A young man I was on retreat with once told this story of prayer: “I was so angry at God because I had asked and asked God to help me stop doing drugs. And then before long I was getting high again.” “I was angry at God and I was angry at my parents who told me that God would help me if I asked. And I was angry at my Catholic school teachers who taught me the same thing. I was especially angry one Sunday when I went back to church after a long time and the priest said that we should be persistent in prayer and not give up.” “But I wanted to give up. I could no longer trust God after being seemingly turned down, or worse, ignored, so many times before. And yet a few days later, after another horrific night acting in ways that left me shamed and empty and aching, I got down on my knees one more time. I uttered just two words: ‘God, help!’ “And I felt something. It was an inner click of willingness. Something inside shifted, and trust was born inside me. It only took that moment, and my recovery began. And now I’m glad for every prayer I said along the way. It took all that praying not to change God, but to change me”. ...... GPBS eNews 19.07.22
“We must learn to measure ourselves, not by our knowledge about God, not by our gifts and responsibilities in the church, but by how we pray and what goes on in our hearts. Many of us, I suspect, have no idea how impoverished we are at this level. Let us ask the Lord to show us”. (J. I. Packer) Prayer isn’t meant to be an afterthought, a last resort when nothing else has worked. It’s meant to be your guiding star, the most crucial conversation of your day. Prayer is more than an obligation or expectation. Prayer is one of the greatest gifts and privileges we have as Christians. It’s God’s gift of his time to be available for conversation at any time of day or night. His gift to listen to your heart, and to answer in ways beyond your comprehension. (prayerandpossibilities.com)
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