Forest Row

“What is your will that I should do for you?” (Luke 18) Can it be right to pray for ourselves, or to pray for a specific outcomes for others? When we leave the simplicity of childhood prayers behind, we can come up against problems. Does expecting an answer to prayer feel a bit like magic? […]

Take nothing for the journey (Luke 9:3) Every time we move house, we are reminded how much stuff we have accumulated. It’s tempting to imagine that we could just shed it all and live a simpler life. But soon, the needs of the our life in our new dwelling assert themselves, and we start to

Becoming a self Jesus continued: There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your

‘Make straight his paths’ (Mark 1) When a royal progress was being planned in the Ancient Near East, teams of engineers would be sent out in advance to smooth the roads and make sure that nothing would impede the progress of the Great King. When John the Baptist – a man with no power, far

Distinguishing the spirits Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from

Born from Above The genius of the Greek language presents us with a word rich in dual meaning: “anothen,” which signifies both ‘again’ and ‘from above.’ When Jesus speaks about the necessity of a new birth, we must understand both meanings simultaneously: Whoever is not born anew—from above—cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus plays

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26) How heartfelt are St Paul’s words about prayer! How often have wanted to pray, only to find ourselves lost for words, or tangled in complicated thoughts? As much as it can be a

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. (I Corinthians 2:12) It can seem as if we are citizens of two worlds: we live our lives in the everyday world that is governed by

Icon and idol God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Greek Orthodox world was shaken to its foundations by disputes over the use of icons. Great treasures of early Christianity were lost as angry mobs destroyed the images of saints