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Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

Practicing God’s Presence

Posted in faith, Higher Power, tagged , , on September 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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Many of us would admit that we strive to follow God’s will.  But how do we know what it is?  I have struggled quite a bit with trying to find answers to this question, and I have concluded that we may never know for sure what is or isn’t the will of God.  We just have to let our conscience be our guide.

I think (and hope) that my conscience has grown over the years.  My life experience has changed it.  For many years, I believed in God, but had no real relationship with Him or Her.  Today, I honestly do try to practice the presence of God on a daily basis.  The more God becomes a friend — someone I can talk to about anything at all that is on my mind — the more able my conscience is to act in my behalf.

It is hard to make God a priority in your life, at least it is for me.  But I try.  When I manage to achieve awareness of God working in my life, it goes much more smoothly.  And the great thing is that I can always reconnect when life’s irrelevancies have taken over my mind for a time.  Is your conscience improving day by day?

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MARCHING ORDERS FROM GOD

Posted in faith, Higher Power, reflection, tagged , , on August 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Incline thy ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. (Ps. 86:1)

 

 

 

Today, begin your meditation time by going to one of your favorite spot and spend several quiet minutes there. Don’t try to stop your thoughts, but don’t allow your mind to focus on any of them. Note them briefly and let them go until the next thought appears.

 

Whenever we pray, we no doubt wish there was a way for us to hear God’s response to us. Our prayers always receive a response, but not always as quickly or in the direction we would like. We are all poor and needy at times, and our prayers, our connection to our Creator, make us aware once again of the tremendous source of power that is always available to us.

 

I have often remarked to others that I wish God would send me a written list of instructions for what I need to do that day. Or I have wished that I would actually hear a voice in my head, telling me what to do. Lately, however, I have begun to believe that it is better the way it is. I need to be a part of the “marching orders.”

 

If I simply got written instructions, I would only be following orders, not making choices of my own. When I am forced to make choices, when I must decide for myself what God would will for me, I learn from the process.  God may direct us and our thinking, but we also need to learn to think for ourselves. As we listen for answers today, let us tune into God and show a willingness to follow good orderly direction.

 

Taken from “Talks with our Creator” for November 18th

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CATASTROPHES AND GOD’S WILL

Posted in acceptance, faith, Love, tagged , , on July 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I would like to dedicate this piece to all of those in pain because of the recent massacre in Colorado.  

 

When horrific things happen in this world (and they always do, it seems) many folks seem to have some questions about how God can allow such things to happen.   I believe that God cries with us when such things occur.  While I firmly believe that God is always available to us and that He or She does direct our paths when we wish to follow His will, I believe also that God gave man free will and does not intervene to stop nature from taking it’s course.

 

There is simply no way that I could accept that the God in whom I believe would will to have tragedies happen.   Slaughters, mass murders, natural catastrophes and the like are caused either by Nature or by man himself in some sense.  I cannot believe that these things happen because God intends for them to happen.   However, I also believe that out of all tragedies come good things eventually.  I am only able to see an infinitesimal portion of the mosaic of my life, so I am required to have faith and trust that God will take care of all of us.  Our Creator knows what She is doing.

 

I hate it when others are in pain, but I know I am not powerful enough to take away that pain.  God is powerful enough and will do so, eventually, if He is summoned.   As many in the media have already said, I pray that those involved will find comfort and, eventually, peace of some sort.  God might not prevent disasters from happening, but He is surely available to comfort those who need comfort.   When bad things happen to good people, I used to feel quite cynical and insist that this was just the way of the world.    God has helped me to see that cynicism does nobody good, while prayers and hopeful thoughts can work wonders.

 
My brother recently suffered a tragic loss when his beautiful home in the Roosevelt National Forest was consumed by Colorado’s fires.   Thankfully, he and his wife (and their dogs) got out safely, but everything was lost.   Why did it happen?  Why was his home in the path of the fire?   We can always torture ourselves by wondering why terrible things happen.   Or we can slowly but surely try to accept that these things are part of our lives.  We don’t and can’t know why these things happen.  But we can help one another to get through them.

 

 

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