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Over the past few months, I have been leading about 40 women from all around the country through a prayer practicum online. It’s a teaching model for learning to pray with Scripture based on Ignatian spirituality developed by Jesuit Father John Wickham. It has been an especially anointed endeavor witnessing these women as daily they claim God’s Word for themselves and as God’s Word claims and forms them, strengthening their identity in Christ.

As we wrapped up the 16-week commitment, I asked women to pray about their “name of grace,” that is the name they have in God. Some spiritual directors use the term “personal vocation,” asking, who am I in Jesus, and who is he to me? Your “name of grace” is often tied up with your life’s personal vocation, the intimate work that Jesus has given to you to build up his kingdom. Frequently, our favorite name for the Lord is a reflection of his name for us.

Some of the names that were shared in our final meeting were “Light,” “Graciousness,” “Recoverer,” “Holy One,” “Blessed is She,” “Bringer of Joy and Laughter,” “Threshing Sledge,” “Mother-Heart-of-the-Church,” “Pearl of Great Price” and “Beloved.” These beautiful titles were revealing the core of each woman’s work in the kingdom and her identity in Christ, celebrating in such an imaginative way how heaven must relish the great diversity in the body of Christ.

One woman’s name of grace was especially satisfying to hear. This woman struggled mightily with anxiety and fear, especially over attacks against the Church. She has been gravely tempted to fall into despair, but she kept on with her prayer commitment. She kept her eyes on the Lord.

Then, this morning, after remaining faithful to her prayer for more than 16 weeks, she sent me a text giving thanks for the practicum, which helped her to move, she says, from “worrier to warrior!” That’s exactly what grace does — it perfects attributes in us that the world might like to distort or maim. Grace took her fear and anxiety and refined it into a holy vigilance and a love of justice. Grace is teaching her not to settle for worry, but to give her fear to Jesus so he can transform it — and her — into a weapon that can crush the powers of spiritual darkness.

How do we navigate amid allegations of voter fraud, confusion in the Church over “civil unions” and a COVID resurgence? The very ground beneath us seems to quake. More than ever, we need to know what work God is calling us to in our daily lives and pour ourselves into it with greater clarity and dedication.

The Lord came to Solomon in the night to declare, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr 7:14). Do you believe it?

What is the name given to you by heaven? What grace will be unleashed in you if you know who you are in Christ? Together, in humility and prayer, let’s seek his face — in the poor, in the marginalized, in the vulnerable, in those who cannot speak for themselves, in the lonely, the sick, the imprisoned, the homeless and hungry, and yes, even in the face of those who persecute us. The promise of forgiveness and healing is real, dangling over us like luscious ripe fruit on a low limb.

Almighty Father, you have named us and claimed us as your own. Show us the best path forward to release the most grace possible on a world in darkness and confusion. Send your clarifying light into our hearts and homes, that we may stand steadfast in your truth, compromising not one hair of our head to the enemy. Your word will never fail. Amen.

Kelly is the award-winning author of nine books, including the award-winning “Jesus Approaches” (2017) and the forthcoming “Love Like a Saint” (2021). Visit her website at lizk.org and on Instagram at lizktoday.