The living have a calling the dead do not. When Hezekiah survived a terminal illness, his first response was not relief — it was praise. He understood something that every suffering believer needs to hear: we who are still alive have a unique and irreplaceable calling to worship God, not after our suffering ends, but from inside the middle of it.

God meets us where we are — not where we think we should be before He'll care about us. At every stage of faith, whether brand new or decades in, He is not waiting for you to improve before He pursues you. He is already there, celebrating where you are while calling you to grow.

First, for most people, the image of “father” isn’t a positive one—it certainly isn’t one we’re excited to apply to a God we’re going to pray to. Most people today had predominantly negative experiences with their fathers. That makes it hard to start a prayer this way.