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Soul Care Articles

We have hundreds of articles to help you connect with Jesus Christ, the Soul Shepherd.

The Lamb Became the Shepherd

By Bill Gaultiere © 2011

Jesus hung on the cross, naked and disfigured from beatings, bleeding and suffocating to death. He cried out Psalm 22:1 for all to hear, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It was the darkest night ever (Matthew 27:45). Jesus felt abandoned by his Father. Many theologians say that because he took our sin on himself he was abandoned by God. In either case, he was enduring a Dark Night of the Soul. He felt God’s absence. He felt forsaken.

I’ve felt abandoned by God. Probably you have too. I talk with pastors, ministry leaders, and all kinds of Christ-followers who feel [...]

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April 14th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: Spiritual Formation

The Other Side of Deep Darkness

By Bill Gaultiere © 2009, 2010

What do you do when you’ve been mistreated and God doesn’t seem to answer your prayers? How do you pray when God seems distant and unconcerned about your pain? We all go through these trials. They don’t mean that God is angry with us or that we’re not good Christians. It may be a dark night of the soul.

In dark night trials we tend to feel alone, but we’re not! The Psalmist understands and in Psalm 44 he shows us how to pray in the dark. Many of our Bible heroes went through these times, most notably Jesus in the Garden [...]

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July 26th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: Soul Care

In the Dark Night Remember God

By Bill Gaultiere © 2010

From time to time we all go through trials in which we lose heart and feel overwhelmed with discouragement, worry, or exhaustion. The painful times are “Dark Nights of the Soul” when our prayers seem to go unanswered and God’s comfort cannot be found.

All Christ-followers go through Dark Nights when God seems distant and prayer and other spiritual activities do not yield the experience of God’s blessings as they have in times past. But few people today have been trained in how to deal with these spiritual trials.

Inspired by Psalm 77, I wrote a [...]

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July 7th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Ministry to Pastors, Soul Care, Spiritual Formation

A Caveman Prayer

By Bill Gaultiere © 2010, 2011

Have you ever prayed in a cave? That’s what I was doing in this picture. I went to pray in a special cave with a pastor for a day retreat at All Nations Prayer Mountain in San Bernardino, CA.

I’ve noticed that some of David’s best prayers were in a cave, like Psalms 57 and 142 (and probably others like Psalms 27 and 61).

So I figured that to be “a man of prayer” (Psalm 109:4) like David it might help if I spent some time being “a caveman” like him!

My Experience Praying in a Cave

Indeed, meditating in silence [...]

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May 9th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation

Waves of Love

The Sons of Korah may have written Psalm 42 by these waterfallsBy Bill Gaultiere © 2010

The Sons of Korah may have written Psalm 42 by these waterfalls that flow into Israel’s Jordan River. I can imagine this because I have experienced many fruitful times of prayer by waterfalls, streams, lakes, or an ocean.

Two years ago I had one of those special times with God by the ocean. I was in Maui  at Puamana Beach watching my son and daughter surf.  As I did I listened to the ocean waves and meditated on Psalm 42 which I had memorized previously.

I was at peace in God’s presence looking [...]

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March 19th, 2010 | Tags: , , , | Category: Spiritual Formation