I was done praying about this situation. "After all," I reasoned, "I've prayed enough, more than enough; it's time to move on to other things." I reviewed my many reasons to stop praying and was pleased with my list: I had been a good person. I had prayed wholeheartedly. I had expressed lots of love.
The situation in question involved a friend who was going through some tough times. I dearly love this friend. So even though she hadn't specifically asked me for prayer, I had been praying to feel my own sense of peace about what was going on. But when that didn't seem to help either one of us, I decided that perhaps it was time to take a back seat and let her resolve things on her own. There was just one problem: I was still disturbed, frustrated, and afraid. But I did my best to disregard those feelings and stick with my decision.
That night I told another friend about my decision and was anxious to get her reassurance that I was doing the right thing. Her input was not what I'd expected. She told me gently, but pointedly, that she didn't think I was on the right track. That perhaps I needed to keep praying, rather than stop.
