Page 32 – Guideposts Articles

Prayer Power: The Garden of Prayer

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Brett Leveridge

It’s that time of year again—when people of all ages set up their window boxes and tramp out to their gardens. They turn the soil, poke a seed into the hole and cover it up. They water. They wait. They weed. All for the anticipated delight of a shoot, then a stalk, next a leaf and a bloom. Beauty bursts forth from the humblest of efforts, bringing nourishing vegetables and fragrant flowers.

How delightful. And how like another process: prayer.

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Jesus put it like this: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6 NIV). With each step, Jesus sends his followers farther and deeper into solitude— much like the farmers and gardeners who till the earth, turning over the soil before burying a seed: Go. Enter your room. Shut the door. Pray.

When we pray, we push into secret, sometimes dark, places. We plant our prayers in hope, trusting in a mysterious process, much of which passes unseen—by us, at least.

Our Father sees all, however, and he decides the day, hour, minute and moment when beauty will at last blossom forth and a garden of delights will grace the once-barren places we have planted.

Jesus did not suggest that we should never pray with others. He did not prohibit public prayers or group prayers. After all, he promised his followers that “if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19 NIV).

But Jesus contrasted sincere, private prayer with prayer that’s offered to impress or show off, and he prescribed secret prayer for the rewards it brings. He said, “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Notice what Jesus didn’t say: “Maybe your Father will reward you.” He said, “Your Father…will reward you.” And your reward won’t be mere ego strokes or a round of applause. Your reward will come from the Father—from his bounty, creativity, wisdom and love.

Andrew Murray, author of the classic With Christ in the School of Prayer, wrote: “Jesus assures us that secret prayer cannot be fruitless: Its blessing will show itself in our life. We have but in secret, alone with God, to entrust our life before men to him; he will reward us openly; he will see to it that the answer to prayer be made manifest in his blessing upon us…. Trust him for it; depend upon him: Prayer to the Father cannot be vain; he will reward you openly.”

Jesus’ own life displayed the ample fruits of private prayer. His victory over temptation, the multiplying of the loaves and fishes, his healing of lepers and casting out of demons, his walking on water and raising of the dead all flowed from Jesus’ life of private prayer.

These are the scale and scope of the beautiful rewards that our Father, who sees what we plant in secret— even in darkness—will cause to spring up in our lives, like radiant blossoms in a sunlit garden.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to Guideposts magazine.

OurPrayer: Changing the World One Prayer at a Time

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Sabra Ciancanelli

OurPrayer is a faith-filled community reaching out and lifting those in need with the power of prayer. Through enriching prayer challenges, prayer events, uplifting newsletters, social media and additional efforts, OurPrayer strives to enrich people’s faith and provide meaningful spiritual direction. Discover the many ways Guideposts OurPrayer is changing the world one prayer at a time in the slideshow below.

How to Let God Fill Up Your Spiritual Tank

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Pablo Diaz

One New Year’s Day during the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. Out of gas. The whole parade was held up. Who did the float belong to? The Standard Oil Company. Even with vast oil resources, its truck ran out of fuel that day.

It’s the same for us. Though we have access to God’s power, we don’t always avail ourselves of it, and we run out of gas. One way to refuel is to take time to be alone with Him in prayer.

But competing for our time is work, family, children, relationships. Even errands and housework. And how about social media? In a recent article on uswitch.com, a study showed the average adult spent an average of three hours a day on social media in 2020—up from 90 minutes a day in 2012. And Americans spend 58 minutes a day on Facebook—325 hours a year!

Reading these numbers put things into perspective for me. Unless we deliberately set time aside to share our thoughts, concerns and prayers with God, it might not happen. And if it does, it’s often sporadic or in times of need.

Prayer is about connecting to our Creator, the reason for our existence. We can glean from His presence the path to take. We can be guided by His light in times of darkness. Prayer fills us with love. It teaches us to love as God loves us, to serve in the spirit of Jesus and to endure in times of troubles.

Author C.S. Lewis wrote, “God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirit were designed to feed on. There is no other.”

In this fast-paced world, we all need time by ourselves to think, reflect, rest and replenish. But time alone with God is the foundation for our spiritual development and source of strength.

Author Henri Nouwen wrote, “Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists, but that He is actively present in our lives—healing, teaching and guiding—we need to set aside a time and space to give Him our undivided attention.”

When we make time and give Him that undivided attention, as author A.W. Tozer noted, “the surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart . . . until a sense of God’s presence has enveloped you.”

Hospitals as Holy Places—Prayers and the Process of Healing

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Rick Hamlin

In the last two weeks I have received more prayers than I could possibly count. I’m grateful for that. And yet, I forget them all at the same time.

Quick update: I am still in the hospital, feeling MUCH better. Off the supplemental oxygen, finished with the antibiotics, declaring near-victory over a massive lung infection. With delight I update friends and loved ones through texts, emails, phone calls.

I just noticed something though. When people ask how I am, I praise the doctors, nurses, the excellent care at the hospital, the meds. I forget to credit all those prayers.

It made me reflect on what Paul says in the Bible, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:18). Yes, give thanks. Even when you’re fighting for your life in a hospital. But don’t forget how the Healer works.

Every prayer being said is like a cleansing spray, a shot in the arm, a new pill, a purging through the IV. God works through our prayers, just as much as God works through the nurses, doctors, techs and aids.

Frankly though, I get a little embarrassed when I consider all those people praying for me, pausing to think of me, remembering me, placing me in front of God, praising God for me. It’s hard to take in and completely humbling.

And that’s right. When we meet our Maker with humility we are in a good, creative, welcome place. How should we respond? There’s only one choice: With gratitude deep at our core. Gratitude to be—at least for this moment—the center of someone’s attention. We’re never not at the center of God’s.

There is healing power in thanksgiving. A spiritual corrective for that false sense of self that wants to hide from the love and the compassion and the caring the world is offering. To give thanks is to open yourself up to receive. With open arms. To know how much you matter…to God. And to others.

The other night as the nurse was fretting around my bed, helping me feel comfortable, getting me something I couldn’t reach, it dawned on me that she is one of God’s angels. No wings, no halo. But she—and so many others like her—is a vessel of the divine.

Hospitals are holy places. You don’t necessarily want to go to one. You don’t want to be so sick you need one. But when you’re there, you’re part of the huge heavenly process of healing.

I give thanks for that. And for every prayer said for me. Thanks.

Guideposts Classics: Eddie Rickenbacker on Helping Others

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Brett Leveridge

There are a lot of things concerning the human mind and soul that we don’t know much about. We get glimpses of them when in times of danger or suffering we cross a little way over the line of ordinary thought.

As I roared down the last stretch in an automobile race years ago, I felt that I could control that machine with my mind, that I could hold it together with my mind, and that, if it finally collapsed, I could run it with my mind.

If I had said such a thing then, the boys would have called me crazy. Even now I can’t explain it. But I believe that if you think disaster you will get it. Brood about death, and you hasten your demise. Think with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement.

Perhaps such things as the control of mind over matter and the transmission of thought waves are tied up together, part of something so big we haven’t grasped it yet. It’s part of us and part of the Something that is looking after us.

It’s one of the things that makes me believe in personal protection and in life after death. I have difficulty putting it into words.

A strange thing happened to me some years ago. I was flying to Chicago. It was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of December, and the weather was miserable. There was a lot of ice. We suddenly lost the radio beam.

For a long time we cruised back and forth trying to pick it up. Fog was all around us. We were lost, off the beam, and flying blind. Our two-way radio went out, and we had lost all communication with the world. For seven hours we flew—where, we didn’t know.

Darkness was coming on. Then, suddenly, we saw a break in the murk. The pilot brought the ship down to within one hundred feet, and we saw lights go flashing by on a four-lane highway. We followed it for some distance.

Then we saw a red glow away off to the right, headed for it, and saw a river gleaming. We flew up that river, and out of the six-thirty dusk of winter I saw the Toledo-Edison sign flashing. Skimming the roofs, we circled and landed at the airport. We had just enough gas left for 11 minutes of flight.

As seen in the inaugural
issue of Guideposts,
November 1945

We had flown blind, without a beam, but we were on a beam, just the same. I like to think it was the “Big Radio” that kept us going—the Thing that keeps all of us flying safely through the fog and night, toward some mysterious and important goal.

The “Big Radio” is a two-way job. You’ve got to keep tuned with It, and you have to talk back. I believe in prayer. I learned to pray as a kid at my mother’s knee.

One day in France, during World War I, with only one magneto on my Newport biplane functioning, I was attacked by three German Albatross planes. I came out of a dive so fast that the terrific pressure collapsed my right-hand upper wing. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t come out of that whirl of death.

I often wish I could think as fast under normal conditions as I did during that drop. While I fought the controls and tried to get the engine going, I prayed: “Oh, God,” I said, “help me get out of this.”

As a last desperate act, I threw my weight to the left-hand side over the cockpit and jammed the controls, then jammed the engine wide open. The thing suddenly sputtered and vibrated violently, and the plane sailed away, on her one good wing, for France. I held it like that all the way home.

This escape and others I have had were not the result of any super-ability or super-knowledge on my part. I wouldn’t be alive if I had to depend on that. I realized then, as I headed for France on one wing, that there had to be Something else.

I had seen others die—brighter and more able than I. I knew there was a Power. I believe in calling upon It for help.

I am not such an egotist as to believe that God has spared me because I am I. I believe there is work for me to do and I am spared to do it, just as you are. If I die tomorrow, I do not fear the prospect at all.

On a rainy night in February, 1941, I had the worst accident of my life. As I look back on the agonizing days in the hospital that followed I realize there was a reason behind it all. It was a test and a preparation for what was to follow.

In the four months I lay in that hospital I did more thinking about life and death than I had ever done before. Twenty-one months later I was adrift in an open lifeboat with seven other starving men, most of them so young they needed the strength and understanding of a man who had been down in the valley of the shadow, who had suffered and made sense out of his suffering.

To those men I was able to bring the distilled essence of the religious philosophy I had developed while in the hospital.

Once while there I almost died from a throat hemorrhage.

“Here,” I said, “is death.”

Then it dawned upon me in a flash that the easiest thing in the world is to die; the hardest is to live. Dying was a sensuous pleasure; living was a grim task. In that moment I chose to live. I knew from experience that abandonment to death was a sin. I wasn’t quitting. I had work to do, others to serve.

Many things came to me. I realized I wasn’t afraid to die, because I had lived so much, in good ways and bad, that I no longer felt the youthful pang of not having lived at all. I knew only the sorrow of being unable any more to help other people.

And when I finally came around, I saw life and death and the meaning of the Golden Rule more clearly than I had ever known.

I had taken that clarity with me to the rubber raft in the South Pacific after our plane crashed. Throughout those 21 days of blistering sun and nights of ghastly chill, I never lost faith, and I felt that we were adrift for a purpose. I saw life had no meaning except in terms of helping others.

I think man instinctively does not interest himself in others. He does it only by an act of will, when he sees that “I am my brother’s keeper” and “Do unto others” are the essence of all truth.

My experiences and the suffering through which I passed have taught me that faith in God is the answer to life.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to Guideposts magazine.

Dresses at the Cloisters—Bringing Holy Art Alive

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Rick Hamlin

The Cloisters is a terrific museum of medieval art in my upper Manhattan neighborhood. I jog around it many mornings a week, but haven’t been inside in a while. Until recently.

Right now it’s hosting an exhibit sponsored by the Met museum–of which it is a part–of liturgical garments and fashion: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”

I’m clueless about fashion–just ask my wife–but I love religious art, and something magical seems to happen when you put these fancy dresses in the same rooms with sculpture, paintings, frescoes, stained glass windows and tapestries.

I found myself looking differently at ancient drapery next to new high-versions of the stuff that are (I guess) meant to worn.

In one exquisite Romanesque chapel the space is suddenly filled with a stunning white bridal dress complete with veil. All at once the room is returned to its sacred roots–a point Catholic columnist Ross Douthot made about the exhibit.

You see the room as a holy place and not just a bunch of old stones. More than one viewer seemed to be reminded of the recent royal wedding. I overheard one say, “Meghan Markle and Prince Henry…He’s the one who married up.” Made me laugh.

I think of medieval art as the YouTube and Netflix of its time. Most people couldn’t read. But they could see stories from the Bible come to life on the walls and in windows of their churches.

In another gallery I glanced at a dazzling dress that would seem meant for the red carpet and then compared it to what one of the Wise Men wore. If ever there was a red carpet moment, wasn’t it the Nativity?

I studied an exquisite Schiaparelli scrap of 20th-century embroidery–an angel’s wing–and then looked at how the nearby seraphim and cherubim were clothed in sculpture and stained glass.

The danger of putting holy art into museums is it can seem static, preserved under glass, meant only to be looked at with a critical eye. Relics of the past.

But this art felt like it was curiously and prayerfully present right now. How lovely to look at top-end designers like Dior, Chanel, Galliano, Balenciaga and sense them gazing at God.

The exhibit is up through October. If you’re visiting New York, don’t miss it. Both at the Cloisters and also at the Met on Fifth Ave where exquisite garments from the Sistine Chapel are on view.

Celebrating the Women of the Bible

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Pablo Diaz

March is an important month for all women. First, it is Women’s History Month, highlighting the contributions of women to history and contemporary society. On March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day to recognize social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

As we celebrate this month, we must also keep in mind the many inspirational women throughout the Bible. These women—both named and unnamed—have impacted my spiritual development through faith, courage, actions and words.

In the Hebrew Scripture, I’m drawn to Esther, an orphan raised by her uncle and who overcame many challenges. Eventually, she was providentially placed by God in the King’s palace. She displayed courage and political astuteness to prevent the genocide of her Jewish community. When in need of courage, Esther inspires me.

In the Gospel, I’m drawn to the story of the woman who goes unnamed. She had an illness with no medical solution for 12 years. When she heard that Jesus was in her town, she decided to visit him. She believed that in touching the hem of Jesus’ tunic, she would be healed. And she was. Her faith, determination and relentless hope serve as a reminder that everything is possible when we believe.

There are many women throughout the Bible who can lift us up. They teach us how to face and overcome the odds and keep our focus on God. As we remember all the women who have shaped and made a difference in our world, let us keep in mind these inspirational women from the Bible.

Lord, thank you for the women of the Bible and their stories of faith, courage and determination that continue to inspire us to live for You.

Bible Prayers for Aging with Grace

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Rick Hamlin

“Old age is no place for sissies,” my 90-something mom used to say, quoting that famous line from Bette Davis. I’m still in my sixties, but even now I’m beginning to understand what she meant. All the more reason to turn to the Bible for support.

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. (Psalm 71:9) Frustrated by something that used to be piece of cake but now is taking so much out of you? Be like the Psalmist. Let God know. He needs to hear.

He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age… (Ruth 4:15) So maybe I can’t jog as fast as I did at 20…but there is a source, a heavenly source, looking out for me. Nourishment for the body as well as the soul.

The righteous flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon…In old age they still produce fruit. (Psalm 92:12-14) I’ve caught myself saying more than once, “I wouldn’t want to be in my 20s again.” Why? Because if anything, with age we acquire wisdom. And that’s what produces fruit.

Gray hair is a crown of glory, it is gained in a righteous life. (Psalm 16:31) Okay, it’s not just being older that is the advantage. It’s about learning from experience. Taking the right lessons. Loving the Lord and learning from God. That’s when gray hair can be a crown of glory. Take a look at my silvery locks!

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.(Psalm 71:18) I love this prayer. It’s such a potent reminder how important purpose is to life. And as the Psalmist says, no matter our age, we still have this divine purpose: To proclaim God’s love for all to hear.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) Even at my age I feel like a work in progress. Every day offers another chance to grow in faith, to learn more, love more, trust more, pray more. None of us can know when the end will come—that’s for God to decide. Until then, we grow.

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents. (Proverbs 17:6) Some things are truly worth the wait. Like grandchildren. We had our first this summer, beautiful baby Silas, and we expect our second one in December, this one to be named Rick like me. Another Rick Hamlin? No, no, something even better. What glory awaits.

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A Sign of Hope from God After a Fire

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Kaylin Kaupish

On Friday, June 17, 2022, contractors working on Balsora Baptist Church in Wise County, Texas, went on their lunch break. When they returned, the building was engulfed in flames. Firefighters tried their best to douse the blaze, but the church—parts of which were more than 100 years old—was completely destroyed.

The only things left behind were debris, charred wreckage— and an unexpected miracle. Fire crews and onlookers were shocked to see something standing tall amongst the smoking rubble: a cross.

“I watched the roof go down,” said the church’s pastor, Sonny Smith, “and as the smoke began to settle, the Cross stood in the smoke.”

^{Photos provided by Balsora Baptist Church}

According to Smith’s wife, Lanita, this cross was used by members for their prayer requests. “As prayers were answered, we placed the answered prayers on the cross,” she said.

Two days after the blaze, church members gathered near the church to sing and pray together. “Many members are in their 70’s and 80’s,” said Sonny. “They actually grew up there, were baptized there, had their children baptized there, their parents had their funerals there… My heart went out to them, but [when we saw] that cross standing, it changed the whole mood of those elderly members. They knew God was giving them hope that all was okay.”

The charred cross was placed in the church’s prayer garden, along with Bibles that survived the blaze. “It gave us chills,” said Lanita. “We knew without a doubt that God is going to walk us through. In good times and the bad, He’s there!”

Though the cause of the fire is currently unknown, congregants are eager to rebuild. Neighboring churches of various denominations reached out to offer help. Online, people from all over the world— from California to Switzerland— shared their thoughts and prayers for the community.

“Prayers for the congregation,” one user wrote. “I know you are heartbroken, but God will help you rebuild and renew your strength… that Cross is just the new beginning.”

A Message of Hope from Debbie Macomber: God’s Got This

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Brett Leveridge

Hello to my Guideposts family, Debbie Macomber here.

Here I am, sitting in my gazebo at home, like so many others of us are. At home. And it’s a good time to be home. It’s beautiful, the sun is out, I can be outside. There is hope in the air.

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Every morning when I get up, I recite the Lord’s Prayer. And the part that really has struck me has been “deliver us from evil.” When I think about this pandemic, I feel like there is evil in our world, but the next line is, “for God is the kingdom and the glory and the power.”

Our God has got this. He’s taking care of us. And He loves and supports each one of us through these times. God bless you.

A 10-Word Prayer to Help in Times of Stress

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Brett Leveridge

A 10-Word Prayer When You’re Out of Options
by Bob Hostetler: A Guideposts Blog

There is a short prayer that helps in times of stress and when you’re grasping for control. It’s a simple prayer, just 10 words. And as you pray these words, your stress level will decrease and your reasoning abilities will return.

The prayer is:

“I love You.”
“I trust You.”
“I wait on You.”

This prayer focuses on God and His nearness and trustworthiness. It helps your heart and mind leave the outcome in God’s hands and wait for Him to act with more wisdom than you could ever hope to summon.

Next time you’re panicked, fearful or stressed, Pray “I love You. I trust You. I wait on You.”

6 Bible Prayers for Wisdom in a New Season

Posted on March 11, 2026March 13, 2026 by Bob Hostetler

Many of us feel a heightened need these days for wisdom and direction from God: parents who wonder if their children should return to in-person schooling, employers agonizing over bringing workers back to the office, small business owners worrying about their bottom line, homeowners wondering if the time is right to sell their home, retirees fretting about changes to their fixed income and more.

Your need may feel urgent and overwhelming but whatever you’re facing, it’s not a surprise to God. He saw it coming, and His wisdom and direction is as available now, in this season, as it ever was. And His Word, the Bible, encourages us with the command, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5 NIV).

Light for Life NASB Study Bible in Article

So however great and pressing your need for wisdom may be right now, these six prayers adapted from the Bible may help you to obey that command and move forward in the belief that God has heard and given generously to you in answer to your prayers:

1) Like the psalmist
Lord, Your Word says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 111:10 NIV). Help me to trust in You and follow Your precepts in every twist and turn of this season. Grant me good understanding and guide my steps. Amen.

2) Like Moses
I pray the prayer of Moses, the man of God: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NIV). However long this current season may be, use it to cultivate in me a heart of wisdom that will help me to serve You well now, and in whatever the future brings. Amen.

3) Like Solomon
O Lord, my God, as Solomon once prayed, I feel as though I am “only a little child” in what I am facing, “not knowing how to go out or come in.” Therefore please give me an understanding heart to discern between good and evil and make wise decisions. Amen (drawn from 1 Kings 3:7-9).

4) Like Daniel
God, I pray with Your prophet Daniel: Praise be to Your name, God, forever and ever; wisdom and power are Yours. You change times and seasons; You depose kings and raise up others. You give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. You reveal deep and hidden things; You know what lies in darkness, and light dwells with You. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, and ask You to give me wisdom and power, as You did Daniel. Amen (based on Daniel 2:20-23 NIV).

5) Like Paul
Heavenly Father, as the Apostle Paul wrote, in You are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; help me to walk in wisdom toward others, making the best use of my time and resources. Amen (based on Colossians 2:3 and Colossians 4:5).

6) Like James
God, I know, as James wrote, that “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Grant me that wisdom in all that I’m facing. Let those attributes guide my decisions and flow from them. Direct my steps and guard my heart. Amen (James 3:17 NIV).

Let these prayers help you to fulfill James 1:5, asking God for wisdom. Pick and choose from among them. Combine them. Amplify them. And trust “God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (James 1:5 NIV), and let Him supply all you need from His abundant, heavenly storehouse of wisdom.