• Quote 01

This comes after Quote 01:
“A mindset that loves success more than God’s neighbor callouses the heart and dulls both emotions and senses.
Ironically, it reduces one to an even more mediocre artist.”

I wonder if I have been praying the wrong way…
I have always asked, always pleaded — for the strength to protect my family,
the people around me, my future wife and children.

I asked for material blessings, that the path of my business would be opened.
Of course, in the end I prayed to God knowing that His plan is what is best for me.

But… how foolish I was. Why did I think it was my duty to protect them?
That is not mine to carry — it is God’s responsibility.

• Quote 02

  The evaluations of others, social status, material prosperity, achievements… these are what most people today strive for.
  While they do not cultivate the inner life by themselves, it is true that without them, nurturing one’s inner self becomes difficult.

  Is this why it is called the “narrow gate”?
  Perhaps I would understand if I met someone like me, but otherwise… is this why some say it is better not to marry?

  When Paul tells us to think in the opposite way, could it mean that if we cultivate our inner life first, everything else will follow?
  I am not yet sure.

  God’s unwavering love… already many people align their identity with the standards set by the age, and treat those who do not as odd or deviant.
  I want to step out of that imposed identity and stand firm through God’s love,
  but it seems that in today’s world, that is not easy.

• Quote 03

  That’s right. We are not meant to be isolated in the universe, nor are we created to navigate the world entirely on our own.

  Perhaps that is why we are told, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

  Even before I became a Christian, this idea resonated with my own thinking.

  Prayer is indeed a natural instinct of human beings.

  I can easily agree, for even before I knew God, I often found myself praying without realizing it.

• Quote 04

  Even though God is holy and merciful, always ready to forgive, I believe we must walk alongside fear.

  From the very beginning, the One who listens to our prayers and knows us better than we know ourselves gives us what is best.
  Must we anger Him, treat Him lightly, or forget Him?
  Of course, what is best for us may cause suffering in the present.

  Yet He possesses only goodness, even if we have not yet perceived it.

• Quote 05

  I am currently stopped. I thought I was moving forward, but at some point, I am standing still.

  I do not know what the best is. I have been thinking about what the best I can do is. What can I do in this situation?

  I asked a friend who is not a Christian, “What is the best we can do?” That friend said, prayer is the best.
  And this book also says that prayer is the best. And recently, my church pastor said the same: pray, and pray again, prayer is the best.

  Suddenly, why is all of this connected? Could this be God’s answer? And at the right time, I came to read this book. I didn’t buy this book myself.
  I received the Bible at a retreat, but it was already existing.
  The pastor wanted to give the bible to new member, so I exchaged it with this book.

  Now, I am offering prayers day and night. Even my own desires, I lift in prayer to God, hoping that one day the wind will rise.