If You Couldn’t Pray for Thirty Days is a quote by Paige Benton I read in Nancy Guthrie’s book The One Year Book of Hope, and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for just five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 25 of Lent 2025 – March 29

I read this quote in Nancy Guthrie’s book, “The One Year Book of Hope.” It has been my morning devotional for several months, and you can buy a copy of the book HERE. It’s the only book I’ve quoted twice in this series of Lenten posts, and I thought the quote was too good not to share.

If You Couldn’t Pray for Thirty Days

As mentioned in Nancy’s book, here’s the context for this quote by Bible teacher Paige Benton. Because Daniel was a righteous and prayerful man in the time of King Darius, ungodly kingdom administrators were envious of his influence. They devised a law prohibiting anyone from praying to other gods besides Darius, who was believed to have divine powers. For thirty days anyone caught breaking the law would be thrown to the lions.

What did Daniel do when he heard about this law against prayer? Let’s look at Daniel 6:10 NIV to find out:

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Paige Benton adds that Daniel was only asked to give up prayer for thirty days. He was not asked to renounce his faith in God. She said, “We give up prayer so quickly and easily because we don’t get any public credit for it.”

Considering your current prayer life, would it make any difference if you couldn’t pray for thirty days? I think this may be the most provocative quote I’ve found in this Lenten series, and that’s why I want to explore it with you today.

If I Couldn’t Pray for Thirty Days

In this Lenten series, I’ve mentioned that the past three years have been extremely difficult for me. My faith has been shaken to the core with all kinds of severe trauma and resulting complex PTSD. I have gone through a long, challenging dark night of the soul. Sometimes, the struggle was minute-to-minute, especially after a stalker approached me.

However, in that whole time of suffering, I prayed every single day. Prayer was the unbreakable cord that tethered me to God. My prayers were not pretty. At times, they were angry rants. Other times, they were heartbroken cries. I questioned God, yelled at him about the unfairness, and desperately pleaded for justice and deliverance. Those wild, emotional prayers were the way I bore my heart to God in my suffering, and I don’t regret a single word I spoke during that time.

Another type of prayer I prayed was intercessory prayer. Praying for others gave me a sense of purpose when everything else around me didn’t make sense. I also chose to praise God despite my suffering, mostly through songs that expressed my feelings better than spoken prayers. The song Defender became my anchor in my darkest moments, and God, Turn It Around became my frequent petition.

The bottom line: I could not have survived the past three years without prayer. It was as essential to me as breathing. If I had to go thirty minutes without prayer, my life would have been insufferable. Thirty days without prayer would not have been liveable. If I had been under the same pressure as Daniel, I would have prayed anyway – that’s how important it is to me.

The Great Gift of Prayer

Today’s quote has moved me to praise God for the great gift of prayer. It has been a treasure to me, not just in the past three intensely painful years but for my whole life. It’s the channel through which I have developed an intimate relationship with the Lord.

In my days at Covenant College, we would use one day per semester as a Day of Prayer. All classes were cancelled for the day, so we had time to pray over our futures. This beautiful practice stuck with me as a way to stop everything, connect with God, read his Word, and seek his direction. I haven’t taken a whole day of prayer for a long time, yet I’m glad I can stop anytime during the day for a few minutes, connect with God through prayer, and gain a greater sense of peace.

I’m grateful God has taught me to seek him in prayer ever since I was a child. I pray today that if you’re reading this, you will also recognize the great gift of prayer and be moved to pray more. Since prayer can be a confusing and challenging topic, I’ve compiled the best books to help you on this journey HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

Living in the now is a portion of a quote I read in Ruth Chou Simons’ “Now and Not Yet,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 24 of Lent 2025 – March 28

I love Ruth Chou Simons’ books, and I even got to interview her years ago on THIS POST. Her book, Now and Not Yet, is great encouragement for those of us waiting through a season we’d rather not endure, like I am now. I must admit, I bought it last year because I knew I should read it, but didn’t want to read it. I’m picking it back up now to be obedient to the Lord as I try to wait well in the now-and-not-yet season.

David’s Story of Living in the Now

I’m pondering the concept of living in the now as I watch the House of David series on Amazon Prime. As I watch David struggle with frustration in the space of being anointed as king, yet still subjected to living as a shepherd and musician, new life is breathed into familiar Bible stories I’ve known since childhood. I see David’s great potential even as a young man, similar to my story as a gifted student talented in the arts. In the series, I see the hidden strengths he’s perfected in the lonely wilderness, like the ones I’ve had myself against my will.

As a young man, David struggled with living in the now, just like me. Yet we can see from the Scriptures that God used that lonely time in the wilderness, before David was ever anointed as king, to shape him into a man after God’s own heart. In those lonely spaces, David honed his musical skills and writing talents, which we still enjoy thousands of years later in the Psalms. He also gained courage, physical strength, and poise as he fought lions and bears, which paid off in his epic battle with Goliath. All these benefits came from the season David would rather not have endured. They were shaping him to be the mighty king of Israel who was a forebearer of Jesus – that’s why God said his kingdom would have no end.

We know the end of David’s story, but he didn’t know what was ahead of him. He struggled with frustration, anger, impatience, and sadness as recorded in so many Psalms. I’m glad the scriptures show him as a real, imperfect human being, so we can relate to him in his struggles.

Living in the Now

Ruth’s book is a wonderful companion to help us learn to live in the now with hope and peace rather than resistance. Through her own stories and Bible stories like David’s story, she talks about the purpose God has for us in our seasons of waiting, even when we don’t see it. I can shift my thinking from seeing this as a season of surviving to a season of thriving, just in different ways, like David experienced in the wilderness. I’m grateful for her writing that points me toward positivity rather than the natural negativity I feel as I keep waiting.

Here are a few more quotes from Ruth’s book:

• It’s hard to live on purpose in the present when your expectations take you somewhere else.
• God is indeed purposeful right here, in the midst of it all.
• The core belief of restlessness stems from thinking I can’t truly rest until I secure everything I think I need.
• If our desire is to experience more of God’s purposes and plans for our lives, then a posture of rest in the God we trust – free and unhindered- is exactly what we must cultivate right now.

Get your copy of Ruth’s book HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to share your thoughts about today’s quote in the comments below.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

Until You Get Quiet is a portion of a quote I read in “Rhythms of Renewal,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 23 of Lent 2025 – March 27

A few years ago, I was blessed to meet Rebekah Lyons in person. My friend invited me and another mutual friend to enjoy breakfast together with Rebekah before she spoke at our church. It was wonderful to have almost an hour of quality conversation with Rebekah, who is a wise, kind, generous person.

Her book Rhythms of Renewal helped me see many things in new ways, including the importance of silence, which I also wrote about HERE. In today’s quote, she talks about the importance of confession.

Lent is a good time for self-examination, when the need for confession can naturally rise to the top of our awareness. I’ve restarted the practice of examen this Lent. In this practice, you look over your day for times you sinned, then confess them to God. If you do this at the end of the day, you can go to bed with greater peace. It helps me sleep better because I wipe the guilty stains off my conscience before I fall asleep.

Two more quotes from this chapter:

• Every pause is a chance to release and reset.
• You cannot heal what is hidden, but when you confess something out loud, you bring it into the light, where it can be healed.

Sin is a very unpopular teaching in our culture, so confession is unpopular too because it exposes sin. However, if we want to grow in our maturity as Christians, confession is essential. As Rebekah notes, it can promote healing for the broken connections between us and God and others. Confession is an important practice we can begin any time of year, yet Lent is perhaps the most natural time to start it.

If you aren’t yet in the habit of confession, let me offer a few tips:

1. Get quiet and ask the Lord to show you when you’ve sinned against him and others.
2. Humbly confess – take responsibility for your thoughts, words, and actions without making excuses.
3. Ask God to help you choose a better path forward.

Confession can help you apologize more easily. It creates greater self-awareness if you practice it regularly. It can build trust with others because you aren’t afraid to admit your imperfections. It’s one of the best spiritual practices to help you grow more like Christ, and I recommend it to you today.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to share your thoughts about today’s quote in the comments below.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

When the Skies in Life Turn Dark is a portion of a quote I read in “When Skies Aren’t Blue,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 22 of Lent 2025 – March 26

This book is a powerful testimony of holding onto faith when the skies of life turn dark. Andy Laurie is both a doctor and a pastor. He is married to the love of his life and has four children. In the peak of his career and family life, he was struck with a terrible disease. It took years of testing and trials to discover the cause, and he’s lived with it for over two decades. Though the disease rocked his faith to the core, he held on with tenacity. He wants to help others hold onto faith when skies aren’t blue in their lives, especially if they are facing a tough medical diagnosis.

Andy’s writing is concise and to-the-point. He offers ten powerful steps, like prescriptions from a doctor, to help you when skies aren’t blue in your life. As a pastor, he writes with compassion and encouragement. Here are a few other quotes from his book that I found to be helpful:

• Satan yields very real power, and he is the one who darkens even the bluest skies of our lives.
• Because we do not have realistic expectations, bitterness sets in. That bitterness eats away at our relationship with God, which in turn further darkens our skies.
• I cannot lament over what I can no longer do, but rather I need to take joy in what I can do.
• When our prayers are nothing but a desperate plea to God, we end up blinding ourselves to the truly amazing things He is in fact doing.

The most powerful part of this book is the author’s testimony of persevering through truly horrible circumstances. If you or someone you know is facing a difficult health situation, this book would be a great comfort to you. I recommend you order a copy for yourself or a suffering friend HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to share your thoughts about today’s quote in the comments below.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

Deepest Longings of Your Heart is a portion of a quote I read in “Make Sense of Your Story,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 21 of Lent 2025 – March 25

I just downloaded this new book on my Kindle last night, and it is blowing me away. Within the first three chapters, I was sobbing because it cut me to the core. Like Adam, I have invested tens of thousands of hours in my healing journey over the past few decades. Also, like him, I read hundreds of books, spent thousands of hours in therapy, and attended many seminars to heal and grow. However, I hadn’t considered his strategy for healing until I started reading this book.

I’ve listened to Adam’s podcast, The Place We Find Ourselves, for years. I even featured parts of it on my podcast episode HERE. My friend recommended the podcast to me, and it permanently changed my perspective on healing from a lifetime of abuse.

Last night, when I read this quote, I pondered it deeply. The premise of his book is wrapped up in this quote. He’s saying it’s not enough to simply state the facts of your trauma, for example, that you are a child of an alcoholic. Adam posits that we must go deeply into individual moments of our trauma to be healed from those painful moments. We must revisit them in detail, trusting that God can redeem them as we do the work.

The Deepest Longings of Your Heart and the Most Devastating Disappointments

I have experienced much growth and healing in the past three years, but this book shows me there is more work to do. There are more disappointments to explore and more longings of my heart to name. Some have even occurred in just the past six months. Adam states that we must reconcile ourselves with ourselves, God, others, and the earth, and I’m looking forward to learning more as I keep reading.

Why invest in this work after I’ve already done so much to heal? Because I want to be ready for the next chapter of my life without the baggage of unresolved hurt. I want my wounds to turn into sacred scars. If this is what it takes, I’ll do it, even though the work will certainly be painful.

If you’re ready for a deep dive into the healing journey, I couldn’t recommend a better book for you. It’s not a quick or easy read, but it’s a massively helpful and insightful one. I learned about it by following Adam on Instagram, and I’m glad I invested in my healing again by purchasing the book HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to share your thoughts about today’s quote in the comments below.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!