In 1989, I attended my first “Prayer Summit” the first week of February. I had been pastoring at JBC for 13 years and had struggled greatly as a pastor. The Summit was four days of praying with 63 other pastors for most of the day, with no agenda, just praying. At the end of the four days I was very convicted by my prayerlessness. Before I got home from that prayer summit, I had written seven goals concerning my prayer life. I have diligently pursued those seven goals for the last 36 years. I now pray a lot more than was my habit then. I not only pray more, but I also labor earnestly in my prayers. Praying increases my desire for what I am praying for, my passion, so that I am pleading with God for what I am praying for. I pray for my weaknesses, my character flaws, and my sins. I want so much to be better, live better, serve better, and preach better. I pray for each of my family members, begging God to guide them, protect them, and bless them. I pray for the people in my churches to grow, love God, protect them from evil, and make them warriors for God. I pray earnestly for JBC and JEC that God will make them churches of great unity, abounding in love for each other and all people, and that they will grow and become blessed churches that glorify God. The cool thing is that even though I am becoming less and less mobile and energetic as I get older, I can still pray. The difference between now and then is because of those seven goals I set because of God’s convicting work in my heart. We all get convicted about things we need to change in our lives, but if we don’t write it down, we will forget about it.