The Shepherd's Refuge

06/10/2026

For many years, even as a pastor, my discipline of private prayer lacked consistency. I prayed from the pulpit and in smaller gatherings, but my personal prayer time was scattershot and intermittent.

Over the years, my prayer life has taken shape into a series of movements that have served me well. I offer the following because I have realized and received much grace through these daily practices.

1. Praise & Adoration
I start by meditating on one of God’s attributes. I printed a copy of “The Attributes of God” from Challies.com. It lists 25 attributes alphabetically, and I meditate on one per day. A simple tally system tells me which attribute is up next.

Practice: Today’s attribute was “Freedom,” which is an “Attribute of Purpose” and is described as “God does whatever he pleases.” After reading the description, I start my meditation by thanking God for this attribute, thanking him, in this case, for his freedom to do whatever he pleases. I dwell on the thought for a moment and consider the implications:

“If you are free to do whatever you choose, and whatever you choose is good, help me to accept what you choose, even when it doesn’t align with what I prefer.”

Key Resource: “The Attributes of God” PDF
https://www.challies.com/visual-theology/visual-theology-the-attributes-of-god/

2. Thanksgiving
Thanking God is the simplest movement of the morning, but its effect is profound.

Practice: Consider your blessings, material and spiritual. Consider your loved ones, who bring joy into your life. Consider the sins you once struggled with that you now have victory over. Consider the sickness you’ve been cured of. Consider the trial that brought you closer to Christ. Thank God for all of it.

3. Self-Examination & Confession
This is the most difficult movement of the morning, but again, its effect is profound. Daily self-examination, properly done, is not a fixation on failure or the practice of “sin management.”

Practice: Self-examination and confession are a recognition of daily trespass, but more than that, they are a daily recognition of grace received, “grace that will pardon and cleanse within, grace that is greater than all our sin” as the old hymn says.

Over time, this has a dual effect. If you do this daily, you will quickly identify which sins the Holy Spirit brings to mind most often. As a result, as you go about your day, you will be more aware of your own weaknesses and inclinations. But also, you will notice that he begins to bring other sins to mind. You will realize that because of your daily practice of self-examination and confession, you have overcome a previous sin by God’s grace.

Some see this practice as a daily beating down of oneself, but that is not the purpose or goal. This is a daily opportunity for humility before God, which can only ever lead to spiritual benefit for those who practice it.

4. Intercession & Petition
I have written about this previously, so I won’t expand on it here. See: How To Design A Framework for Praying Intentionally Every Day

Key Resource: Your prayer list
https://articles.theshepherdsrefuge.com/p/how-to-design-a-framework-for-praying

5. Meditation & Dedication
This movement takes me into the Psalms.

Practice: I read a Psalm and then find one action point to commit myself to that day. Today, I read Psalm 20. Verses 7 and 8 read:

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

As I meditated on those verses, a series of thoughts came to mind: “How am I trusting in worldly power and possessions as my security instead of trusting in God? If I place my trust in anything besides God, I will ultimately collapse and fall. But if I trust in God, I will rise and stand upright. I need to keep watch today of where I place my trust. I must place my trust in God.”

I meditated on the truth of these verses and dedicated myself to receiving the grace of his strength instead of trusting in any of my accomplishments.

Key Resource: The Psalms. One per day.

6. Closing Prayer
A couple of years ago, a fellow pastor recommended a book called “The Valley of Vision” to me. This book is a collection of Puritan prayers on various topics. Since obtaining a copy, these prayers have been a consistent source of encouragement to me.

Practice: I read and reread one prayer each week, which helps me absorb the depth of the writer’s words. The prayer I’m currently meditating on is about assurance. One impactful stanza reads:

All the treasures of a million worlds could not
make me richer, happier, more contented,
for his unsearchable riches are mine.
This generates gratitude for the blessing of assurance by faith in the finished work of Christ.

Key Resource: The Valley of Vision
https://amzn.to/43pZlhu

Daily Grace
I hope you find value in these movements as you incorporate them into your days. If you do, you will experience blessing, not because God is pleased with your striving efforts, but because you took time to fill your empty cup at the tap of his ever-flowing grace.

https://articles.theshepherdsrefuge.com/p/establishing-a-daily-rhythm-of-prayer

Although God certainly delights in our obedience, the various spiritual disciplines we are assigned in Scripture are not ways to please him by mechanically “doing spiritual things.”

06/09/2026

I once thought of God’s grace as something given from time to time, but now I know that his grace is a faucet permanently in the open position. Grace flows from him constantly. Although God certainly delights in our obedience, the various spiritual disciplines we are assigned in Scripture are not ways to please him by mechanically “doing spiritual things.” These practices free us to receive the daily graces flowing toward us as his children.

Read more...

Although God certainly delights in our obedience, the various spiritual disciplines we are assigned in Scripture are not ways to please him by mechanically “doing spiritual things.”

06/08/2026

How to Be Exalted

As a pastor, I must be polished, but in unseen ways, and buffed by heartache and adversity and lament so that I may sympathize with others as they are being sanded and polished in similar ways.

I must not seek elevation or pursue higher and brighter platforms for the sake of my pride, for the way of Jesus is to humble myself, so that the Lord may exalt me—at a time of his choosing and in a manner that will reveal his glory and not mine.

A pastor whose primary pursuits are success and professionalism must craft a persona to accompany his “brand”: The authoritarian, the comedian, the salesman, the guru, the motivational speaker, the professor.

But the faithful ordinary pastor submits himself to the shaping of affliction, and through these afflictions, he is humbled and made submissive. He is shaped by Christ, and can then minister as himself because he has become like Christ. He is himself, and the Word is preached through his personality and not by his persona.

The pursuit of humility in the pulpit will always be a success.

I must consciously reject the idea that conforming to the external, polished appearances often associated with professionalism is a mark of success.

06/05/2026

Person vs. Persona

As a pastor, I must consciously reject the idea that conforming to the external, polished appearances often associated with professionalism is a mark of success. Projecting a positive image of oneself is not a pastor’s goal. I must make a deliberate shift away from the pursuit of those superficialities, even though they seem like shortcuts to credibility.

And yet, in the same way I should not be unprofessional, I should not be unpolished, not if I understand the true nature of polishing. To reveal the beauty of a piece of wood, a craftsman must work it over and sand it. When that is done, he applies a varnish, transparently encasing a true internal beauty. He can then buff that outer coat to increase its gloss and transparency.

I must be the same. Polish and professionalism can be a coat of paint that hides my flaws. Instead, I must submit to the Lord when he applies the sandpaper of affliction. Only then can he apply a glossy coat of perseverance. He will send trials that will buff me. These will reveal the beauty that Christ, in his goodness and kindness, has worked into my life.

I must not paint over my flaws to hide them. If I do this, I cease to speak, preach and lead as a person. If I do this, I am merely projecting a persona. But I must confess my propensity to pride, the remaining weaknesses of my flesh, and the sins that still hinder my fellowship with the Lord. I must reveal all of these in prayer and repentance—publicly, if prudent, but certainly privately to the Lord and to trusted brothers and sisters in Christ.

Only a person can do this; a persona cannot.

https://articles.theshepherdsrefuge.com/p/the-pastor-as-anti-professional

06/04/2026

The pursuit of professionalism in the pulpit has been a stunning failure.

I long for the praise and validation that issues from a well-delivered talk. I desire to be counted as an equal among those who perform duties similar to mine. I aim to meet the standard—good at all the things I am supposed to be good at, master of my domain, doing what everyone else does… but better. In other words: a “real professional.”

But this is unnecessary, and what’s more, it is a hazard. I can be a polished writer and public speaker, but these are skills and not marks of character. And how many pastors have secured new assignments on the strength of these skills? Many. And yet it is marks of character, not talents, skills or charisma, that qualify us to lead.

Now, pastors should not be unprofessional. Not sloppy or lazy or unpracticed, because that would be a distraction to the gospel. I should not dispense with every convention of personal appearance. I should seek to communicate effectively. I should not wallow in a slough of incompetence in the name of casting down the idol of professionalism.

Pastors should not be unprofessional, but they should be, in a sense, anti-professional.

https://articles.theshepherdsrefuge.com/p/the-pastor-as-anti-professional

06/02/2026

“A pastor whose primary pursuits are success and professionalism must craft a persona to accompany his “brand”: The authoritarian, the comedian, the salesman, the guru, the motivational speaker, the professor.

But the faithful ordinary pastor submits himself to the shaping of affliction, and through these afflictions, he is humbled and made submissive. He is shaped by Christ, and can then minister as himself because he has become like Christ. He is himself, and the Word is preached through his personality and not by his persona.”

Read on:

I must consciously reject the idea that conforming to the external, polished appearances often associated with professionalism is a mark of success.

05/21/2026

Pastors do hold a position, even an office, but this position is not an asset to be exploited for personal gain. This responsibility is a burden to be carried. And if it is to be exploited at all, it is to be exploited for the good of others.

Read more:

Minister today without regard for your exaltation. Let the Lord worry about that. Live up to what he says you are, and do not seek to be more (or less) than that.

05/05/2026

New interview! Check it out:

Michael Krahn is the Lead Pastor of Community Bible Church, Ilderton. Having experienced many of the challenges that come with being a pastor, he is passiona...

03/31/2026

I haven’t posted in a while because of big life changes—good, big life changes! I became a pastor again at a church in Ilderton, we sold a house, bought a house, and relocated to the lovely little village of Ailsa Craig, northwest of London.

However, all the while, the work of The Shepherd’s Refuge has continued. Pastors are finding the ministry and reaching out, and I’ve been busy every week with counselling, coaching, running workshops, and speaking at conferences.

Read on...

It's been a little quiet around here, but the work is getting done.

03/26/2026