NorthStar Church Blog

Digging Deeper: In with the New

Sellers Hickman on October 19, 2026

¹¹And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:11-14; 19-22 (ESV)

IN WITH THE NEW

Two things are true of me. In middle school, I got my very first cell phone, and I got my very first girlfriend. Now, those two facts may be a coincidence, but they were much more related than you might think. I think back to the month I got in trouble because we had Verizon as our phone provider, and my girlfriend had Cingular. (Anybody remember Cingular?) We texted so many times that month that it cost my parents hundreds of dollars in cross-company texting charges. I also have a memory of being on the phone with my girlfriend until about 3:30 in the morning. I eventually had to get off the phone because I knew my dad would be getting up at 4:00, and it would not go well for me if he heard me still awake!

There is a connection between having a new relationship and having new access. I had a girl that I really liked, and I now had a new means of communicating with her whenever I wanted. (Mainly because my parents upgraded us to the unlimited plan.) When you have a relationship with someone, you naturally want access to them. You want to be able to talk to them, spend time with them, and hear what they have to say.

There is a similar connection between our relationship with God and our access to Him. If you have put your faith in Jesus, you have a new relationship with the God of the universe. A God who loves you deeply. But you also have new access to Him. Through the Holy Spirit, we now have the ability to communicate with God through prayer. And because prayer can feel so normal to us, it is easy to forget just how significant that access really is.

Think about some of the people from the Old Testament. Maybe you thought of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, or King David. These people certainly knew God and experienced His presence, but access to God’s presence was mediated in a way that is different from what we experience today. God gave Israel the tabernacle and later the temple, and at the center of that worship was the Holy of Holies. This is the place where God’s presence was uniquely represented. The high priest could enter that room only once a year, but only after making the sacrifices and following the requirements God had given. There was a real barrier between the holy presence of God and sinful humanity.

But then Jesus came. Jesus (our Great High Priest) offered Himself as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for sin. And when He died, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two. The barrier was removed. Hebrews 10:11–14 explains that while the priests repeatedly offered sacrifices that could never ultimately take away sin, “Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins.” His sacrifice accomplished what the repeated sacrifices of the old covenant could never accomplish.

Sellers, why does this matter? It matters because when you begin to pray, you are approaching the holy God of the universe. You don’t have to travel to a specific place, wait for a priest, or bring an animal sacrifice. Because of Jesus, you can draw near to God yourself. Hebrews 10:19–22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

Think about the significance of that. Because of Jesus, you have a new relationship and new access to God. Prayer isn’t simply a spiritual discipline that Christians are supposed to practice. Prayer is one of the ways we experience the access Jesus died to give us. The God whose presence was once separated from His people by a curtain invites you to come near and talk to Him.

And that should change the way we view prayer. We don’t pray because God is distant and we’re trying to get His attention. We pray because, through the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, God has brought us near. We don’t pray because we are trying to convince God to listen. We pray because He has already made a way for us to come into His presence.

So let me ask you a few questions that I would love for you to consider…

Why do we pray?
How does the relationship you have with God change the way you pray?
How does the access you have to God change the way you pray?

Sellers Hickman serves as College & Teaching Pastor at NorthStar Church and loves cheering on his Ole Miss Rebels. He and his wife, Hannah, live in Dallas, Ga. with their two daughters. He also serves as the chaplain for the KSU Men’s Basketball team.

Digging Deeper – Answers Can Leave Questions

Chris Boggess on October 16, 2026

O Lord, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.
O Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you turn your face from me?

Psalm 88:13-14 (NLT)

ANSWERS CAN LEAVE QUESTIONS

On Sunday, we looked at some of the answers that God gives us when we pray: Yes, Better, No, Grow, and Slow. But let’s be real, the first two are great, but the last three are confusing. I mean, all three feel like “No” in the moment.

When we pray and don’t get an immediate or positive answer, we get impatient. We want a customer service number: “Press three to find out the status of your current transaction.” But prayer is not a transaction.

When we don’t get an immediate or timely answer to prayer, we can start thinking strange things and attribute ideas to God that aren’t from Him. We do this in our regular relationships: when someone does something that may have a negative impact on us, we begin to come up with reasons why they acted (or didn’t act) as they did:

“Maybe they didn’t hear me.”

“Maybe they didn’t understand how important this is to me.”

“Maybe they are playing favorites and giving what I should get to someone else.”

Usually, when we jump to these conclusions about people, we are wrong. We often find that their reasons are far more nuanced than we thought. This is even more the case with God. When we try to divine His reasons, we are probably going to be wrong.

Sometimes we can turn to Scripture and see what God is doing, but even if we don’t find the answer, turning to Scripture is our best response. The Bible is full of people in dire situations who call out to God and don’t immediately get the answer that they need in the moment. Job, David, and even Jesus ask God to move and don’t get the answer they request, but all three eventually get an answer, and whether positive or negative, they accept what God is doing.

Negative answers to prayer can feel like punishment, that God is not working because He is correcting us in some way. If you will indulge me, I would once more quote J.R.R. Tolkien from a draft of a letter to a reader:

“A divine ‘punishment’ is also a divine ‘gift,’ if accepted, since its object is ultimate blessing, and the supreme inventiveness of the Creator will make ‘punishments’ (that is, changes of design) produce a good not otherwise to be attained.” (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 286)

So, when you get one of the last three answers, and you are waiting to definitively understand what God is doing, just remember that the God you serve is GOOD, which is often the real question we are asking when answers don’t turn out the way we want. Know that there is more going on than you will ever see, and trust your Father in heaven, who loves you more than you will ever know.

Chris Boggess is the Care + Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Where Are You?

Chris Boggess on October 15, 2026

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:8-9 (NLT)

WHERE ARE YOU?

The first question God asks in the Bible is, “Where are you?”

This comes directly after the first couple, Adam and Eve, listened to the serpent and ate the fruit and, as far as they knew, changed everything in their relationship with God. When God shows up, they hide.
So why did God ask, “Where are you?” It wasn’t because he was unaware of Adam and Eve’s location. If that were the case, God would have used the Hebrew word “Eifo.” This is the word you would use if you were asking, “WHERE do you live?” or “WHERE is the restroom?” But that is not the word this passage uses to quote God.

Instead, God asks, “Ayekah?” The root “Ayeh” is not about location. The question God is asking is more like, “Why are you not here where I am?”

Adam and Eve thought that their sin meant that God no longer wanted to meet with them. They thought their best option was to hide since God wouldn’t want to be around them. But God’s response wants them to look at themselves and realize that God hasn’t changed and that He is still there to meet them.

I believe God asks me the same question. On days when things are hectic and time is short, or when my spiritual life feels shallow and my sins overwhelm me, God walks in the cool of the day and asks, “Ayekah?” Don’t let what you have done or how you feel about yourself or God come between you and your Creator. Go and meet Him now.

Too Busy Not to Pray

Kevin Burrell on October 14, 2026

7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

Matthew 7:7-11

TOO BUSY NOT TO PRAY

Coaches live by plans. Practice plans, game plans, travel plans. Your calendar is full, your phone rings nonstop, and someone always needs something from you. The reality is that prayer can start to feel like one more thing added to your plate.

Here’s the good news: prayer isn’t a performance, and it isn’t a formula. It’s a conversation with God. Here are three basics for building a lifestyle of prayer.

1. Get gut-level honest.

Jesus warned against praying to be seen or stacking up impressive words (Matthew 6:5–7). Intimacy with God begins where pretending ends. You spend your days projecting confidence to players, parents, administration, and staff. With God, you can drop it. Tell Him about the fear of losing, the frustration with a player, the weight of carrying a team. Hebrews 4:16 says, “We can come boldly to His throne, and we’ll find mercy and grace to help when we need it most.” God meets our honesty with mercy and help.

2. Get a plan and get started.

Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Crowds were pressing in, yet He still made time to pray. He was too busy not to pray.

Try this 15-minute plan:

Pick a time and a place.
Set a timer for 15 minutes.
Spend 10 minutes reading the Bible slowly.
Start with Proverbs or Mark.
Spend 5 minutes talking to God.
Be honest, and use a prayer list.

You wouldn’t show up to a game without preparation. Don’t show up to your day without it either.

3. Get ready for His answer.

Jesus promised, “Keep on asking, and you will receive… Keep on seeking, and you will find… Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7). If an earthly father knows how to give good gifts, how much more will your heavenly Father? But His answers don’t always look like we expect.

Remember: Y-B-N-G-S.

Yes: He gives what you asked.
Better: He gives something better than what you asked.
No: He protects you from what you couldn’t see.
Grow: He’s building something in you first.
Slow: The timing isn’t right [yet].

Every coach knows that a “no” or a “not yet” from the right voice can be a gift. Trust that your Heavenly Father is coaching you, too.

Listen Closely —

Where are you pretending with God right now?

What 15 minutes can you protect this week?

Which answer—Yes, Better, No, Grow, or Slow—are you waiting on today?

Whatever it is, trust God to handle it.

Love God. Love People. Live Sent.

Be Worth Being.

Kevin

Kevin Burrell has worked in professional baseball as both a player and MLB scout for the past 45 years, and currently serves as an area scouting supervisor. Kevin was drafted in the 1st round of the 1981 free agent amateur draft (25th selection overall), and played ten years of professional baseball with four different organizations. He and his wife, Valerie, live in Sharpsburg, Ga.

Digging Deeper – Tolkien’s Prayers

Chris Boggess on October 14, 2026

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

James 4:10 (NLT)

With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death.

Psalm 86:12-13 (NLT)

TOLKIEN’S PRAYERS

J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author (outside of Scripture). I am surely not alone, because his Lord of the Rings series was voted on many lists as the best book of the twentieth century. Tolkien was also a devout Christian and, according to C.S. Lewis, was instrumental in Lewis’s conversion to Christianity.
Sometimes I forget that Tolkien was also a soldier who served on the Western Front in World War I. He endured brutal trench warfare. Years later, his sons both flew in the RAF during WW2, Christopher as a pilot and Michael as a gunner.

Tolkien sent letters to the boys to remind them to “make a habit of the praises.” He reminded them that there are prayers you can use when you don’t know how to pray, when you are at a loss because of your circumstances.

Tolkien drew on these common prayers from his Catholic faith:

The Gloria Patri
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Gloria in Excelsis
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. Receive our prayer. You sit at the right hand of the Father; have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Laudate Dominum
Praise the Lord, all nations; praise him, all people. For he has bestowed his mercy upon us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

What all these have in common is that they focus on God, not circumstances. When you are going through a tough place, sometimes it can be hard to know how to pray. You can always pray and remind yourself of who God is. Even in your darkest times, God is still God.

Digging Deeper – Truth Telling

Chris Boggess on October 13, 2026

“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 18:10-14 (NLT)

TRUTH TELLING

Prayer is our line of communication with God. But it differs from every other type of communication we use. So much of our communication is filled with hidden motives and subtleties. We want people to see the best in us, and if we can help make that happen, we will. We post things on social media to show how wonderful we are. We use AI to make our creations look better, and we accuse anyone who makes something that we think is better than our creation of using AI because belittling someone else makes us look better.

The extreme of this is “catfishing.” It is when someone creates a false persona to lure people, or even a specific person, into doing what the “catfisher” wants them to do. Sometimes they want money, sometimes attention, or sometimes just to cause chaos in someone else’s life.

You can’t catfish God.

Psalm 139 says it like this:

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
²You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
⁴You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.

So when you come to Him in prayer, you don’t need to put up a front or waste time on humble brags or manipulative statements. A false persona will not stand up to the presence of God. You must come humbly before the God of the universe and realize that the best thing about you is that you can come into God’s presence and commune with Him. God wants our true, honest selves.

Digging Deeper – I’m Praying for You as I Pray

Chris Boggess on October 12, 2026

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)

I’M PRAYING FOR YOU AS I PRAY

You are reading Digging Deeper, so I am going to take a wild guess and say that you are not new to the idea of prayer. Many of you have a rich prayer life that I would envy. Your intimacy with God is a solid part of your faith. If you’re in that stage of your faith, keep going! I pray you find something useful for yourself or someone you know this week.
But maybe you are reading Digging Deeper for the first time (or first time in a while). WELCOME! I pray we can give you some direction for your prayer life, not a formula, but a direction.
I think the third group of readers today are those of you who would say that you have had an intimate, growing prayer life in the past, but it has drifted into a stagnant place. You need some renewal. I pray that you will find your way back to that place of intimacy where God is waiting.

FIND A PLACE – Someplace quiet is usually best, but if you are in that stagnant place in your prayer life, then maybe a change of venue would help. Even if your prayer life is rock solid, going somewhere else can still make a big difference.

SET A TIME – Set an alarm and label it “PRAY,” then take a set amount of time and focus. If you can handle fifteen minutes, then start there. Writing prayers down is a sure way to make the time go by quickly. If fifteen minutes go by too quickly, then add more time, or set a second or third alarm; who says you can only pray once a day?

BE HONEST WITH GOD AND YOURSELF – Prayer matters. It’s most impactful when you take it seriously, draw close to God, and stay humble.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. .James 4:7-10 (NLT)

Start today. I will be praying for you.

Digging Deeper: Prayer is Depending on My Father’s Power When I Am Weak

Larry Grays on October 9, 2026

“And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

Matthew 6:13 (NLT)

PRAYER IS DEPENDING ON MY FATHER’S POWER WHEN I AM WEAK

During the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, safety nets were stretched underneath the workers for the first time on a major engineering project. That safety net saved the lives of nineteen men who fell during construction, earning them membership in the “Halfway to Hell Club.” The workers knew they were engaged in a dangerous, high-stakes project high above the water, and the net gave them the confidence to do their jobs without constant, paralyzing terror.

In a similar way, Jesus closes the model prayer by acknowledging the spiritual danger we face every day. We live in a world filled with temptation, and we are inherently too weak to stand against the schemes of the enemy in our own strength. Asking God to “not let us yield to temptation” and to “rescue us from the evil one” is an admission of our human limitations.

James 5:16 reminds us that the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results because God has chosen to work through the prayers of His people. When we lean on His strength instead of our own, we find supernatural rescue.

Reflection Questions

● What specific temptation or spiritual battle are you facing right now that you need God to rescue you from?

● How does knowing that your prayers “have great power and produce wonderful results” change your confidence in spiritual warfare?

Suggested Prayer

Father, I am weak, but You are strong. Do not let me yield to temptation today, but rescue me from the traps of the evil one, and let Your power work through my prayers. Amen.

Dr. Larry Grays is passionate about helping churches grow and reaching people in fresh, creative ways. He launched a church in a Midtown Atlanta movie theater and later served as an Urban Church Planting Strategist with the North American Mission Board. Today, he speaks, writes, and coaches pastors and leaders. Larry has degrees from UCF, Southeastern Seminary, and Southern Seminary—but more importantly, he loves Jesus, good coffee, and seeing the next generation step into their calling. He and his wife Lori love raising their incredible kids and love doing life and ministry together.

Digging Deeper: Prayer is Asking My Father What I Need

Larry Grays on October 8, 2026

“Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”

Matthew 6:11-12 (NLT)

PRAYER IS ASKING MY FATHER WHAT I NEED

In 1930, during the height of the Great Depression, thousands of children lined up outside charitable food kitchens in major cities, holding out small paper bags or empty plates. They didn’t come to negotiate contracts or impress the workers with eloquent speeches; they came simply because they were hungry and trusted that the providers would give them what they needed for that day.

Jesus captures this exact posture of humble dependence when He teaches us to pray for daily bread and daily forgiveness. Prayer is coming to a Father who knows what we need, not a cosmic genie who gives us everything we want.

We often hesitate to bring our daily, practical struggles to God because they feel too mundane, or we feel too guilty about our shortcomings to ask for grace. Yet Jesus invites both: provision for our physical needs and cleansing for our spiritual wrongs. This daily rhythm reminds us that we are completely reliant on His grace for both our survival and our standing before Him.

Reflection Questions

What daily provision or physical need do you need to surrender to God and ask Him for today?
Is there anyone who has sinned against you whom you need to forgive, just as God has forgiven you?

Suggested Prayer

Lord, thank You for providing for my daily needs. Give me a forgiving heart toward others, just as You have graciously forgiven me through Christ. Amen.

Digging Deeper: Prayer is Aligning My Heart with My Father’s Heart

Larry Grays on October 7, 2026

“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:9-10 (NLT)

PRAYER IS ALIGNING MY HEART WITH MY FATHER’S HEART

In orchestral music, every musician tunes their instrument to a single standard pitch, usually an A played by the oboe before the performance begins. No matter how talented the individual players are, the beauty of the symphony depends entirely on everyone tuning themselves to the exact same reference point.

When Jesus gave His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, He was handing them the ultimate tuning fork for their souls. Prayer is not primarily about bending God’s will to fit our earthly desires; it is about realigning our human hearts with the perfect, holy will of our heavenly Father. By beginning with “May your name be kept holy” and “May your Kingdom come,” Jesus reorients our perspective away from our immediate stress and up toward God’s majesty.

When we pray this way, our priorities begin to shift. We stop treating God like an errand runner and start treating Him like the sovereign King whose purposes are good. Aligning our hearts with His brings peace to our anxieties and clarity to our chaos, ensuring that our deepest desires match His heavenly design.

Reflection Questions

● In what areas of your life are you currently trying to bend God’s will to match yours instead of aligning yours with His?

● How does starting your prayer time by focusing on God’s holiness change the way you bring Him your requests?

Suggested Prayer

Father in heaven, let Your name be honored above all else in my life. Align my heart with Your kingdom purposes so that Your will is done in me today. Amen.