Good evening Pastor John,
A conversation with sister Natalie today reminded me of a lesson that Jesus taught me years ago.
I used to pray “hard” when my feelings weren’t in line with the Spirit of God, instead of with more heart (as Sandy so perfectly described it: “hard praying versus heart praying”).
I would pray under a self imposed strain, trying to push through to God, to get realigned. Pushing in prayer made me feel more out of alignment and I would then respond by trying harder. Then the Spirit told me something that would forever help me to consider my prayer life. That was this: “God will never meet you in the flesh, if He did, you would never leave it.”
I learned after that, that when I was out of alignment with Jesus’ Spirit, I needed to let go completely and just float to the surface. It was in complete submission that the refreshing and realignment came.
Good night pastor John.