Articles by Desiring God

Marshall Segal | His first cancer diagnosis sent Tim Keller on a quest to experience the awe and intimacy that God promises to those who pray. Twelve years later, he wrote the book on what he learned.

David Mathis | Resolved: to put the voice of Jesus first in 2024 — first in preference, first in practice, and first in priority.

Scott Hubbard | If you want to plan in a way that honors God, plan like a mortal. Plan like a child. Plan like a worshiper. Plan like a dreamer. Plan like a sub-planner.

Jon Bloom | Why do millions love to sing “Be Thou My Vision,” a hymn crafted from the words of an unknown poet? Because the lyrics paint the burning heart of a truly Christian life.

Greg Morse | While fewer today may realize it, mankind was born for poetry. We were made to find and savor the right words for unspeakable realities.

David Mathis | Majesty himself came at Christmas — but with no majesty that humans yet could see. But the one who came without splendor would soon come into unsurpassed majesty as the risen and reigning Messiah.

Marshall Segal | As you open your homes and presents this Christmas, make the feast as Christian as possible. Fix your eyes on the Son who came, and will come again.

Scott Hubbard | Past joys now gone can rob us of present happiness. But the wise of heart will thank God for what was, aching for what is still yet to come.

Greg Morse | If the spirits of the damned could visit our Christmas feasts and festive trees, what might they say of our holiday? A story from the Gospels gives us an idea.

Marshall Segal | God is the giver of every good thing you might lose, and he is the giver of every good thing you might crave. That makes gratitude a great weapon against temptation.

Jon Bloom | “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What might it look like for us to actually show that kind of love to our neighbors this Christmas?

Greg Morse | “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” In the darkness of suffering, light often dawns when we pause, remember, and call to mind our Lord.

Scott Hubbard | The history of Christmas is darker and more unruly than you might think, but we still have more reasons than ever to celebrate the coming of our King.

David Mathis | Many miss the opportunity of Advent. Others commit to more than they can sustain. The wise develop a modest, Christ-exalting plan to make the most of the season.

David Mathis | In Christ, we do not sin in response to sin. When insulted, we endure. When reviled, we bless. When slandered, we pray, forgive, and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Marshall Segal | If you are a younger man, you need the example and encouragement of men who are further along in faith. You need the firm love of spiritual fathers.

Scott Hubbard | Christians are an unusual people who don’t wait until after the fact to thank God. No, we thank him every step of the way.

David Mathis | Good pastors don’t just work hard to preach to their people; they help them through conflicts with a calm force that brings order to the chaos of life.

Greg Morse | The craft of Christian writing obsesses over reality, arranges truth with care, quests for fitting phrases — and stands ever enthralled by the One above all words.

Marshall Segal | Romance can be a friend and an ally, or an enemy and a terror. It can point us to the Love we were made for, or it can leave us lovesick forever.

Jon Bloom | Even when arguments don’t win the mind, love may win the heart. Dying sacrifices speak to our deepest hopes and draw out our highest admiration.

Scott Hubbard | What might happen in the church if even single men increasingly thought of themselves as spiritual fathers for younger men?

Greg Morse | When a society makes room for homosexual lust, the disorder ripples throughout that society, even to the youngest and most vulnerable.

Marshall Segal | What does it say about us that as we grow older, we often lose our ability to notice and enjoy the brilliance and creativity of God in all that he’s made?

David Mathis | What joy could be greater than seeing the lost saved, the saints sanctified, and the kingdom of darkness destroyed? The joy of having your own name written in heaven.

Scott Hubbard | When was the last time you stopped, looked up, and stared at the sky? A song of glory resounds. A heaven of wonders awaits.

David Mathis | The Reformation began in 1517, but you will search in vain for an end date. The work continues as each generation, standing upon the shoulders of others, comes to drink for themselves at the headwaters of God’s own word.

Jon Bloom | “The shadow proves the sunshine.” Those lyrics are a profound window into reality, and might help lead someone out of the shadows of spiritual darkness.

Greg Morse | Maybe we say “if only” to protect us from the disappointment of dreams fulfilled and longings still unmet. Maybe the grass is always greener — and we prefer to have it so.

Marshall Segal | If you want to live your single years well, find good answers to five crucial questions: Who’s over you? Who’s ahead of you? Who’s beside you? Who’s behind you? And who’s against you?

Scott Hubbard | How can normal Christians grow in counseling others? Learn from the Wonderful Counselor. Listen — really listen — to others. And then pray, discern, and respond.

Greg Morse | We need men in pulpits who will preach the whole counsel of God — the promises and warnings, the mercies and conditions, the comforting and the discomforting.

Jon Bloom | What makes the brief life of Robert Murray M’Cheyne so compelling? He lived to the hilt. He burned with love for Christ. He was a truly holy man.

Scott Hubbard | How does a godly young man relate to his sisters in Christ? By diligently cultivating purity, clarity, courage, and community.

Marshall Segal | One way to grow as a husband is to learn from a bad one. Here are five marks of a foolish man.

Greg Morse | Live for something. Stand for something. Die for something. If God has made you a man, then rise up and act like one.

David Mathis | Christ calls his preachers to “use Scripture.” It is the pastor’s tool belt, his staff, his weapon, his wand, his scalpel for the most delicate and exacting of surgeries.

Scott Hubbard | When it seems like night may never end, keep obeying your Lord in the darkness, and dare to believe that he will bring the dawn.

Marshall Segal | Unwanted waiting can be the best preparation for future ministry. Here are seven ambitions for aspiring men who feel stuck behind a closed door.

David Mathis | Our God is majestic, both in his greatness and might, and his grace and mercy. In silence we wonder, What is man that you would care for us? Who are we that your Son would die for us?

Greg Morse | When was the last time you got lost thinking about your bride? Have you let life rob you of the radiant, ever-changing beauty beside you?

Jon Bloom | Where can we find a man true to his word — not just for a moment or some big occasion, but over a lifetime?

Marshall Segal | When faced with big life decisions, we may find surprising wisdom from a simple question, drawn from Narnia: Where’s the lion now?

David Mathis | Satan knows the devastating power of our early morning devotions. He will do whatever he can to disrupt them. But we need not be ignorant of his schemes.

Scott Hubbard | The sluggard can find a home in any soul, however hardworking. Have you found weapons for putting your laziness to death?

Jon Bloom | The same Jesus who invited the weary and heavy laden also called his followers to hate their families. How do we understand the hardest words of Christ?

Marshall Segal | God wrote a book — the greatest book ever written. Because he decided to reveal himself in human words and phrases, we should want to read as well as humanly possible.

Greg Morse | Should Christians pray the imprecatory psalms? Did these curses die at the cross, or do they have a counterpart in the new-covenant religion?

David Mathis | The Christian work life is founded squarely on Christ’s finished work and aimed at his eternal glory.

Scott Hubbard | The next time “not feeling like it” tempts you to keep your Bible closed or pass a morning without prayer, remember all the good God can bring through routine.