I recently visited my childhood home, which was about to be sold. The home was almost 70 years old, and there were pipes leaking and other problems that required many of the inside walls to be torn down to make repairs. It was so depressing to see the once-beautiful home filled with construction debris and large holes in its walls and floors. I kept thinking, Who would want to own such a sad-looking piece of property?

Then the new buyer arrived and began to show us all the things she planned to do to our old home. She had a vision of how it looked in its prime. The missing walls and floors that to us looked like expensive problems, she saw as simple repairs because she restored homes for a living. However, this house would not be a commercial enterprise but a home for her and her children to live in, so it would be a special project with all the loving care and expertise she could give. She beamed with excitement and pointed out all the features of the home that we had taken for granted.

We went away with a completely different attitude due to this woman's enthusiasm for our old home and the great potential she saw under the superficially gloomy surface.

I began to consider how similarly God sees our lives. He sees the great potential that is there on the inside. As it says in 1 Peter 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (New International Version).

Our lives may have fallen into spiritual disrepair, but He stands there waiting patiently to raise us to new heights for His kingdom. He is the restoration expert, the master builder. We may think things are hopeless and can never be fixed, while all the time He waits anxiously for us to give Him the opportunity to restore, heal and bless us.

Anxiety dominated my mind.

I had a choice to make: attend the wedding of two friends or travel with a group to North Africa. I was torn, a few times in tears because I wanted to experience both.

Knowing that wasn't an option, I became desperate to make the right decision. First, I began to ask friends what I should do, sending one e-mail after another. I mixed in phone calls, asking the same questions—anything to hear a voice and have someone tell me what I should do.

In the midst of my answer-hunting, it became evident that I hadn't quieted myself to listen to the One who undoubtedly held the response I needed. Putting together a pro-con list seemed like a good idea—until I realized that I expected to find the answer by that means only.

Sure, a list can often be used as a decision-making tool, but leaving God out of the process left me sorely disappointed and frustrated. Only when I opened His Word and talked to Him in prayer did I find peace.

What decision won out? North Africa.

Every time I talk with my 3-year-old niece, Megan, on the telephone she asks me the same question. In her soft, sweet voice she says, "Wanna come over to my house?" I explain that we live very far away from each other, she in Tennessee, and I in Florida. It doesn't matter. She'll ask again, "Will you come spend the night at my house?"

This is the kind of asking Jesus refers to in Matthew 7:7,8: "Ask, and it will be given to you...For everyone who asks receives." The word "ask" in that Scripture passage means "to beg" in the Greek, and it is used as the present imperative. Jesus is in fact saying, "Keep on asking." He expects us to persevere in our prayers. It shows our dependence and desire, and even our faith.

Megan finally got to me. So heart wrenching were the 3-year-old's requests, that once when I was flying to Kentucky, I extended my trip and made a four-hour detour to see little Megan and the rest of my sister's family.

She threw herself into my arms when I arrived, then pointed out all her pink paraphernalia and princess possessions, and she asked me to sleep next to her that night.

But that visit wasn't enough. I love that she still asks in every phone conversation, "Wanna come over to my house?"