Some of the most challenging work a suicide survivor can do is to pray. To pray fully survivors must bring all of themselves to the prayer their anger disappointment fears insecurities and whys. I bring all of me into an encounter with God aware that nothing in the human experience or the human response to the ambushes of life is alien to God.

Jesus designed the Lords prayer to reveal His desire to give us more fully graciously and suitably the very things we most want but seek elsewhere. He does not want to deny us our desires but helps remove the false objects of our affections so that we will have the greater blessings he longs to lavish on us.

Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it that we want it only when we think we need it.

The child asks of the Father whom he knows. Thus the essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration but definite concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.

The praying which makes a prayerful ministry is not a little praying put in as we put flavor to give it a pleasant smack but the praying must be in the body and form the blood and bones. Prayer is no petty duty put into a corner no piecemeal performance made out of the fragments of time which have been snatched from business and other engagements of life but it means that the best of our time the heart of our time and strength must be given.

If God be near a church it must pray. And if he be not there one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

Perfect prayer does not consist in many words silent remembering and pure intention raises the heart to that supreme Power.

Human lives are hard even those of health and privilege and dont make much sense. This is the message of the Book of Job Any snappy explanation of suffering you come up with will be horseshit.

Christmas is our annual reminder to look uppondering celestial stars to look outserving those in need and to look downglorifying our Lord in humble prayer.

Prayer is not overcoming Gods reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.