The Knots Prayer

Dear God,

Please untie the knots

that are in my mind,

my heart and my life.

Remove the have nots,

the can nots and the do nots

that I have in my mind.

Erase the will nots,

may nots, and

might nots that find

a home in my heart.

Release me from the could nots,

would nots and should nots

that obstruct my life.

And most of all, dear God,

I ask that you remove from my mind

my heart and my life all of the am nots

that I have allowed to hold me back,

especially the thought

that I am not good enough.

Amen

The Spirit Is Willing, But The Body Is Weak

A manager has to take on some sport by his doctor so he decides to play tennis. 

After a couple of weeks his secretary asks him how he's doing. "It's going fine", the manager says, "When I'm on the court and I see the ball speeding towards me my brain immediately says: To the corner! Back hand! To the net! Smash! Go back!"

"Really? What happens then?" the girl asks enthusiastic.

"Then my body says: Who? Me? Don't talk nonsense!"

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Matthew 26:41

Cookies Versus Willpower

Toad baked some cookies. "These cookies smell very good," said Toad. He ate one. "And they taste even better," he said.  Toad ran to Frog's house. "Frog, Frog," cried Toad, "taste these cookies that I have made." 

Frog ate one of the cookies, "These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!" said Frog. 

Frog and Toad ate many cookies, one after another. "You know, Toad," said Frog, with his mouth full, "I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick." 

"You are right," said Toad. "Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop." Frog and Toad ate one last cookie.  There were many cookies left in the bowl. 

"Frog," said Toad, "let us eat one very last cookie, and then we will stop." Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie. 

"We must stop eating!" cried Toad as he ate another.

"Yes," said Frog, reaching for a cookie, "we need willpower." 

"What is willpower?" asked Toad.

"Willpower is trying hard not to do something you really want to do," said Frog. 

"You mean like trying hard not to eat all these cookies?" asked Toad. 

"Right," said Frog.

Frog put the cookies in a box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies." 

"But we can open the box," said Toad.

"That is true," said Grog.

Frog tied some string around the box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies." 

"But we can cut the string and open the box." said Toad.

"That is true," said Frog. Frog got a ladder. He put the box up on a high shelf.

"There," said Frog. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box," said Toad. 

"That is true," said Frog.

Frog climbed the ladder and took the box down from the shelf. He cut the string and opened the box. Frog took the box outside. He shouted in a loud voice. "Hey, birds, here are cookies!" Birds came from everywhere. They picked up all the cookies in their beaks and flew away. 

"Now we have no more cookies to eat," said Toad sadly. 

"Not even one."

"Yes," said Frog, "but we have lots and lots of willpower." 

"You may keep it all, Frog," said Toad. "I am going home now to bake a cake."  

Ray & Anne Ortlund, Renewal, Navpress, 1989,  p. 73-74.