However, there is Someone Who is above our human nature, Whose schedule we cannot even comprehend. Fortunately for us and others, God is the One Who knows the real plan and puts it into effect in His timing.

Sometimes, we pray for our children or loved ones for years and wait expectantly for a change for the better. They may be caught up in alcohol, bad companions, or drugs, and most importantly, they desperately need salvation. Pleading with them does no good and will not make them consider the pitfalls of their actions. We turn to prayer, beseeching the higher power of God, Who can save them from danger.

Eventually, however, the world tells us that we are wasting our time and that no change will happen, despite our best efforts. Sometimes, in discouragement, we do give up, feeling that the situation is hopeless or that God is not listening. Not only does giving up on prayer not fix the problem, but it also provides a dark pit towards which we gravitate when we feel that our best efforts have done nothing to protect our loved ones from a very real and imminent danger.

At such times, it is good to remember, and also to remind others who may be discouraged in prayer, that we are not powerful within ourselves, but that we must continue to rely upon the Holy Spirit's help. For, as the apostle Paul writes, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26 NIV). God wants us to learn how to persevere and to trust Him alone and not ourselves. Often, it takes a long time for us to "get it"!

I recently heard a homily about perseverance in prayer. We were told to pray, pray, and pray some more. PUSH was the wonderful acronym used: "Pray until something happens".

Matthew 7:7,8,11 – Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! (NIV)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please teach us patience and perseverance in our prayer life, so that we can be a small part in bringing others to live in Your glory someday. We thank You for providing us with such a powerful tool to show that we love You and our brothers and sisters in this world. Amen.

Once, I heard it said, "Don't give away more than you can afford to lose." I pondered this, for it did not make sense. Later, I was surprised to become aware of actions and feelings that followed the giving. At times, there was a manifestation of resentment.

Sometimes, we give because we have a surplus and see another in need, whether it be in time, money, or care. But do we always do for others or give things away to others with a completely altruistic motive? Often, our reasons for giving can result in problems.

Generosity can sometimes be motivated by a deep desire for other people's approval. If we have been struggling all our lives with a desire for approval from others, the appreciation that often results from giving suggests to us that we are okay and can measure up. Others are indeed surprised and say things like, "Oh, that is so kind of you" or something similar, and the giver feels appreciated. One of the problems that can result is over-generosity, beyond a person's means. Another problem can arise later if there is conflict between the giver and the receiver. The giver struggles with thoughts of "After all I did for you?" How valuable would that gift be if it would later cause resentment and bitterness? We may be advised to remember this advice:

Hebrews 12:15 – See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. (ESV)

At other times, we may give because we are advised to, or because others expect it, though our heart is not in it, and it does not originate in kindly feelings. This is just as troublesome, for it may also cause resentment. Sometimes, however, such an experience can benefit us by making us grow:

Romans 12:2 – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

If we can truly discern what our motives are and give unreservedly, then it is a great act of charity. God remembers these acts.

We will always struggle with our own real motivations in this world until we obtain the heavenly paradise. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 ESV). We continue to help each other with our struggles as much as we are able, for this is our mission as brothers and sisters.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we are thankful that You provide us with the grace to renew ourselves in You on a daily, even hourly, basis. You constantly endeavour to lead us to the altruism that You inspire. Continually motivate us to love You and to love our brothers and sisters as ourselves because of You. Amen.

I have sometimes been confronted with this accusation: "You only believe in God because your parents ground it into your head when you were young." The implication is that our parents taught us their beliefs, and we have quietly accepted them through the years without ever challenging them. Thus, all we Christians believe exactly what our parents believe because they, with the help of religious leaders and erroneous books and media, have taught it to us.

I beg to differ. Many people throughout the centuries have demonstrated great deeds and met superhuman challenges because of their faith in God — a God Whom they have never seen, I might add. Does it sound plausible that through all these centuries, people would meet these challenges and, indeed, suffer and even give up their own lives for a belief that is apparently so trivial and has such obvious holes in it? Are the unbelievers saying, then, that up to this point, billions of people were so weak-minded that they couldn't figure this all out for themselves? Is religious belief a matter of rote and memory, or an intelligent choice? Whenever we mortals come upon a difficulty, we approach it from many angles. We examine the hypothesis, we weigh one opinion against another, we mull over it for a while, we pray about it, and finally, we make our decision to believe or disbelieve.

I believe that divine intervention plays a major role as well. When we meet Christ and choose to accept His forgiveness, being set free from sin and guilt is so liberating, that we are transformed, and become eternally grateful to God. Making choices in our lives is something that we have always done. We choose to treat others with kindness and respect, we choose to forgive, we choose to do our jobs to the best of our ability. These choices have not been forced on us; we choose them because they improve our lives and those of others. We want to believe in these things.

To believe in the goodness of a Deity Who does not harm, Who does not wish our destruction, and Who promotes peace and love among people is something that my freedom of will desires to follow. I am happier when I choose good as opposed to choosing to hate, to take revenge, and to treat others badly. Just to think that there is not a God and that I have been duped all my life leaves me with ashes in my mouth and nothing to look forward to or strive for. To believe in the goodness of God and to follow His example brings happiness to me and to many others. Which weighs better on the scale?

Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8b NKJV) I know what I choose, and I pray that those I love, as well as my readers, will choose goodness as well.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, increase our faith in the goodness that You are, and help us to walk quietly and surely towards a loving and peaceful paradise that You promise. Amen.

While I was working as a ward clerk in the hospital surgical unit, I had an encounter concerning a patient and the hand of God which has stayed fresh in my mind.

Being careful to maintain confidentiality, a doctor expressed grave concern about a patient who was bleeding from the stomach, though he did not seem to be able to find the source of the bleed. He had tried all the obvious things, like giving the man a scope of his stomach, and removing any harsh elements in his diet such as aspirin and acidic drinks like orange juice. He worried that the man's low blood count would continue to get worse. I began to pray for this patient and remembered him in my morning and night prayers along with the occasional prayer during the day, storming heaven for this man and for the discouraged doctor. For days, whenever he came to our department, one or the other of us would ask the doctor how he was doing. His worry about the patient increased day by day.

At that time, I had planned a week-long trip to another city to visit relatives. I lived in a coastal town with my mother, who was also in the hospital herself with an upcoming operation due to diabetes complications in her feet. Everyone advised me to go and not lose the ticket. My mother's surgeon assured me that he would not operate until I returned in a week. The surgeon of the bleeding man had operated and had removed part of the stomach. The man was still in grave danger and his survival was not guaranteed. I continued to pray for him and my mother, not knowing the outcome. While on duty the night before I left, I encountered a daughter of the man, who was very worried. I reassured her as best I could regarding prayer and God's mercy. I mentioned that my own mother was quite ill as well, requiring an operation. We commiserated with each other, and then I left work.

The day I came back, one my co-workers called to say that my mother's surgeon was going to operate on her a couple of hours before I would arrive at work. I was very upset and could not understand what prompted him to operate and not wait or inform me. Therefore, I rushed in to work right away and confronted the surgeon in a less-than-kindly manner. His response was to lead me down to my mother's room, where he took the bandage off her foot, exposing an unexpected mess. I felt ashamed and realized that he was doing the best that he could for my mother. The bleeding man had survived and had gone home. My mother fared well from her own operation and was healing.

Now this could be the end of the story, but God has a way of wowing us sometimes. After a week, one of the nurses whom I hadn't seen came on duty and was telling a story one night about the bleeding man. Before he left, he had wanted to find the nurse whose mother was having an operation and tell her that he and his family had been praying for her and her mother!

Prayer is powerful, and miracles still happen even today. When we obey God's commandment to love one another through praying for them, He will reward us tenfold. God can raise up people to pray for us that we don't even know about. Even if we do not immediately get an answer, we must keep on praying! When we are tempted to worry about situations, just thank God that He has it all under control. He is sovereign, and He can do amazing things!

Prayer: Dear Lord, when life is very weary and we doubt Your presence in our lives, help us to persevere in our faith, remembering Your wonderful promises. Thank You for Your abundant gifts. Help us continue to value our faith as a most precious gift. Amen.

Ephesians: 4:28 – The thief must no longer steal, but rather labor, doing honest work with his [own] hands, so that he may have something to share with one in need. (NABRE)

Sometimes, we happen upon valuable lessons. Bless the Lord that He sends them to us. A case in point: I inadvertently took something home from the store that did not belong to me: a packet of aspirins. I had fully intended to pay for it, but found it in my shopping bag at home and could not find it listed among the items on my bill. Wow! That was an easy win, I thought. I didn't even try to steal it, but I ended up with it anyway. A few days went by, and I ruminated about it. My conscience was hounding me. I reasoned that I had not tried to take it without paying, therefore it was not my fault. As much as this sounded good to me, my conscience continually said No! Yes — you guessed it — I finally had to go back to the store with my bill and explain the oversight that had happened. I was praised for my honesty, but that did not release me from my guilty feelings. You see, I knew my intentions when I had discovered the error, and I was willing to sit on it for a few days, arguing back and forth with myself. I thank my mom's upbringing for making me finally do the right thing.

Freedom of conscience: how good it is! In these last few years, I have heard it said that we should not apologize for anything or be responsible. Life is different now, we tell ourselves. If taking supplies from work beguiles us, we justify it by saying, Well, I work hard enough around here, and they surely owe it to me. We live in a world where wrong is right and right is wrong. Where do we draw the line today? Do we invent a new way of thinking about things and go further down the line of deceit? Do we tell ourselves that it is okay because everyone else does it? Can we really look ourselves in the eye and think that it is all right? Someone has to pay for it. How does self-justification in our breaking of the eighth commandment — "Thou shalt not steal" — inspire us to improve any bad habits that we may have? Does this invariably lead to breaking other rules without compunction? How far will we go once our conscience is dulled? What do others think of our actions?

When our children lie or steal, do we overlook it, or do we ask them to correct those errors and make an effort to be better in the future? Is honesty something that we believe in for their lives, or is it just for when they lie to or steal from us? Let us examine our own thoughts and see which it is. Have we given them this bad example? Have they heard us tell "little white lies" to our bosses or to our friends? I am sure that I have been guilty of this in the past, and yet I, as a mother, would be quick to correct my children, pointing out to them how wrong it is. It seems to be comfortable to correct someone else.

Having accountability or boundaries gives us a clear path to follow and will stand us in good stead when temptation comes near. Oh yes, we all have temptations coming at us. Sometimes, we fail, but we always have an opportunity to win against them. Conquering temptations makes us stronger and more able to overcome them. Flexing moral muscles is what our God helps us to do. Thank You, God!

Prayer: Dear Lord, please continue to enable us to improve our way of living and our way of being examples to others in this life. We want to please You and to help each other always to be in Your good favour. Help us when we are weak. We depend on Your mercy and Your assistance to be better creations. Amen.

What was that old adage about turning lemons into lemonade? How easy that is to say. The problem is that when you are down, you don't want to get up!

Emotions run high and low. Some people have a legitimate reason for their sorrow, it is true, while others have a deficiency in their system, which requires medication to help with a lack of serotonin for their physical health. This is not always the case, however, and if we don't know how to deal with real or perceived rejections, we can run to lamentation and, possibly, wallow. I have been guilty of this at times.

Oh, you have tried bouncing up several times and blamed your circumstances on many things. However, the truth is that you are tired and don't want to make the effort again. Others can tell you how to fix your life, but the real secret is that you need to take another bite out of life yourself. In truth, you want to mourn, and to find an excuse to do nothing but lie in bed, sleep, or cry, lamenting your life. Does this ring true with anyone?

What does God think of this stance? Would He say that you are wasting time, perhaps? At first, you must take a long, hard look at your actions and your attitude and be sorry that you let yourself sink this far into the mud. The second-most-helpful thing you could do is to pray for help from heaven on this. Obviously, you are not getting better by yourself. Enlist the help of God. Ask the Lord to send a few good ideas your way.

If you are unhappy yourself, is there something that you could be doing to alleviate the pain of others? Could you offer to go shopping for the elderly, or read to those who can't read? Music cheers the heart, and listening to it on a regular basis or even providing it for others could be good. If you can sing, then why not bring that cheer to others? I bet there are many seniors who could benefit from a games night, playing cards together, and laughing over a simple lunch. It provides an afternoon or evening for them to look forward to.

If you are not talented in reading or music, then one of the best ways to relieve the suffering of others is to pray for them. Why not start a prayer team in your community. Get others engaged in this helpful activity. Soon, others will have a sense of purpose, too, and the benefits are most joyful.

Make a list of all the things that you can think of to help others, and then, pick one. Stick to it even when it is not convenient, and see how much difference you can make in someone else's life. After a little while, just take a peek at your own life, and see how it has changed. Are you feeling better? Good for you!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for pointing out to us that we do not live for ourselves alone. Help us to engage others in our lives, and to teach by example that as long as we live and breathe and have our being, we need to be conscious of the needs of one another. Didn't someone say, "No man is an island"? Therefore, help us to learn to help each other as we travel on our pilgrimage back to You. Amen.

"Stretch and grow" means to strive for better things. "Walk before you can run" is used to establish physical endurance. Realizing that discipline is necessary, Solomon advises parents, "Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them" (Proverbs 13:24 NRSV). All of these teach us that we advance slowly. Many want to attain perfection immediately, whether in enlightenment, healthy bank accounts, and/or noteworthy physical strength. Like every other good thing in life, these have to be earned in order to be valued.

We set up lessons in children's lives to teach them the most effective ways to accomplish things. We give a small amount of money to children weekly when certain tasks are completed. We would never give them a large amount of money and expect that they could use it effectively. By beginning on a small scale, children learn the value of earning, the consequences if tasks are not completed, and how quickly money can be spent. In my day, we earned stars for jobs completed well, and at the end of a week or two weeks, we would have enough stars to secure a treat or a privilege. It is called positive reinforcement for behaviour.

What athletes are able to attain gold medal perfection the first time they go out to compete? They must train diligently and often meet disappointments along the way in order to perfect their skills. How is this different from what we learn in life from our heavenly Father? God the Father teaches us through our hardships that nothing good comes easily. Jesus said:

John 15:1-2 – I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (NIV)

A gardener knows that sometimes if a tree is unhealthy or not producing well, it is prudent to cut it back close to its roots so it can regenerate. It does this by saving its strength for the root of the tree and not wasting precious energy to keep withering branches alive.

Some people look for a reason to blame God for their difficulties, without having a clear vision of how much strength and grace God can provide. When God allows hardships or tragedies to touch our lives, we can choose to strive to do the task better and learn from the experience. In other words, it makes us stronger. Through continually getting back up and moving on, we gain strength in our spiritual legs that we would not have gained from just giving up. God often allows us to go through a series of hardships that we do not understand. He is the author of the whole picture of life, and it is up to us to trust that God does know what is best for us or those around us.

When a parent runs to the aid of children at the first sign of trouble and eliminates the problem, this does not teach them to get back up on their own and feel the joy and delight of accomplishing the task. How much more is God the Father capable of loving us and teaching us!

Let us be thankful that God loves us enough to teach us the truths that will assist us throughout our lives.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for the delights of wisdom and grace that You continually bestow on us, even if, in our innocence, we do not recognize these delights. We pray that You will teach us more and more, and that You will instill a great abundance of trust in and gratitude for Your ability to love and care for us. Amen.