On the Journey
By Rick Hamlin

June 2011

  • Spiritual Growth Note to Self

    It must happen at least once a day.

    My older son will send me an email with a link to an article he liked or my younger son will say, “Dad, you’ve got to listen to this song” and slip some earphones over my head to hear some screaming rock lyrics I can barely understand or my wife will mention a book she really liked that I have no intention of reading or a dear friend will post something on Facebook that I skip across, scrolling right down.

  • Prayer: Enough with the Lies!

    Is it just me, or has there been an epidemic of liars lately? You know the ones I mean: They didn’t sext, they didn’t dope, they didn’t have that fling, they didn’t say what they’re on record as saying.

    As a Christian, I have two reactions. One of compassion: I’m a human too. We all mess up. Second reaction: Is it really that hard to be honest?

  • What Do Fathers Really Want on Father’s Day?

    This is the first Father’s Day I have been without a father and the first thing that goes through my mind is that I don’t think I ever did anything special for my dad on Father’s Day.

    As a child if I ever asked him what he wanted for a present, he would say, “Make me a nice picture. That would be good enough.” It didn’t seem good enough. Didn’t he want a shirt, a tie, a belt, one of those things advertised in the newspaper for Father’s Day? “A hug and kiss,” he’d say. “That would be nice.”

  • The Selfish Work of Prayer

    Praying for others is probably the most selfish thing I do all day.

    Most mornings I wake up with my head swimming in a self-interested broth. Just a glimpse in the mirror gets me going. How old I am, how little I’ve accomplished, how I really should get a haircut and how I wish we had more money to get a new bathroom mirror if not a new bathroom.

  • Guys Praying with Guys

    Wes Yoder is a buddy of mine and he’s written an incredible book called Bond of Brothers. It’s about the spiritual life of men.

Rick Hamlin is the executive editor of Guideposts magazine and the author of 10 Prayers You Can't Live Without. To learn more about the book and explore your own prayer journey, watch this video.