"I used to think that I needed to get all my motives straightened out before I could pray, really pray. I would be in some prayer group, for example, and I would examine what I had just prayed and think to myself, "How utterly foolish and self-centered; I can't pray this way!" And so I would determine never to pray again until my motives are pure. You understand, I did not want to be a hypocrite. I knew that God is holy and righteous. I knew that prayer is no magic incantation. I knew that I must not use God for my own ends. But the practical effect of all this internal soul searching was to completely paralyse my ability to pray.
The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives - altrusitic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. but what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved my grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.
from Richard Foster (1992) - "Prayer: Finding the heart's true home"
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True, whole prayer is nothing but love - St. Augustine
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wahhaahh.. cool hey. so the biggest birthday surprise of them all was when gail turned up unexpectedly at my door and yelled "Surprise!" So yea, it gets betterrrr.. she's spending christmas here as well.. yeahhh... woohooo.. hahahaha..lol... mwahahaha.. best ever.
i think i should return to the gym!
:)
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