Everything starts with Love.

I just finished a 3 month sabbatical! I went into it on a journey towards emotional health. It started about five years ago, when I was introduced to the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. It’s been a slow journey. I’ve re-read EHS a few times and referred back to chapters another half dozen. It’s been useful in helping me navigate relationships, but also propelled me on a journey of inner healing.

For the past decade I’ve been wrestling with the subject of prayer. What is prayer? Do our prayers affect change? And especially, the James 5 idea of “the prayer of faith.” Growing up, many of my leaders either taught or inferred that God will heal you — implying you just have to believe and have enough faith. Now that I have more experience and have had time to consider it, I believe they were trying to teach us to pray with confidence and persistence — two attributes that are necessary for prayer. Of course, if the healing doesn’t occur, what do you do then? This was my hang-up.