Monthly Archives: January 2022

The Problem of Doubt

When you pray and finish with “Amen,” your thoughts, words, and feelings have created a mold which God can fulfill.

Do you know that God hears you? Or does doubt assail your thoughts and emotions, like:

“I know God has more important matters to attend to.”

“Perhaps I only thought I was praying to God that can hear me, but it was actually only a busy signal on His phone.”

“I am unworthy to ask these things.”

“I am a hopeless, hapless sinner so why would God answer me?”

“Are you really there, God?”

“Can you even hear me?”

Many are the thoughts that can “water down” the effectiveness of your prayers if you continue to dwell on them instead of your prayer. Where is your focus?

Do you know that God is your loving Companion every day with whom you can share your thoughts and feelings, good or bad, knowing that there is no judgment on His part? Does He walk by your side every day, attending to your needs as well as your prayers?

Is this really a possibility…that His phone can never be BUSY and that He hears and cares about you personally?

Is He a living presence that accompanies you wherever you go, helping you every day to endure the daily wear and tear of daily life, comforting you when you are sad, ill, or feeling a loss? Does He rejoice with you when you are celebrating and happy? Some people think God is only needed when you are in distress of some kind.

I can readily assure you that God is there for you every step of the way, every minute…whether you are waking or sleeping. He is ready to listen and aid you in your hours of need or bliss.

However, the power of doubt can erase this connection so powerfully that you can actually believe all your negative doubts that are like those mentioned above.

If you think He is not there for you, He isn’t because you let go of His Guiding and Loving Hand.

You must choose what to believe—He can be your Companion, or you can be all alone in your misery. It’s all up to you.

God’s blessings on your journey.

Your Life Is Your Mirror

Your life reflects your words, thoughts, and emotions/feelings. What are you dwelling on, thinking about, speaking, feeling?

“How can this be?” you may ask yourself. “Surely this is a joke!” Sad to say, it is not.

So look around you. Stop for a moment and concentrate on your life as it exists at this moment. What do you see? How do you feel? Is it beautiful or ugly? Are you peaceful or being torn apart by your inner lions? Anger, fear, hatred, and all separating emotions fall into this category. How do you tame them? Do you even want to? Are you so certain that your reactions to outside stimuli command these lions to come forth (so you cannot help or stop them)? Is it worth the price you pay? Are you so righteous that it justifies them?

When you close your eyes at night, what do you see, think about, and remember? Savoring that moment when you discovered something so beautiful that it made you stop in your tracks? Beautiful flowers, sunsets, some kindness that was given to you, a hug, a smile, a kiss perhaps? Life can be magical even in these trying times where so many are suffering from unimaginable tragedies. The question becomes:
What are you dwelling on? Is it one of life’s injustices common in these days? Or would you rather think, speak, and feel about ARK: Acts of Random Kindness that you did for others which were returned to you?

The lions inside of every one of us really do become the kings of our inner beings, dictating our life, reactions, and thoughts toward whatever is wrong with our own personal world. The good things disappear in the mist of our mind. When one looks around and finds hopelessness, fatigue, and sadness, you can rest assured that the restless lions are at work in your particular world.

In order to tame those lions, many suggest that deep breathing in the middle of the daily battle (if battle it be) and meditating on uplifting thoughts can give you moments of the peace you seek.

Bad things happen to all of us on this third rock from the sun. No matter how good or how bad a person we are, what we sow, we reap. In some cases, a few plant bad seeds of discontent, etc. There is enough of a mirage surrounding these few that they seem believable in the extreme, and like the pied piper calling the lemmings to the sea, they are followed willingly, much to our sadness and regret.

But you can decide if you want the lions inside of you to reign supreme or seek a new way to think, speak, and feel. That mirror will bring the wonder of life magically back to your eyes and heart. Are you willing to use that mirror to seek the changes you need so you can experience peacefulness once more? It is, after all, up to you.

God’s blessings on your journey!

Emotions Play a Vital Part in Prayer

Before words come thoughts. These evolve and involve emotions. Thoughts are the engine, and emotions are the gasoline that drives it. So, emotions do, indeed, play a vital part in prayers.

Prayers are more than supplications to a higher Being. They are building blocks towards a better life for ourselves and others. They form the light that guides us on our way each and every day. It is that light and awareness that we share with others who touch our lives, possibly for a moment and maybe a lifetime. It forms the basis of who we really are…before we open our mouths to communicate.

If this premise is true (and I believe and know that it is), it should commend the idea of examining our thoughts and emotions before, during, and after we pray. What is it that you are feeling and thinking right now? These will generate joy instead of sadness, peace of mind vs. experiencing harried, hectic, and unhappy situations.

It is all up to you. Do you choose to throw gas on a fire which is already consuming you or pour water over it, calming reactions and your spirit?

It is within your power every day to choose which ones that will help or hurt you. Words, thoughts, and emotions bring so much power into your life, for good or ill.

It is up to you. Are you willing to look at that idea?

God’s blessing upon your journey.