MY impact?

A lot of the rhetoric these days around activism and helping people focuses on this idea that every person can "make a difference." In some ways this language is helpful (it reminds people that God can use even the smallest action to do amazing things, for instance), but in other ways it is incredibly destructive. It puts all of the pressure on US--it is the person who is making the difference, not the God who is working through her/him. It's an incredible amount of pressure, to feel that each person must go out and almost force change to happen, or that each person must make change despite their pitiful contribution or unresolved sin or finite amount of time.

Yes, the actions of each person are so important--God cannot act if we do not choose to act! But God's actions are so much more vital. God is the one who is changing hearts, fighting the spiritual battles, giving us strength when we have none, opening doors, making possible the impossible, pointing out problems that no one sees...

God is the one who will create change. So when you feel that you cannot possibly make a difference, that you don't have enough money or energy or time or anything else, just remember that God is the one who does all the real work. You will not fail or succeed based on your own strength or intelligence or passion.

Forced Prayer

Do you ever have to force yourself to pray?

I ask because I do, all the time. As I pray like that, it just all feels so fake, like such hypocrisy. I'm not feeling the prayer. I don't believe, at that second, that God is doing anything amazing through my prayers. I don't think He's doing anything at all. I just want to get on to doing something else.

Does God still hear those prayers? I hope so, because an awful lot of my prayers are like that. Does He know that I'm doing the best I can, trying to do what's right even when I don't feel like it? I'm sure He does.

Praying Consistently

I've been struggling a lot lately to pray consistently. (how often do I write that?) I want to pray, but at the same time I don't, because it feels like just another thing that I need to get done on my to-do list, just another task I need to accomplish.

I honestly don't know how to get out of this rut. How do I get myself to pray except by forcing myself to by figuring out how much I should pray each day? But... is deciding on what I should pray for each day the best option? Or should I decide how long I should pray each day and commit to that? Or should I simply let the Spirit guide me? The problem with that last method, of course, is that then it's pretty likely that, at least some days, I'll just give up on prayer for the day and not pray very long because I don't feel like it. Is that a bad thing? I'm sure God isn't trying to lock me into some arrangement where I have to pray for thirty minutes every day OR ELSE.

I suppose the only answer is to pray for guidance and for passion for prayer (also I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!). God has given me that passion before, and He can again.