Lord, deliver us from easy answers, packaged programs, and systems that minimize our desperate need for You to be involved every step of the way—even when (and especially when) we are actually doing it right! Jesus, You have promised to build Your church Your way. Help us do whatever we must do to let You do that! In Your name I pray, Amen!

Christian prayer is nothing other than being present to God so that God can give to us. The only thing that matters is that we believe this and stay there with Him, regardless of how we feel or don't feel.

“Oh Lord, we beseech thee . . . direct our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God.”

Like the exhausted refugee, fatigued by vulnerability, what we crave is rest. “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”