"All my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began." Psalm 139:16b

Most, if not all, of our trials and frustrations in life are a result of unmet expectations.  We expect (read as "guess") that something will happen and then when it doesn't, we get bent out of shape.  The problem is that our expectations are typically linked to our "wants" and not on what God wants.  God knows what will happen and what will happen usually has to do with what He feels is best.  If we truly want our expectations to be met, we need to expect what God wants and not what we want.

Lord, help me to see my life through your eyes and not through my selfishness.

"Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another." 1 John 4:10-11

Most conflict exists because we are in a cyclical pattern of resentment and bitterness.  Someone wrongs us so we feel we are just in continuing to wrong them.  The pattern continues because more wrongs bring about additional wrongs.  The cycle is only broken when one of the individuals involved chooses to break the cycle and decides to take the bold step to love first.  That first loving action may often result in love returned and thus the cycle has the opportunity to change to a love cycle.  God loved us first and He desires us to love Him back and we do that by loving others first.

Lord, help me to push aside pride and to break the cycle of conflict in my life.

"There is profit in all hard work."  Proverbs 14:23a

Hard work typically requires us to be uncomfortable.  Uncomfortable conversation.  Uncomfortable decisions.  Uncomfortable physical labor.  Uncomfortable time sacrifices.  Uncomfortable actions and words.  

Lord, help me to see hard work as not only being physical labor but also decisions and attitude, and also help me to see hard work as not only beneficial but necessary.

"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock."  Matthew 7:24 

Step 1:  Hear.
Step 2:  Act on what you hear.

Lord, give me the courage to act on what I hear.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves."  Philippians 2:3

Valuing others over ourselves requires us first to value something more than our own needs.  To simply value others is arguably impossible due to our selfish nature.  To value others requires us to value something more than ourselves.  Valuing God and what God wants is a great place to start.  Valuing the idea of being contrary to what feels good to us or what is natural to us is another option.  Valuing what is right over what is comfortable also work. 

Lord, help me to value something other than my own selfishness so I can value others.

"Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."  Romans 5:3-4

If your car is in neutral, it won't go anywhere, unless you are parked on a hill or unless you get out and push it.  Neutral generally gets us nowhere.  Suffering is not something we seek out but we must realize that suffering is not something that brings us nothing.  Suffering does bring pain.   But  perseverance through the suffering can turn that pain into character and then into hope.

Lord, help me to see suffering for what it can be and not for merely what it is at the current moment.

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."  Mark 1:35 

Praying takes little, to no effort.  Praying is a choice but not an effort.  Jesus may have got up early and left to find a place to pray but these are not requirements.  All we need to do is stop.  Stop what we are doing and pray.  We don't even need to close our eyes.  Praying is the easiest hard thing to do in life.

Lord, help me to pray more.

"No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13

If you aren't giving something up, you aren't loving.

Lord, help me to be strong enough and selfless enough to give up.

"What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself?" 
 Luke 9:25

Most people don't start off the day with the goal of accomplishing nothing.  Sure, some days are more productive than others but most people desire to get something done.  The goal of accomplishing nothing is usually left to the losers.  So what does it say of us when we gain a lot in terms of worldly treasures but sell our soul to do it.

Lord, help me to remember the main goal and not the worldly lies.

"For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don't forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing."
Matthew 6:14-15

Fortaken is not a word that gets much play in our day to day conversation.  We seldom ask for "fortakeness" and we rarely take pride in "fortaking" others.  Although we may not use the word, we unfortunately do "fortake" more than we forgive.  When we don't forgive, we end up taking.  Our lack of forgiveness is not a victim-less action.  

Lord, help me to forgive more and fortake less.