Unceasing prayer may sound complicated, but it needn’t be that way. Do this: think of prayer less as an activity for God and more as an awareness of God. Seek to live in uninterrupted awareness. As you stand in line to register your car, think, “Thank you, Lord, for being here.” In the grocery store as you shop, think, “Your presence, my King, I welcome.” As you wash the dishes, worship your Maker.

Brother Lawrence called himself the “lord of all pots and pans.” He wrote: The time of busyness does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon knees at the blessed sacrament.

So talk to God, always.

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God heals, not prayer. A matter of semantics? No. If you think the power is in the prayer and not the One who hears the prayer, you fault the pray-er for unanswered prayer. If I had prayed more, better, differently… But the power of prayer is in the One who hears it, not the one who makes it.

So, if you are waiting on God to answer your prayer, don’t despair. We need to remember that many of God’s saints endured a time of unanswered prayer. Peter was in a storm before he walked on water. Lazarus was in a grave before he came out of it. The demoniac was possessed before he was a preacher, and the paralytic was on a stretcher before he was in your Bible.

We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. Please don’t interpret the presence of your disease as the absence of God’s love. I pray he heals you. And he will—ultimately! Till then, just keep praying.

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Prayer reminds us of who’s in charge. You don’t take your requests to someone with less authority. You take them to someone who outranks you in the solutions department.

The same is true in prayer. You don’t pray just to let God know what’s going on. He’s way ahead of you on that one. You pray to transfer “my will be done” to “God’s will be done.” And since he’s in charge, he knows the best solution. Prayer transfers the burden to God and lightens your load. Prayer pushes us through life’s slumps, and propels us over the humps, and pulls us out of the dumps. Prayer’s the oomph we need to get the answers we seek. So pray—today!

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A quiet time with God is very similar to a special date. Denalyn and I like to go to the same restaurants over and over again. When we’re there, we remember special moments we’ve shared before. Our hearts open up, and we talk to each other. We listen, we laugh, and sometimes we cry. I love those times! So does God. A quiet time with God is very similar to a special date.

Here are some tools to help you keep your date with him special: Select a slot in your schedule and claim it for God. Take as much time as you need. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what he wants. Bring an open Bible—God’s Word, his love letter to you. Bring a listening heart, and listen to the lover of your soul. Make sure your date with God is on the calendar, and do everything in your power to keep it special.

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Fretting over tomorrow’s problems siphons the strength you need for today, leaving you anemic and weak. So when you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep; read Scripture.

Worry takes a look at catastrophes and groans, “It’s all coming unraveled.” But God says in Romans 8:28 (MSG), “Every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Worry claims, “The world has gone crazy,” but God’s Word disagrees. Mark 7:37 (MSG) says, “Jesus has done it all and done it well.” Worry wonders if anyone is in control, but God’s Word calls God “the blessed controller of all things” (1 Timothy 6:15 Phillips). Worry whispers this lie: “God doesn’t know what I need.” But God’s Word declares in Philippians 4:19 (MSG), “God will take care of everything you need.”

Worry never sleeps, but God’s children do!

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When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery: love is more a decision than an emotion.

Christ-like love applauds good behavior. At the same time, Christ-like love refuses to endorse misbehavior. Jesus loved his apostles, but he wasn’t silent when they were faithless. Jesus loved the people in the temple, but he didn’t sit still when they were hypocritical. Love does whatever is in the best interest of a person. The cheating husband says to his wife, “If you loved me, you’d forget what has happened and let me come home.” That may not be true. Love does what’s in the best interest of a person. Love sets boundaries. Love seeks counsel.

The love of Christ is no sweet sentiment, but rather a heartfelt resolve to do what’s in the best interest of another person. And sometimes that means dying on a cross.

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Vengeance fixes your attention on life’s ugliest moments. Score settling freezes your stare at cruel events in your past. Is that where you want to look?

Will rehearsing and reliving your hurts make you a better person? By no means – it will destroy you. Revenge moves God away from the equation. It replaces God. I’m not sure you can handle this one, Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly.  I’ll take this matter into my hands. So God reminds us in Romans 12:19, “I’ll do the judging. I’ll take care of it” (my paraphrase).

Only God assesses accurate judgments. Vengeance is his job. Leave your enemies in God’s hands. Forgiveness is not endorsement of misbehavior. You can hate what someone did without letting hatred consume you.

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You’ve been hurt. Part of you is broken, the other part is bitter. Part of you wants to cry, part of you wants to fight. And you’re left with a decision. Do I get over it or get even? Do I release it or resent it?

Resentment is when you allow what’s eating you to eat you up. Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist. Bitterness the trap that snares the hunter. And mercy is the choice that can set them all free.

“Blessed are the merciful,” Jesus said on the mountain. “They shall be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NIV). Forgiving others allows us to see how God has forgiven us. The dynamic of giving grace is the key to understanding grace, for it is when we forgive others that we begin to feel what God feels. Set your enemy—and yourself—free.

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The fear-filled cannot love deeply. They cannot give to the poor; benevolence has no guarantee of a return. They cannot dream wildly; what if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? Fear paralyzes people.

Are you afraid? Afraid of a job loss? Afraid of what people are saying about you? Jesus wages such a war against fear. In Matthew 10:28 (NIV) he says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” In John 14:27 (NIV) Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Fear’s main goal is to keep you from God’s plan for your life. Don’t allow it to win! Punch fear in the face! If anything should be afraid, it should be fear itself.

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I wonder what formed the Grand Canyon? Maybe a few drips here and there. Slowly more and more water built up. Then thunderstorms and lightning. Angry expressions from the sky spilling out in the raging river of the Colorado. A once innocent stream now full of power and purpose. As the years go by, the crevasse is dug.

Our anger builds like the Colorado. Slowly, small things drip, drip, drip down, annoying, irritating, finally enraging. That was mine! Drip. Get out of my way! Drip. Don’t tell me what to do! Drip. The pressure and the buildup unleashing a frenzy of anger, pouring out in our words, sweeping away our loved ones, our homes, and our peace.

Don’t wait until you have a gushing fire hydrant. Go after the small drips. Address every little irritant with forgiveness and prayer. Do it before your anger digs a canyon in your life.

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