Recently, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I have a friend who is making bad decisions. They are the kind of decisions he will regret one day if the fog clears. They are the kind of decisions that are painful to watch. They are the kind of decisions that I myself made and suffered for.

And so, being the friend I am, I have been praying for him. Most of my prayers look roughly like this:

“Dear God, please surround my friend with positive influences. Cover him in love. Comfort him in this difficult time and remind Him how much you love and care for him.”

Now clearly I left out some key phrases in that prayer. There are a few things missing …

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