More often than we are willing to admit, we tend to get what we pray for, long for, and work for. Don't you agree? Note, I did not say pray for, or long for, or work for. There were no "ors." I said "and."

We must pray. We must focus (long for). We must work.

We may think we are focused before we pray, but prayer has a way of weeding out the distractions that prevent a real and powerful focus from coming into play. Once we have connected with our Heavenly Father, received His blessing and begun to focus on the task or goal at hand, then it is a matter of work. Work or blood, sweat and tears. Sometimes they are all part of the package. Rarely does anything in life that is worth having come easy.

It's been a while since I shared with you one of my favorite quotations which I recorded in the front of my Bible when I was in nursing school 30 years ago. A fellow student had brought the quote to class one day. The clipping said the author was unknown.

Even now, the words still mean as much to me as they did that fall day. I wanted to be a nurse, but my health was really bad at the time and many people discouraged my effort. They reminded me constantly that I should not put myself in a position where I would be exposed constantly to contagious disease.

Asthma, since age two, had tried to rule my life. I was super skinny and sick a lot. It did seem like I caught every bug that came along. But I had prayed and I was focused. Maybe I was a little bit angry, too. It is easy to feel anger when folks criticize and discourage. Anger is not necessarily bad; in fact, it can be a catalyst if not taken to extreme. But the line is fine and sometime we don't always know when we cross it, so beware of anger's influence.

Though anger may have been, and still may be, an occasional catalyst, nothing outside of God's Word has ever influenced me any more than those words I recorded on November 8, 1966 in my oldest and most worn Bible:

"Once I fit together the bits, pieces, hopes, fears, and desires that make me the person I am, I hope to have the courage to act on my discoveries and follow them through. The adventure will be well worth the quest. Once I find a pattern of life so absorbing that I lose myself in it,... then I'll find myself."

So, I tried to focus, prayed and became more focused, and worked and became still more focused. And now, 30 years later, I must tell you this formula has taught me that prayer is truly the key to all satisfying accomplishment or success, and to the peace and joy which accompanies the knowledge that you are walking in the center of God's will for your life.

Getting to know myself or "finding myself" has taken a back seat to getting to know others and discovering God at work in and through all our lives. The adventure is never-ending. Awesome are the ways God touches our lives.

The highest highs I have known have come on those rare occasions when the Master Weaver has afforded me a glimpse at the top side of the tapestry. It may feel like we wonder aimlessly in the maze created by all the loose strings hanging below. Ah, but don't forget whose Hand you hold and know that the Master Guide will see you through. You can make it. One step at a time. One goal at a time.

What I am attempting to discuss today may be interpreted by many as mind over matter, positive thinking, self control, will power, or any number of things. All these factors may come into play. But any connection with God is bigger than any phrase we may use and prayer is the way to begin to be connected.

Yes, I said "begin." Once you make the effort to communicate with the Creator, to listen to Him, to let Him hear your dreams before you toss 'em out for the world to try to trample them, your life will take on a momentum that is hard to explain or define.

Let no personal desire or fleeting passion sway you from always seeking God's will for your life. And when you have sought exactly that with all your heart,