What Do You Do When Your Reality Keeps Moving Against What You Are Praying For?

What do you do when your reality keeps moving against what you are praying for?

When I saw this particular question on our directory, it caught my attention immediately and I believe it is a timely one.

So my first question is this,

How many of us have been here?

How many of us are currently here?

Eniola - I have been there

Amaka - Currently here

Anointing - Been and currently is😁

This is such an “amazing” place to be 

Especially for cases where you probably heard God and know His will concerning the matter. Like you know that what you are praying for is God’s will for you.

You are so convinced it is, Yet!

The first thing I will say to you (and to me) is this:

God, indeed hears our prayers

God, Indeed, answers our prayers

You may not see an answer yet, in fact, you may be seeing the opposite of the answer increasingly even as you pray. 

But you must never forget this:

That God hears your prayers,

He is inclined to answer your prayers.

There are times answers come to us so easily, even before you are done praying/asking.

There are times they come so clearly and with precision (you can’t miss them).

There are also times when we pray and then, nothing…

Unanswered prayers are a real thing in this walk, and if we do not face it head-on, it poses a bigger threat. 

It weakens our resolve and convictions about God;

It slowly tilts us from the things we believe about God;

It causes our faith to be unstable;

It allows doubts into our hearts.

So what do we do in cases such as this…

1. First believe that God truly hears prayers and answers them

No, you are not praying to thin air, neither is your request is not bouncing back.

God truly hears us when we pray.

In fact, He knows our thoughts, He knew that prayer request before you requested.

[11] If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11 NKJV

[15]  The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly] righteous and His ears are open to their cry. [17]  When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles. Psalm 34:15, 17 AMPC

When the righteous cries for help, God hears.

These are not my words.

If this was true in the days of David, how much more after Christ? 

How much more?

God’s ears are opened to your petitions, to the ponderings of your heart, to the worries and questions.

He sees, hears and knows all.

For some of us, the lie the devil tells us is that we are “negatively special.”

We believe God truly hears and answers prayers, just not ours.

We see believers even boldly say, “as for me, my own prayers don’t get answered like that like that”

Like how?

Who are you?

Whose son are you?

Even evil parents give good things to their kids. How much more your God?

Why do you even think God has singled you out for such?

Like He has said He hears and answers prayers but your own is different? How?

No scripture supports that so first, throw those thoughts out.

2. Know God’s disposition and will concerning that matter

This one will save us a lot of headaches.

What does God think about that thing you are asking? 

Is it His will?

To the best of your human knowledge, are you sure that this is the path God will have you walk?

Are you certain that this is THE answer? 

What has God told you about it?

“Faith begins where the will of God is known”

You cannot have faith for something outside of God’s will, your faith will fail and answers will not come.

Imagine Peter having faith that Jesus will not die on the cross.

A total waste of his faith because his faith at that point would have been fighting a better plan of God’s.

For some of us, our faith is against God’s better plan for us

God is trying so hard to redirect our gaze to His plan not because He cannot give you what you are asking but because what He has planned is way better, but we just can’t see it. 

We don’t know His mind, so we keep praying and hoping for the wrong one, then frustration sets in when we don’t get answers.

One of the first things you do before dropping your faith on a matter is to know God’s mind about that matter.

What does God think?

Will He have you keep your faith here?

And there are matters that are straight to the point. You don’t need God to appear dramatically out of the cloud to speak to you.

Are you sick and praying to God for healing?

Well, scripture already has the mind of God concerning that spelt out so clearly 

Take His mind.

It is for you, take it and then run with it.

Let it govern and direct your prayers.

Build your faith on the things the Lord has said.

3. The answer to unanswered prayers is…PRAYER

You’ve checked your heart and faith and you are so sure this is God’s will for you, but no answers yet.

What do you do?

The answer to unanswered prayers is Prayer!

Not complaints, Not grumblings,

Prayer!

And when I say prayer, it is not even just in asking the Lord over and over. 

It is in the communication.

Prayer is a two-way street.

Continue to have conversations with God concerning that situation. 

Don’t resign your faith when you know the will of God.

4. Engage the Spirit

This week during our night prayers, we had conversations on the spirit of God.

The Lord highlighted to us how believers have underutilized the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 

How a lot of things we face have an easy fix in the Spirit.

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;” Isaiah 11:1-3 NKJV

Here, we see what was written concerning Jesus. 

Christ was able to do all He ought to do by the Spirit.

We see a breakdown of the 7 spirits of God;

The spirit of Wisdom

What is wisdom?

Experience, Expert knowledge, Good judgement 

Following the soundest course of action.

The Spirit of Understanding

Discernment, right dissection of situations.

You are paused and in a fix? 

No answer?

The Holy Spirit brings with Him understanding of that situation, He knows what is happening there beyond what you can see

And please you will need to ignore the physical a lot!

So many times our cries of unanswered prayers are based on what we can see in the physical, and what we fail to understand is this:

While you are crying and worrying over the present physical state of things, Spiritual decisions are being made in that moment for your future state of things.

The things that will happen tomorrow in the physical are already being decided today in the spirit!

Everything is happening opposite to what the Lord told you? 

You are grumbling, you are crying,

Does that change anything?

I hope that you know I’m preaching to myself as much as I am to you.

Engage the Spirit 

In Him, there is ability to look and understand beyond the physical.

You want to be crying “God why and God when” when you can as well know the real why and what to do?

Earlier this week, the Lord began to present illustrations to me; 

Imagine someone lying critically ill in the hospital and they are coughing really hard, my immediate response will be that they’ve caught cold and need a cough syrup or something. 

A young doctor will probably list 30 possible causes of this cough and then begin to check other symptoms or run tests to narrow it down to the main suspect.

A veteran doctor/specialist on the other hand will look at this same patient and may easily guess what the exact issue is.

How? They carry with them a wealth of knowledge amassed by experience.

You have a baby and the baby is crying morning and night, 

Someone who has given birth before will most likely tell you if they are growing teeth or they are having navel pains. 

Can the baby speak? No

How are they able to discern and understand these things?

Knowledge!

You bring a baby home and they are looking really yellow/pale, an older person will tell you it is jaundice even though they are not doctors.

Knowledge!

You see, men are able to amass knowledge and become experts in those areas, maybe in one to three areas. There is no man that is an expert in every field/area of life.

But there is One who was before time began,

There is One who has seen even the end before the beginning,

Available to you with all the wisdom you need!

So again, why are we crying?

Why are we not asking Him?

“Holy spirit, please reveal to me what is really happening in this situation”

Because see, the root of Jesse was not judging by the sight of His eyes

He wasn’t deciding by what He heard physically 

And the Bible says that same Spirit is inside of you 

Exactly that same Spirit!

What is happening physically is not what is happening spiritually!

Pause and ask

Inquire of the Lord!

For some of us, the things you will cry God when for in the next three years are already being decided for you in the spirit now.

Please engage the Spirit.

Don’t be reactionary. 

Don’t wait till it scatters before you ask

In fact, don’t wait till the prayer is unanswered before you start asking questions 

We must get to that point where at every phase of our lives we know what is happening spiritually.

Another thing God revealed to me earlier this week is that so many of us are just a knowledge gap away from our answers.

What you’ve termed unanswered prayers is simply a knowledge gap that needs to be filled or a right discerning of that situation.

And warfare prayers may not forcefully bring these answers to you (sadly) 

The key to unlocking those answers may just be something really simple that you do not know.

But the Spirit knows

So again, Engage the Holy Spirit

5. Sometimes what we term as God’s No is a Yes to another

You are asking for ABC and hearing No but what God is really saying is YES to XYZ.

Unanswered prayers sometimes is God redirecting our gaze and us not seeing it yet 

This is why we stay with the Spirit 

This is why we must discern things spiritually

“God did not answer me”

Did God really not answer me? Or I am just not looking in the direction of God?

Again, discern by the spirit 

Do not judge matters by what you see physically

6. Waiting is an answer too

Waiting can be so frustrating to be honest.

And here’s what I tell myself 

That all of our journey on earth is also a waiting period for when we will be joined with God again for eternity.

Your unanswered prayer might have an answer and the answer is simply to Wait.

I taught on Waiting on God sometime ago and broke down in that series what waiting entails and how to wait effectively. 

I am sure there is something for you there. Look out for the links at the end of this teaching.

7. The Lord will do what is best for you

You see this knowledge, let it stay with you as you know your name.

When it doesn’t make sense and I really don’t know what is next, this is where I sleep and wake:

The Lord will do what is best for Olúrèmí!

I may not have an understanding of His will in full (we know in parts),

I may even have failed to discern rightly,

I may have missed out on the instructions of the Spirit at some point,

But you see, I know it so well,

That Olúrèmí’s God has the best thoughts for Olúrèmí

The Lord will do what is best for Olúrèmí

Oh say it for yourself 

Say it and mean it 

And very importantly, I pray the spirit brings this to your remembrance on days that everything seems bleak and you don’t know what to think again.

That at least, you think this:

That your God will do what is best for you, regardless of what is happening.

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” Romans 8:28 AMPC

So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.” Romans 8:28 TPT

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NKJV

We are assured

We are convinced 

And we know!

I’m sure you know this scripture very well but do you know the truth you’ve been declaring?

Do you really know?

I will stop here for tonight and we will continue this conversation during our nightly prayers.

We will also be moving it from conversations/sermons to engaging the Lord.

Please don’t miss prayers this week.

You can join us HERE every Monday to Saturday, 9pm daily 

Let us pray

Our dear Lord, thank you for your word

Thank you for this reminder

Thank you for this teaching 

We needed it

Thank you

Now we pray Lord that you help us

For it is one thing to hear and it is another thing for these words to be translated to our reality.

Help us!

Spirit of God, show to us the things we need to discern

Open our eyes to see spiritually and make an understanding of where we currently are by your own view.

Help us, Lord

Help us! 

For those of us who need redirection, shift our gaze to where it ought to be 

For those of us who just need to sit still and wait, help us.

In the dreams of the night and visions of the day, let instructions come for us in this season

Drop your thoughts and guidance even in our minds 

Our testimony will be that we have received help and insight from the Lord! 

And more importantly, help us to never forget that you are a good God and it is your utmost desire to work all things out for our good. 

We are reminded always that you will do what is best for us.

Thank you Lord, for answers are here for us 

In Jesus name we have prayed

Amen.

As mentioned earlier, here are the links to the “Waiting on God” series:

WAITING ON GOD (1)

WAITING ON GOD (2)

WAITING ON GOD (3)

WAITING ON GOD (4)

WORDS FOR THE MONTH OF JULY AND SECOND HALF OF 2024

WATCHWORD FOR THE MONTH AND 2ND HALF OF 2024

- Of The Precise and Accurate Leading of the Lord

- Our Better Half

- Of the Abundant Works and Doings of the Lord

- Of the Help of God

- Of the Promises and the Words Spoken by God

- Of Freshness and Fruitfulness

- Of Life to ALL Things 

‭

[9] Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Ezekiel 37:9 NKJV‬

The fields are green again

Orderliness

The Lord is restoring order back to your life

A lot of movement in this season

Advancement

Freshness

Come up higher

Joy Overflow

A new dawn is here

It is morning again. Can you see not dew?

New ideas

Divine invitations

All round restoration

All oppositions to the promise of God concerning your life are being cleared

Sound health

Completion and perfection

The Lord goes with you this time around. It is why you won’t come back empty-handed

I saw a Building(mansion) in progress soon to be completed, and looks like it has not taken long they started the building.

Acceleration

A supernatural grace for acceleration and advancement. With ease

Edge of protection

Davids emerge

Fresh ideas and how to go about them

Settlement

The Lord is shaping, into identities. You who have struggled how to go about it, He is bringing into shape and leading you

Enter into My fullness

“It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron. ‭‭II Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV

The divine and accurate leading of the Lord abounds in this half

Peace to the weary 

Peace to the troubled 

Peace to the lost 

Rain of peace

Divine Structures

[1] What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways!  He won’t walk in step with the wicked, nor share the sinner’s way, nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat. Psalms 1:1 TPT‬

Prophetic patterns of revival and outpouring even for the world at large

Separation

Threshing

Withdrawal from certain things

Breaking through and breaking forth

Be ready to leave the familiar. The things that won't serve where I'm taking you

It is the season of doors! Doors within doors. Previously denied access door, old doors, new doors, double doors. Don’t be in a hurry to leave, they open

Do not remain tight lipped about what you want. When the opportunity is presented to speak, speak!

Rest from our works

Eyes that see

 “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken— who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him? Isaiah‬ ‭14‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT

The doors will not close on you

I am watching your back

Be assured

Multiple birthings

Multiplication

Harvest

Bountiful Harvest

Abundance

The half of the abundant works and doings of the Lord

[6] So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. [7] ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you  shall  become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ” [8] Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: [9] “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. ‭Zechariah 4:6-9 NKJV‬

Clarity

A carrying by the Spirit 

Divine acceleration

Songs of joy

New high tables

The help of God

Healing from infirmities (I saw someone healed of goiter)

Favour of the lord

Unusual wisdom

Rest from dead works

“As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband! Galatians‬ ‭4‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT

Rescue from every pit of spiritual dryness. A refreshing is here

The favor of the Lord

Divine ideas, they birth prosperity

Fruitfulness

Of prophecies coming to life

You have entered into 'the how'

The half of the word spoken by God

Of God’s promises

Access

Sprouts. Growths. Risings

Divine positioning. Names are mentioned in rooms that matters. Gift of men

A season of understanding

Full health

Ease

Crown of Glory

Help in Zion

Glory glory glory to the lord is all you will say

Season of praise

“Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, making you the property of many nations and the object of much mocking and slander. Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations. “But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people—for they will be coming home again soon! See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted. I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will…

Accurate direction with precision and clarity

There are no losses. Just gains

No more barreness. Fruits are here

Nothing dies!

I see eggs gathered in large numbers in a truck and traveling through a bumpy road and a hand covering the eggs. None broke

Tarred roads

Plain grounds

When you look back to take stock of this half, Your testimony will be that the Lord did ALL

It’s the compounding half

DEPRESSION

What is Depression?

Psychiatry.org defines Depression as a common and medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and the way you act.

There is a reason I'm using this particular definition by the way so please, stay with me

My next statement will be this; Is Depression a Sin?

NO, IT IS NOT

It is like asking if falling sick is a sin 🤷🏼‍♀️

But is depression an affliction from the devil? Yes, it is.

Any believer can be afflicted generally, so count depression as one of those earthly afflictions.

But it is not the earthly affliction that you gloss over or accept, because it is an affliction from the devil. We must sit up and understand who our enemy is.

The enemy is not throwing darts at you for the fun of it, he is not afflicting you for fun's sake. 

John 10:10a The thief comes not but to steal to kill and to destroy.

See, the devil has an aim

In understanding this, it will guide our response for every time we feel depressed.

Depression negatively affects how you feel.

Your emotion is the first point of attack

You begin to feel not yourself 

It starts with Sadness,

Hopelessness,

Consistent Tiredness, etc 

So you just assume you need to seclude yourself.

So many times, even you cannot identify what you feel at this stage. You just know that you are feeling one kind.

But the devil is not looking at just making you feel; he aims higher. He plays the long game.

In fact, my personal observation is that people don't fall into 'full-blown' depression immediately.

These signs would have been playing underneath but we shake it off that tomorrow will be a good day. Maybe it's the economy or the state of the country or that heartbreak, it will pass.

So you are there feeling all sorts of negative things but he doesn't stop here. This is a feeling alien to you as one carrying the Joy of the Holy Ghost but it is also not a 'recognized' medical illness in this part of our world so you don't nip it immediately.

Your Christian mother who will force you to go to the hospital to treat malaria will instead reject depression for you or shout at you.

Even you, you don't hold brief for you because you do not understand 

So before you know it, it moves from feeling to thinking.

Thinking negatively about yourself 

You in that moment briefly forget that scripture in Proverbs 23:7

That as a man thinks, so is he

Your thoughts forming your identity.

Are you seeing the pattern?

I say the devil is a bastard

Your identity is your greatest tool as a believer

It is one of the things Christ had to come to the earth for, that's how important it is.

Back to depression,

Now you've moved from just feeling to thinking bad things about yourself. You are thinking words you would never have thought about yourself and your thoughts then begin to project into your actions.

You already thought you weren't good enough,

Nothing good is happening to me.

I'm not all that,

I'm not beautiful,

I'm a failure, etc 

The pattern of nature is that these things now begin to manifest in real life because as a man thinks, so is he.

The very negative thoughts are now becoming your reality.

Things begin to fall apart

You look at yourself in the mirror and you've stopped looking beautiful

I've seen people slash themselves while going through severe depression 

Like deep deep cuts

Will they do that normally?

It didn't happen a day

Affecting the Way You Act

This is when most people around you probably start noticing if they weren't attentive enough before.

It is also more difficult to reach a person here 

In fact, if you are not trained to deal with depressed people, you will be doing more harm than good.

All your perspire to aspire doesn't work too because a work has been done on their mind.

Their mind has been corrupted first to steal their joy.

This is not the time to start thinking they did something wrong or they sinned or they are not Christian enough that's why they fell.

Like I said, depression is not a sin, it is a medical illness 

My personal choice of words is that it is a psychological illness; one whose aim is to affect your mind.

Your mind is one of your core as a human; your soul.

It is what intersects your spirit and body.

So again, the devil knows exactly what he is doing and I need us to understand what is happening on the backend spiritually when we face things like this, or when we have friends face things like this so it drives our empathy.

Depression doesn't stop as a medical or psychological illness, it is a being problem.

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭KJV

Even as your soul prospers 

Your health is connected.

Now that we have seen the backend of depression, that a Christian can truly be depressed and it doesn't mean they've sinned or left God and, that the devil is the one afflicting in the real sense.

How then do we deal with Depression as Christians?

1. Take it to God

This sounds so cliche and I know it's not the answer you want to hear but you see, it is the first answer you need.

I do not mean to complain or be bitter at God

I mean drop it with God

Be vulnerable about how you feel about Him

"Lord I'm feeling xyz way. I don't even know why and I can't fully express it. I don't think You'd want me to feel this way. Please help me"

Simple abi?

Very very simple 

Remember that hymn

"Oh! What peace we often forfeit all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer"

Remember Job didn't have peace until God had a conversation with him.

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. Proverbs 12:25

Heaviness of heart

Anxiety 

It causes depression

But look, 

A good word,

An encouraging word makes it glad 

Again, this is not human perspire to maguire 

A good word from the Lord

A reassurance from your Abba on your identity

Those things your mind now say about you are not you 

And you really need your maker to remind you 

God is the one with the most connection to that part of you that is now closed to most people, thanks to depression 

Because you carry His DNA

So yes, have that conversation!

2. See a therapist

I don't know who told Nigerians that therapy is bad but I am telling you,

I am kneeling to tell you, that therapy is good for you.

It is not evil

It doesn't negate God or Faith 

Seeking therapy doesn't necessarily translate to you being mad.

Mental illness is an illness like every other illness.

You don't feel this way about going to the hospital for malaria

(I'd have used surgery but I know in this part of the world, we run from surgeries too 😭)

See ehn, God made man, but since the fall of man, the devil's attack went up a bit higher 

God knows all of these things and He has put wisdom in the heart of man to help ourselves in cases like this.

People who have been trained to understand emotions and how to process them.

They do not of course instantly take away your problems or what led to the depression, 

But they help you navigate and process what you feel properly.

Remember the devil's game is to use your feelings to attack your mind,

Their work now is to help you lay bare those feelings and walk you through it, until your mind begins to pick up.

It searches the You that is really you and brings it to the surface

Please seek professional help!

God is not against it!

If you are scared, look for certified therapists who are Christians (you can check with people who have used them to be sure they too have renewed their mind concerning this talk)

It's the same as having a doctor who knows his job but is also a solid Christian, deliver your baby.

You know that he is doing his job as a doctor and watching well for you in the spirit. 

Exactly! Same thing

If you ever need a therapist, I have one I use.

She is a believer and not so expensive (I know the cost of therapy discourages people too). She's very professional also and I'd be glad to share her contact.

3. Community

The devil wants you to hide and seclude yourself.

Please don't fall into this pit. Stay with your community.

Now more than ever, you need them.

4. Praise

This looks so harddddd

But it is possible (I no lie give you)

Stay in praise

Stay Worshipping God 

The devil will tell you there is no reason to, but na lie

Psalms‬ ‭42:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God

The heading for Psalms 42 says Yearning for God in the midst of distresses

The distress is in plural form

Not one 

Not two

Behttt thousand 😭

I don't even want to know what David was going through at that point 

But he was really going through it 

But see?

I shall yet praise Him

Though the fig tree doesn't blossom

We will rejoiceeee!

5. Practice SelfCare

This looks so mundane and vain especially because of all that is happening but please add this to the routine. 

You know the first thing the enemy attacked was your feelings. 

Self-care has a way of making you feel good about yourself gradually 

Be faithful to your skincare routine.

Pick up a hobby that you don't necessarily have to monetize 

Dress up,

Take yourself out,

Or dress up and just take a walk.

Engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself.

Before I end, 

I want you to know the enemy is a thief of Joy

Getting out of depression sometimes is not immediate depending on how deep the slip is but look at this scripture; 

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:29‭-‬31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ He gives power to the weak, And to those  who  have no might He increases strength. [30] Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, [31] But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint

It is for weak people that power exists.

It is for men without might that the strength of the Lord is reserved.

There is strength reserved for you for a moment like this

Don't beat yourself up

Take the strength

Drop all your weight before Him

I'd leave us with this scripture as I close;

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”