Insanity and prayer...

Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. But isn't that what happens in any relationship when you try to change someone else? Hell...it's pretty much what happens when you try to change yourself. It's frustration at the highest level. At some point you have to accept that it's not something you can do.
Changing yourself is easy...well, it should be. As I am on that particular journey myself, I will tell you that I stumble...alot. In fact, I've decided that maybe there is nothing actually wrong with me. Perhaps I am perfect. Perhaps everyone else is the problem. Yep...that's what I've decided. In all seriousness....I know that I am flawed, imperfect, difficult at best. My search for peace and harmony and inner sanity has actually highlighted all the things about me that need fixing. I get all that. And I am surprisingly comfortable with most of it....but here is something that I learned that I didn't expect. Learning to live presently and peacefully requires a profound inner shift in your reality. Many of us unconsciously create dramas in our minds, expecting the worst from a situation only to have our expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We become authors of our own misfortune. And so we struggle from day to day, crisis to crisis, bruised and battered by circumstances without realizing that we always have a choice. We have to learn to stop the dramas and trust the flow of life and the goodness of our own spirits. We must learn to rewrite the negativity and write new chapters with happy endings. We must suspend disbelief. Take a leap of faith. Begin now.
Once we begin that process we realize that changing others is not possible. Liars will continue to lie. Cheaters will continue to cheat. What we must do is become "wise farmers". 'A farmer cannot make a seed grow into a fruitful crop. He cannot argue, manipulate, or demand it to bear fruit. But, he can plant the seed into fertile soil, give it water and nutrients, protect it from weeds, and then turn it over to God. Millions of farmers have made a livelihood from this process over the centuries. They know that not every seed sprouts. But most will grow when planted in good soil and given what they need.'
So we remove the weeds from our lives....nurture and cultivate the soil of others hearts and depend on God to show us results. We must learn to pray for others. It is one of the most loving and genuine things that we can do...for those we love, for those we want to change, for those we disagree with, and for those who are lost.

...James 5:16 Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another...the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
...Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

So tonight friends I pray for others. For their hearts. For their attitudes. For their responsibilities before God. I pray for truth to replace lies. I pray that forgiveness would replace bitterness. I pray for genuine breakthrough. I pray for my heart's desires-for love and honor to become the norm. And I pray for her.
Goodnight and God bless.