– We tend to run away from pain, but pain and brokenness is where we meet God. Instead of avoiding our pain, we should ask - what am I afraid of? What is hardest for me? What is the cesspool (really yucky, dirty, overwhelming stuff) in my life that I might be avoiding? Then confess, be broken, be keenly aware that you do not just struggle with a little sin or have things to work on over there somewhere – but you are caught in a big ugly cesspool and need to be broken by that.
– Christians tend to get prayer backwards. We spend a lot of time sending up spontaneous, “Lord help me with….” prayers, but not that much time in the broken, confession, “God I wish you would take this from me and I don’t know what to do but I need you,” kind of prayers. And before both of those kinds of prayers, we should be spending time adoring and worshipping God just for being God. In other words, our theology needs to be rearranged so that our faith is directed toward and first about God, not about ourselves.    Â
– It is one thing to pray, “Lord, help that family that is struggling financially;” it is a different prayer, a truly missional prayer, to say, “Lord, help me to help that family that is struggling financially.” Â
– challenging thoughts inspired by Chris Bruno and Bill Sheroes