Lately, I’ve been sitting with a thought that is both uncomfortable and honest: What if I believe God’s responses to my prayers are tied to my performance? Not in theory because I know what I’m supposed to say about grace, but in practice. In the quiet calculations of the mind.

He didn’t have time to fix his life. No good works to point to. No second chances to prove anything. Yet Jesus still said yes. That alone should change how we understand grace.