7 Also, because these revelations were so amazingly great, and so that I wouldn’t become proud, I was given a "thorn in my flesh"*—a messenger from Satan to hurt me so that I wouldn’t become proud. 8 I pleaded with the Lord three times to get rid of this problem. 9 But he told me, "My grace is all you will need, for my power is effective in weakness." That’s why I happily boast about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.