Another and Another

I felt down in the dumps tonight. The spiritual dumps. On top of that I'm sick. I had a quick, but good talk with my friend Mike online, and he pretty much told me what's up. It wasn't exactly about the stuff he told me, but it was more about what I came to realize as he talked.

I told him that I've been praying a lot more, and reading a lot more often than I had before, but I felt more of a spiritual deprivation than ever. As Mike and I talked I realized that I've been reading and praying for all the wrong reasons. I prayed daily for God to help me get through the day. Now that's not a bad prayer, but it definitely wasn't setting me up for anything. So I get through the day. Now what? I pray for another day. We should live day by day because God could take us at any moment. The problem was I wasn't setting any goals in life. I had no hope in my life. This is coming from a neutral point of view (neither religious or secular I suppose). Living without hope is living in despair. That is going to get you nowhere. No wonder I felt like crap!

So I guess I gotta pray less about the daily stuff, and more about the grand scheme of things, and pray more for God to work in my life to glorify Him than to just help me to "get thru the day". It's selfish stuff. We need to constantly set up goals. But not "personal" goals. A good way is to think constantly about more ways to help His kindgom to grow. If that involves fixing yourself, do it. So you can become a better servant of Christ. This "personal" goal is for the His greater glory and not for our worldly desires. It is personal yet very impersonal at the same time.

Finished with one goal? Go on to another. Never stop, never stop. Keep working hard in this life until God wants you to stop. At that point He'll take us and we'll be happy.