Are all of your prayers spoken? You can pray silently in your thoughts and I will hear them just as well, but speaking your prayers aloud may help you to remain engaged. Are there other alternatives? The Bible refers to groaning too deep to be uttered. Have you ever experienced this? Paul saw things in heaven that he said were not lawful to utter, or perhaps they were inexpressible. Is the essence of your being the sum of your thoughts, or is there a place of pure presence that transcends even that? Are you prepared to be silent in my presence to find out? I will meet you there. 

Have you ever been hurt? This is a universal human experience. Are you constantly feeling hurt? You know people whose emotional pain is constant, from an endless series of offenses. Woe unto the world because of offenses, and by those from whom the offenses come. But offenses require two parties, a giver and a receiver. Is it as bad to eagerly receive offenses as it is to give them? So if you are constantly being hurt, is it because of others, or because of you? Can you reduce the level of offenses in the world by reducing your own sensitivity to emotional pain?

Who is the easiest person for you to deceive? You are. Can you be too wrapped up in your own life to see it clearly? Is it possible not to be? The Bible passages about communion teach you to examine yourself when you partake of this sacrament. You can see that this is appropriate, but how do you carry it out? How do you put enough distance between your acting self and your observing self to get an objective evaluation? I promised that my sons (and daughters) would be led by the Spirit. Can you submit to a spiritual observation from beyond yourself to get accurate results?

Can failure ever be a success? Have you ever built your own redemption project by your own initiative end effort? You may know better than to call it this, but if it fits this functional description and you depend on it then you have done so. How did that work out for you? This cannot be a success. When it fails it is time to admit that you can’t engineer your own redemption project. What then? If this causes you to realize that your own resources are not sufficient and to look outside of yourself and come to me for your redemption then your failure will have become a success.