~~Prayer/ The Most Important Ingredient~~

-"Lord God, with Your help, let me courageously face whatever I'm afraid of, in Jesus Name. ~ amen"

--"You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light."
---(2 Samuel 22:29)--

~~~Last year I worked hard to rid myself of a bad habit--gossip. I decided that I'd try to measure my speech by the old rule of "Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?" Although it took a lot of prayer to keep my lips clamped together, I discovered a certain peace in my relationships that wasn't there before.

Then one cold winter morning I felt a chill in the office that had nothing to do with the weather. Maybe I'm imagining it, I thought. I ignored it for a week, but by the eighth day I knew that I had to approach my coworker Mary. I prayed, "Lord God, give me the words to talk with her directly. "Is something wrong?" I ventured. "I noticed you've been chilly toward me."

"I heard that you said I wouldn't be a good manager because I had no brains," she said.

"What?" I couldn't believe that such an ugly rumor had gone around, especially since I'd been so good about not gossiping. "I never said anything of the sort---" and then I stopped, remembering. "I said promoting you to management would be a no-brainer!"

Mary and I both had a good laugh over that one, and I realized that eight days of coldness, hurt feelings, and worry could have been avoided with one straightforward discussion. But at least I had my new personal resolution for the New Year cut out for me: Don't let things fester. If something seems wrong, speak up. ~~

--"I Need You Now"/ Matt Redman ~~ <https://youtu.be/NMhxVJChhYM>
~~~~~~