Dear God, when I call upon you, when I cry out – you always answer. Even silence is a form of answer: it tells me I have all that I need already. A creeping feeling of ease is an answer. Joy is an answer. A new trial or challenge is an answer.

Lord, let me hear all you say to me today. Let me discern all the ways you love me, as flawed as I am.

Good news. Let me pass on the good news. Thy will be done.

(Letter #1378)

Dear God, I say I seek humility. Let me become willing to bear all that this implies.

Let me welcome failure and trial, not with a glum resignation but instead with enthusiasm. Each hardship is a new lesson, new progress.

Let me see the world as filled with opportunities to grow closer to you.

(Letter #1377)

Dear God, uneasy thoughts float through my mind. Misgivings bump against one another like balloons. Have I done enough, prepared enough? Yet these worries are more dull aches than sharp pains.

Lord, if I worry simply because it is my habit to do so, will you then direct my thinking elsewhere? Improve my thought life, O Lord. Bring it into alignment with reality.

Let the dull ache of worry dissipate, let my mind become full of optimism. Let me become eager to do your will today.

(Letter #1376)

Dear God, let me seek to be more than just a receiver of your grace. I wish for relief from my troubles, a balm for the parts of me that are ground down, raw. This is what I cry out for when I ask for help.

Lord, let me not seek to be soothed, but to become a channel of support to others. Let me seek strength, not for myself, but so I may be more useful to others.

Even in my prayers, let my own desire for well-being be placed last.

(Letter #1375)