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<p>I&#8217;m not talking about the bell curve. I&#8217;m talking about the ups and downs we all go through in our <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/prayer/">#prayer</a> lives. Something happens and we&#8217;re on fire. Praying every day &#8211; the rosary, <a class="zem_slink" title="Novena" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novena" target="_blank" rel="wikipedia noopener">novenas</a>, the <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/daily-readings/">#daily readings</a>. We feel like nothing can go wrong and <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/god/">#God</a> is standing right next to us no matter where we go or what we do. We are lifted up in grace and our feet barely touch the ground when we walk.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3812 size-publisher-lg" src="https://toddkmarsha.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/8xzlmcmlpx0-750x430.jpg" alt="man sitting, closing his eyes and praying" width="750" height="430" /></p>
<p>A week later, we&#8217;re still feeling good but not as good. We&#8217;re praying but not as much. We&#8217;re walking, but our feet are definitely on the ground. A little thing here and there bothers us but we try to shake it off, forgive, and get back on track.</p>
<p>Another week and our feet are heavier as we walk. We&#8217;re praying enough to get by, maybe. More things of the world get us down. It&#8217;s hard to feel God&#8217;s grace. Where a couple weeks ago was the top of the curve, today we&#8217;re closing in on rock bottom. Time for a <a href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/2013/12/17/meditative-prayer-trying-it-all-over-again/">prayer life</a> mulligan.</p>
<h3><a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/jeremiah/">#Jeremiah</a> Helps Restore My Prayer Life</h3>
<p style="text-align: left;">I read what follows yesterday morning. I know I&#8217;m on the downhill slide. I&#8217;ve started to get some distance from God. I pushed him away, thinking I was good to go and could handle it on my own. It just doesn&#8217;t work that way. These verses from Jeremiah hit me right between the eyes. Time to climb back to the top of the curve. Time to shrink the curve, time to make it a steady uphill climb into a robust prayer life that continues until the last day.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Can it be done? Without a doubt. With faith and trust in God, I will do just fine.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Thus says the L<small>ORD</small>: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the L<small>ORD</small>. He is like a barren bush in the wasteland that enjoys no change of season, But stands in lava beds in the wilderness, a land, salty and uninhabited. Blessed are those who trust in the L<small>ORD</small>; the L<small>ORD</small> will be their trust. They are like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It does not fear heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still produces fruit. More tortuous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the L<small>ORD</small>, explore the mind and test the heart, Giving to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>-Jeremiah 17:5-10</em></p>
<p>Thank you reading this today. If you&#8217;re down at the bottom of the curve, may I suggest by beginning with the <a href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/2012/07/23/confess-your-sins-and-be-free/">Sacrament of Reconciliation</a> and some time before the Blessed Sacrament listening to God call you back into his countenance.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s to your uphill climb. God bless!</p>
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