Prayer is essential to me. I love, love, love talking to God. However, lately, God has been talking to me, convicting me of my prayer life. This morning as I was praying, this question was nagging at me, haunting me as though God were asking, “Are you guilty of praying “safe” prayers?” I pray “God, bless my children… but I don’t pray that God would keep them from evil. I pray for God to increase my faith… but I don’t want him to take my job. I pray for God to show me ways to witness… but I don’t want him to ask me to do something awkward. I ask for healing… but rarely consider that the illness might be making me more like him. Yes, I realize I often want safe answers to prayers. I want sunshine and rose gardens and warm fuzzies. But I also recognize that, as Christians, what we need to grow is not the safe prayers but the risky ones. The ones that may involv...