The strongest desire of my heart is to become like Christ in character, entirely. At 67 years of age having pursued this desire passionately for many years I have found many things that don’t work. At this point in my life my firm conclusion which I intend to make the structure of my life from here on out is to maintain the perfect balance between “grace and works” or “grace and effort”, and the phrase I like best that I read in the book, “Renovation of the Heart” by Dallas Willard is “Grace and Method”. He says, “all of creation is an orderly realm, and for that which is broken God provides a methodical path of recovery or healing. Grace does not rule out method, nor method grace. Grace thrives on method and method on grace”. No human activity has it’s hands on both God’s grace and man’s methods or efforts as much as prayer does. In prayer I ask for wisdom To know what the right thing is, in prayer I ask for the will to do what I know is the right thing, and in prayer I ask for the strength to do the right thing well, and not give up until the right thing is finished. In much of what I read and hear today there is a big pendulum swing towards passivity and calling it grace. If that worked there would be a lot more Christ like people than there are. Passivity is a reaction to the “try harder” method of growing and changing which results in guilt, despair, and apathy. If “trying harder” does produce a little progress the result is pride and a critical spirit. But passivity is just apathy masquerading as trust. Prayer is hard to maintain with any level of faithfulness or sacrifice, and requires planning, great self-control, accountability and encouragement from others, but those who pray like Jesus become like Jesus in character, and begin to act and live the way Jesus did. I like it, balance has a harmony to it that sounds good, sounds right, sounds true. I will pursue a lifestyle devoted to prayer asking for wisdom, will, and strength.