God wants our communication with Him to be unencumbered by rules and legalism.

 Do you realize that even directing a thought toward God qualifies as silent prayer? It's true! Whether you have been praying for years, are just learning to pray, have hit a "slump" in your spiritual life or simply want your prayer life to improve, know this: God wants you to learn to pray more effectively, and He wants your prayer life to become more fulfilling.

Short, simple prayers can be mighty beyond description, but this does not take away from the fact that prayer is also a grand mystery. Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian who wrote many profound books while imprisoned for his faith, wrote: "Prayer is the most wonderful act in the spiritual realm, as well as a most mysterious affair." read more

We can change the outiside, but we can't revise who we really are deep down inside.

So many times we struggle to be real. We act one way on the outside, but we're actually different on the inside. Because we have weaknesses, faults and fears—things that we think make us less likable or desirable—we'd rather hide them from other people.

Over time, we devise masks to effectively hide our blemishes and give others a different perception of who we really are. In fact, we've become so comfortable with our masks that we forget we're wearing them. read more