What a fitting topic for today.
I mentioned it the other day, that there are people out there who hate prayer and people who pray and don't believe it has any power.
They then blame the bad things that happen on people who pray...
It is very wrong, and very narrow minded.
If you don't believe prayer has any power, fine.
You have the right to believe what you will.
You don't even have to like people who pray, that's fine too,
it's your right.
But what is not okay is to blame those people and their prayers
for the evil actions of others, and then to demand that they stop praying.
Sarah has a wonderful day set aside for us to learn about prayer.
Maybe if these people knew something about prayer,
or even had any desire to understand,
they would think and behave differently.
Start Quote
Some women know they pray.
Other women think they don't because they aren't
down on their knees morning and night.
But they're up in the dark with sick children,
visiting an elderly parent on their lunch hour,
supporting the dreams of those they love with their work,
helping a friend bear grief or rejoice,
nourishing bodies and souls.
This, too, is prayer.
For whether we realize it or not,
with every breath, with every heartbeat, women pray.
We pray with desire, longing, hunger, thirst, sighs, remorse, regret.
We pray with disappointment, discouragement, despair, disbelief.
We pray with anger, rage, jealousy, envy.
We pray with pleasure, contentment, happiness, exultation, joy.
We pray with gratefulness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, relief.
We pray when we comfort, cheer, console.
We pray when we laugh. We pray when we cry.
We pray when we work and play.
We pray when we make love or make a meal.
We pray when we create and admire creation.
One way or another, we pray.
Everyday life is the prayer.
How we conduct it, celebrate it, consecrate it.
It's just that some prayers are better than others.
Conscious prayers are the best.
In it's purest form, prayer is conversation. Communion. Connection. Intimacy. Prayer is the dialect of Divinity. Prayer is actually the authentic conversation because you don't have to hold back; you can say whatever needs to be said, exactly the way you want to express it, when you want to express it. You won't be judged. You won't risk losing love; instead, by praying you will increase your awareness of it. You won't have to phrase your words carefully lest there by misunderstandings, because you can't be misunderstood. Even if you don't know what you want or need, [God] knows what you're about to say, ask, beg, scream, or praise before you utter a syllable.
Because it's not good for women to be silent.
We need to get real life off our chests.
Get whatever's bedeviling us out into the open, so that we can get on with it. We can't do that when we're stuck, and women do get stuck, in a kind of self-destructive holding pattern, when they're silent...
Women pray because we need to talk to Someone who's really listening.
End Quote
There is no way that I can just convince you to pray.
Heck, I even have a hard time kneeling in prayer morning and night...
it's one of my struggles.
If I were to try to convince you, I would ask you just to try it.
And I'm not saying, okay, try it once and you're done.
Pray every day, with sincerity and real intent.
Pray in the morning, afternoon, and the evening.
Keep a prayer in your heart all the time.
But I also believe, like faith, that in order to fully realize the power of prayer you must have a correct understanding of God and Jesus Christ, and to that I would suggest that you talk to the missionaries.
But, despite that, I still believe that prayer works.
No, you can not pray for riches and just get them.
God is not a genie.
Understand why you need a correct understanding of God?
Of course prayer isn't going to work if you're just wishing for things
and expecting them to come true.
But if you pray with sincerity, you will see miracles will happen.
Also...
***
Gratitude Journal
***
1) Angels and miracles. I was having a really rough morning. As everyone went downstairs to start breakfast, I stayed upstairs to get clothes and things that had been left behind. I was overcome with sorrow, and just fell to my knees. I had a thought, since I was already on my knees I might as well pray. I wept, and told God how I didn't know if I could make it through today and how I needed some serious help. I begged him to help me through today. And he sent an angel to help me. She stayed with me all day, our kids playing together, us cleaning and cooking together. I didn't realize it until right now that she had been an answer to my prayer this morning. I'm so grateful for her, and that often times God answers our prayers through others.
2) Clean bathrooms.
3) When things just work out. I had literally just run out of Odoban, using it on the last load of laundry like an hour before, and then there was a knock on the door. It was the mail, delivering my next container of Odoban. Bam! Next load of pee soaked sheets can go in the wash.
4) Good food. Chicken parm, and key lime pie. Amazing.
5) It's bed time. I'm so exhausted, and so ready. All the kids are either in diapers or pull ups, because gosh darn it if I don't get a full night of uninterrupted sleep because someone wet their bed I think I might just lose my crap.
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