O God, we confess to you that we do not prepare ourselves to hear your voice. We know that we are rarely attuned to you. We admit that you could shout loudly and we still might not listen to your words. We know that we don’t pray often enough. We say we don’t have time. We confess that we want immediate results. If we wax the floor, it looks shiny right away. If we sweep the basement, the sawdust vanishes. We are impatient if we don’t get results this quickly from our praying. Forgive us, O God. Help us to learn that allowing ourselves to trust you takes time and effort on our part. We pray these things in your name. Amen.
Holly W. Whitcomb, American minister and spiritual retreat director
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And [Jesus] said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.”