God is doing great things in me for His glory

God continues to guide and provide.

My focus during the rest of the year is to continue my griefwork based on the Griefsahre workbook. 

I am on day 8 of a 40-day prayer challenge from the book Draw the  Circle by Mark Batterson. And after many years of praying for my prayer life to improve it finally is in big ways. 

I am doing much journaling based on Workaholics anon workbook and that is flushing out junk unto healing old hurts.

Also, God gives me inspirations about several educational projects to start in January 2019.

About a third of the time my sleep is disturbed. I wake suddenly due to crazy events in my dreams. I think this is linked to all the deep healing during the day. 

To help support all this intense internal work I take care to get exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, and eat well. I stop as needed to pray and meditate when prompted. I make time to enjoy online movies to have a balanced lifestyle. 

Before this season on inner work began times of depression were common and sometimes there was despair. My hope about the future was weak. My prayer life as shallow. Currently, all those negative symptoms are absent. 

I know that most Christians do not go into such internal practices. But I learned the hard way over these 40 years as a believer that this is what helps me long term.  

There were long periods of church history when such focus on progressive personal sanctification was a normal part of the life of committed Christians.

God has me in this semi-hermit condition in order to both clean out the inside of my vessel and to provide me with lots of solitude for the creation of educational modules. 

What I instinctively pray from deep inside it Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done. 

What is being distilled these weeks is that my greatest desire is to continually PRAY BETTER. As that happens then ALL else will follow. 

Like everyone else, I must juggle my needs and wants. I must address the internal and external distractions. I must tilt toward the important while away from the urgent.

Like everyone else, I wish I had more time. There are more appealing options in any day or week than I can start and finish. 

Like everyone else, I would like to have more money. Yet how well am in using and being thankful for what God has already provided. 

Kindly pray for me now and later.

THANKS again for your prayers.

Shalom

John