Prayer is never just an emergency flare or desperate anxious gamble. God's attention is not based on our performance but parental love.

How Religion Works: If I obey, then God will love and accept me. The Gospel: I'm loved and accepted, therefore I wish to obey.

Paul sees all kinds of sins in himself and all kinds of accomplishments too, but he refuses to connect them with his identity.

Faith is not primarily a function of how you feel. Faith is living out and believing what truth is despite what you feel.

How could a good, all-powerful God allow suffering?

Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

Just because you cannot realize your highest aspirations in work does not mean you have chosen wrongly, or are not called to your profession, or that you should spend your life looking for the perfect career that is devoid of frustration. ... You should expect to be regularly frustrated in your work even though you may be in exactly the right vocation.