Everyone should read this book, that my friend so graciously has let me borrow (for almost a year, I have a problem with picking up things and not finishing them, hah)

Anyway, several things in it have really struck me today.

If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we need to pray? (just think about it)

The longer you experience life, the longer you realize how you're not in control . . . and the more you realize your own dependence and desperation for God, it's actually freeing.

I live with this false sense of control and self-sufficiency . . . but once I am aware of how God is really in loving control, how nothing happens outside of His knowledge or sovereignty, it changes everything.

When you pray over a problem or surrender it to God, you are releasing that burden. That problem is no longer holding you captive, you are no longer bound by fear - you choose instead to trust Him. And who is more capable of handling your problems and your life? You or God?

Living in constant communication, constant dependence on God . . . that is what I long for. To know that He is in loving control - no problem is outside of His care, to trust that while I don't know the future or even have a hold on this present day, He does . . . and He promises to never leave or forsake us through it all.

"When you know that you (like Jesus) can't do life on your own, then prayer makes complete sense."

"You don't create intimacy; you make room for it. This is true whether you are talking about your spouse, your friend, or God. You need space to be together. Efficiency, multitasking, and busyness all kill intimacy. In short, you can't get to know God on the fly. If Jesus has to pull away from people and noise in order to pray, then it makes sense that we need to as well."

"You don't need self-discipline to pray continuously; you just need to be poor in spirit."
-Paul Miller

O God, you are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
    my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
    where there is no water.

 I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory. 

 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

 On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night. 

 Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.

My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

^{-Psalm 63:1-8}

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

-Luke 12:6-7