RELATIONSHIP December 15, 2008 Issue

NOT PRAY AND FIX—PRAY AND LISTEN

TONI NAYBACK

HAVE YOU EVER PRAYED about a situation and then gone to friends for advice? Or, maybe you even tried their advice, thinking that it was all part of your prayer.

I call this the "Pray and fix" approach, which I got trapped in for several years while I was in a particular relationship. All sorts of issues had kept Barry and me from making a commitment, including different religious backgrounds. We'd break up. I'd pray. But then I'd try to manipulate an outcome. I just knew Barry was the man for me.

It wasn't until we finally felt we'd ended it for good that I decided I needed to tune out all the human chatter and listen only to God.

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