains; before daylight I used to rise to prayer, through snow, through frost, through rain, and felt no harm; nor was there any slothfulness in me, and I now perceive, because the spirit was then fervent within me.”

Wow!  Patrick was a man of prayer!

This is incredibly convicting for me.  I’ve woken up very early many mornings to simply roll over and hit the snooze button.  So many opportunities to pray wasted.

Patrick recognized the connection between prayer, the awareness of God’s love, and a fervent spirit, and he gave himself to seeking God.

How about you?  What can you learn about your prayer life from St. Patrick’s example?

Thanks!! RSS subscribe by clicking here. To get new posts emailed to you click here.

Hey Twitter, Facebook, and Blog friends in Ireland and the UK!

I have an idea. I’m going to be in Ireland in May and I’d love to meet up with you and pray for God to move across Western Europe.

On Thursday, May 26th at 3:30pm, let’s meet on the Hill of Slane at the old Slane Abbey in County Meath to meet each other in person and pray. The Hill of Slane is a place of significant Christian history as it was the place where Saint Patrick lit his early paschal fire to let the High King of Tara know that Christianity is coming to Ireland. The Hill is accessible by car and there is parking, even though the map looks a bit different. Just take the narrow Abbey View Road up the hill to the abbey. You can see it on Google Maps here. Switch to satellite view to see it better. What a great opportunity to cover Ireland in prayer just one day before the Slane music festival!

So what do you say? Are you up for it? You can RSVP in the comments and we’ll put it together. What an awesome chance to cry out to God in a beautiful setting and connect with friends we’ve never met!

Slane Abbey

Thanks!! RSS subscribe by clicking here. To get new posts emailed to you click here.

Hey friends!  Remember the Messenger Bag Giveaway I did last month?  (Check it out.)  Well I’m giving away another one!!

I’ve been selling these bags for years to raise money for Irish missions.  From time to time I like to give one away.  Why?  I’m really hoping that the person who uses it will be reminded to pray for God to move in Ireland.

Why Ireland?  Check this post out and don’t forget to watch the videos.  They’re great!  Also, check out my Ireland Missions page.

So what do you have to do?  The rules are the same as last time.  Just post a comment on this post and tell me what you’d use it for.  School?  Work?  Books?  Your laptop?  The other thing you’ll have to do is click that little retweet button on the left and tell your friends.  That’s it!  At the end of the week, my son will randomly pick a winner from the comments section and I will reveal the name of that person in a blog post with instructions on how to claim your new bag.  If you’re worried that you’re going to miss the post that reveals the winner, there’s a subscription link at the bottom of this post. (Or click the RSS button at the top of the page.)

If you don’t win (and even if you do) consider buying a bag from my eBay store.  All profits go to support Irish church planters.  Thanks!

Here’s a picture of that awesome bag.  Don’t forget to pray for Ireland!

Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to my blog by Clicking here.