Practicing Faith

Practical ideas for Christian living

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How to Increase Margin in Your Life

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It is impossible to welcome others into our lives when there is no margin. Hospitality cannot be added to already overburdened lives. Without margin, we are incapable of relational spontaneity in our neighborhood, unable to even think about planning time to spend with others. Margin is the space between our load and our limits, between […]

Taken from Next Door As It Is in Heaven copyright © 2016 by Lance Ford and Brad Brisco. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

10 Ways to Stop Saying Yes When You Should Say No

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I knew the request was unrealistic. My brain cued all the right signals for my mouth to say no. But somewhere between the sinking feeling in my heart of how this would affect my relationship with this person and the pressure of her expectations for me to agree to her request, I blurted out, “Yes, […]

photo credit: Grzegorz W. Tezycki

Lysa TerKeurst is a wife, mother of five, and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. She is the author of several bestselling books including The Best Yes, which can be ordered in Resources.

Winning Strategies When You Lose

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Everyone loses. We lose jobs, lose promotions, lose races we relentlessly trained for. Our applications are rejected, our ideas spurned, our qualifications minimized, our performance goes unnoticed. Losing makes us feel small, insignificant, and invisible. This is why losing hurts–because it causes us to question our worth and how we have chosen to use our […]

photo credit: Dale Hanson Bourke

Halee Gray Scott is the author of Dare Mighty Things, available in Resources.

How to Choose Your Life Verse

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When circumstances batter us about and we are most prone to go off-course, a single, well-chosen Bible verse can guide us back toward the things that matter most. A “life verse” is a powerful, clarifying tool. A life verse is a short passage of Scripture that serves as a rallying cry to guide and focus […]

Taken from Simplify by Bill Hybels. Copyright 2014. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc. All rights reserved. To order a copy of this book, go to Resources.

How to Love Your Job (or Leave It)

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One of the greatest blessings in life is to love your work, to be satisfied in your labor. When you invest the best hours of your day in a rewarding job, your energy level not only stays high throughout the day; it gets refilled by being at work. A miserable job, on the other hand, […]

photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith

Taken from Simplify by Bill Hybels. Copyright 2014. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc. All rights reserved. To order a copy of this book, go to Resources. To be eligible to win a free copy, please subscribe.

How to Find Your Calling

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“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” people asked Jesus (John 6:29). Their question reveals human perplexity in the face of “calling”—a word that suggests divinely-commissioned work. What is my calling? How will I know it when I find it? Finding our “calling” is a prayerful process, and there’s no formula […]

photo credit: Flickr/Redvers

Jen Pollock Michel is author of Teach Us to Want. To order a copy go to resources. To be eligible to win a free copy, subscribe.

Overcoming the Comparison Game

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Most of us play some form of a comparison game with our lives. It’s a cultural given. “Why did she get the promotion?” “How did his kid pull off that scholarship?” “Why is she so pretty, skinny, smart?” Comparison fuels gossip, social banter, and reality TV ratings. Competition can be good. It makes for a […]

Tracey Bianchi is the Worship and Teaching Pastor at Christ Church of Oak Brook (Chicago). Her latest book, True You: Overcoming Self-Doubt and Using Your Voice can be ordered in resources.

 

Five Unexpected, Everyday Places to Pray

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One of my resolutions for this year was to pray more consistently every day. I want to build habits that remind me to pray, even when I get caught up in details and distractions. I began to make a list of my own and then asked friends for their creative ideas. Here’s a list of […]

Dale Hanson Bourke is the Editor and Publisher of PracticingFaith.com and author of 11 books, including Embracing Your Second Calling.  To order, go to resources.

Want to Change the World? Advice from Hannah More

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Hannah More (1745-1833) was an English writer and reformer and is the subject of my new biography, Fierce Convictions–The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist. Here are just a few lessons from the life of this remarkable woman who helped change the world. 1.Don’t be overcome by obstacles and limitations. Born in England […]

photo credit: Painting by Felix Emile-Jean Vallotton

Karen Swallow Prior is author of Fierce Convictions–The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More. To order a copy, go to Resources.