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I pray every night before I go to sleep and every morning when I wake up.
- Singer Demi Lovato, on the healthiest thing she does for herself every day
Removing Obstacles to Devotion
I’ve been trying a prayer experiment lately. Whenever I start to get annoyed with my kids or my spouse I pray, Show me the plank in my own eye, Lord (from Luke 6:42).
Don’t try this. I mean, don’t try it unless you want results. God will answer promptly, and you will see your weaknesses in Technicolor. What’s more, you’ll start to notice how quickly your gaze turns away from your own faults to resume its focus on someone else’s.
On the plus side, you will discover that Luke 6:42 isn’t only about improving our ability to remove specks from the eyes of others. It’s also about improving how clearly we see God. For when we start to tear down the fence that those planks of fault-finding have erected in our hearts, amazing new sight-lines open up. And then, once we can see clearly, what we behold is God’s love and infinite mercy.
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Julia Attaway is a freelance writer, homeschooler and mother of five. She is the editor of Daily Guideposts: Your First Year of Motherhood, a book of devotions for first-time moms. She lives in New York.
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Your Comments (4)
Saving the best for last refers to what Jesus did for us on the cross. What better thought can you have than that knowing we are created from someone who love's us that much. That sure make's me thankful. Thank you for sharing.
Amen. When we start doing fault finding. It's always easier to look at someone else and not ourselves it would seem. One satisfaction though is we are created in the Blessed Lord's image and I know he loves us very much and that is something to always be grateful for.
Yes, I have learned that instead of saying, this message is for so and so, say what do you want me to learn? I am the one reading the message not them and the Lord wants me to listen and learn.
YA, this is exactly what I've just realized. Reading a good message, I always would think, "So and so should read this,if only they would change in this or this way." Yes, the message is for me, not for thm. May God Himself present His own message to them.