Cranes against the sky, Docklands, London

Years ago, Dad gave me a blue bookmark with Joy Dawson's Principles for Effective Intercession printed on it. I've had it in my Bible for about as long as I can remember, and I probably need to re-type and re-laminate it before it frays away completely. Joy Dawson suggests that you should ask God to clear out your own thoughts, feelings, desires, and imaginations for what you want to pray about, and pray whatever God puts in your mind. Pretty scary, huh?

What if the important things don't get covered?

Sometimes the important things, evidently, are simple: Why don't you give your friend Stephen a call? Now.

Usually, I'm too busy thinking about the things that seem important to me at the moment. My mind ends up feeling like a rubber band, when you twist it up tightly, hold each end between finger and thumb, and move your hands apart and together. As it shortens, it suddenly jumps into knobs and kinks and coiled bumps. As you stretch it, the knots are pulled out again, as the tension increases.

For me, a big part of growing older is learning not to do that. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."