More From Jeanne Gore

Since submitting my meditation, "Enough," almost four years ago, my prayer life seems to be in a continual state of construction — a work in progress.  Some days the words flow in a steady stream.  Most days all I can say is, "Help!"  My mind is so mired in troublesome issues — my own and others' — that I cannot think straight.  I have concluded this may be a perpetual condition for me.

The one thing of which I am sure is that God is there in both circumstances.  God is rejoicing when I spill my heart out as I babble on and on.  Other times, God is simply sitting beside me in my silence, letting me know God is there if I need help.  It is this knowledge that convinces me that prayer is about having a personal relationship with God.  There is no set formula.  God is always there, ready for the contact.  Like a close friend, God knows the concerns of my heart without my voicing them.  The strength and comfort God provides are immeasurable.

If there has been any significant change in my prayer life, it is that I find myself more filled with gratitude for the blessings I and others have received.  For one thing, I am so grateful for all of the inspirational stories that I encounter each morning as I read The Upper Room.  When I consider that each of us may be reaching out and helping perhaps millions of people, I am reminded of the passage in Isaiah 55:10-11, which says:

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (NIV).

My prayer is for contributors to The Upper Room to receive this inspired word of God and continue to draw believers closer.