Regarding Meditation and Prayer ... Eastern religions teach people to set aside the everyday to focus on the Divine for a few minutes everyday ... I'm afraid too many of us in the West look at God as some sort of a Divine Vending Machine, or Someone we turn to when we want something. What spoiled brats we can be!
Spirituality requires an investment.
It takes time to "grow Faith" the same way it takes time to be a wife or husband, to be a mom or dad, to gain an education, to master our profession ... even to have good health. None of those things would happen without a little effort on our part and an investment of time!
Maybe our meditation and prayer would do us more good if we chose to use that time to connect with the Divine instead of trying to force the divine to connect with us!
What if we started our prayer and meditation by clearing our minds of the things in our lives?
What if we set aside the to-do lists, the schedules, the worries ...
to truly think about God?
What if we let our minds go to a peaceful place ... imagining a meadow full of flowers, a mountain top or a sandy beach ... any place that would fill us with awe?
It takes time to "grow Faith" the same way it takes time to be a wife or husband, to be a mom or dad, to gain an education, to master our profession ... even to have good health. None of those things would happen without a little effort on our part and an investment of time!
Maybe our meditation and prayer would do us more good if we chose to use that time to connect with the Divine instead of trying to force the divine to connect with us!
What if we started our prayer and meditation by clearing our minds of the things in our lives?
What if we set aside the to-do lists, the schedules, the worries ...
to truly think about God?
What if we let our minds go to a peaceful place ... imagining a meadow full of flowers, a mountain top or a sandy beach ... any place that would fill us with awe?
What if we let ourselves believe that the God of the Universe, the Creator of all the beauty that has ever inspired us, put that beauty there just for us?
God loves us THAT MUCH.
God loves us THAT MUCH.
If we were the only person in the whole universe, God would still delight in blessing us!
That's true!
God loves YOU.
God loves YOU.
God has GREAT FAITH in you.
He knows your deepest heart and your every thought.
He knows your deepest heart and your every thought.
Prayer and Meditation can be a time to immerse ourselves in God's eternal, unconditional, divine love.
It's personal.
It's personal.
It's intimate.
It's real.
The first time I tried, I felt like the little girl in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET saying "I believe - I believe - I believe" and feeling nothing ... but I kept on doing it anyway!
One day, I felt how much God loves me. I really felt it! It made me feel so humbled. It made me cry to think that God loved me right where I was, no matter what. I felt warm all over. I felt goodness fill every cell. It made me want to do better. It made me want to please Him. It changed my point of view the way nothing else ever has.
It's real.
The first time I tried, I felt like the little girl in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET saying "I believe - I believe - I believe" and feeling nothing ... but I kept on doing it anyway!
One day, I felt how much God loves me. I really felt it! It made me feel so humbled. It made me cry to think that God loved me right where I was, no matter what. I felt warm all over. I felt goodness fill every cell. It made me want to do better. It made me want to please Him. It changed my point of view the way nothing else ever has.
Today, I think of God as my loving Father. He is more wealthy and powerful than anyone we can name. Everything you see or touch belongs to Him! He was meeting my needs before I even knew I had needs. He used everyone of my life experiences to bring me to this moment. What loving father would ever send us on a mission without making sure we have everything we need? My life has a purpose and my Father has a job for me to do!
My point is that God will never seem alive to us as long as we think of him as a vending machine, dispensing spiritual snacks every time we put in a prayer!
God can CHANGE our lives if we allow ourselves to change the way we look at God. God's love can fill us up like nothing else ever has! No wonder my life didn't work before. I ran on empty for a long time. Taking the time to reach out to God and seeing just a small part of His love brought me healing like I had never known.
A few weeks ago, I repeated a quote I read that said ...
Wisdom is knowing that I am everything and nothing at the same time.
I know that I am everything to God. It's personal. But I also know that you are everything too! It's personal. It doesn't take one thing away from how much He loves me for Him to love each of you the very same way! In the big picture, I am just a speck ... one little twinkle in a sky full of stars ...
Living this way put my everyday into perspective. It cut my worries down to size. It changed the way I pray ... It made my life less about being a star and more about celebrating the twinkle in all of us.
WHO AM I
My point is that God will never seem alive to us as long as we think of him as a vending machine, dispensing spiritual snacks every time we put in a prayer!
God can CHANGE our lives if we allow ourselves to change the way we look at God. God's love can fill us up like nothing else ever has! No wonder my life didn't work before. I ran on empty for a long time. Taking the time to reach out to God and seeing just a small part of His love brought me healing like I had never known.
A few weeks ago, I repeated a quote I read that said ...
Wisdom is knowing that I am everything and nothing at the same time.
I know that I am everything to God. It's personal. But I also know that you are everything too! It's personal. It doesn't take one thing away from how much He loves me for Him to love each of you the very same way! In the big picture, I am just a speck ... one little twinkle in a sky full of stars ...
Living this way put my everyday into perspective. It cut my worries down to size. It changed the way I pray ... It made my life less about being a star and more about celebrating the twinkle in all of us.
WHO AM I
written and performed by Casting Crowns
Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cause I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cause I am yours.
I am yours.
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