I usually try not to get really deep on my blog :) but something has compelled me to write this entry cause I really don't want to forget how I feel today and how I have been feeling. As some of you know I have had some struggles that have caused me to learn to truly believe in a power great than myself. I have always believed in God but I know for a long time I didn't let God control my life. I have ALWAYS wanted to fix, manage and control everything in my life ever since I was a little girl and when I couldn't, it would cause resentments, fear and anger because things weren't going the way that I thought they should. Finally, I have learned or am learning that I truly have NO control over anything in my life, it is both scary and freeing!
It was highly suggested to me to "Let Go and Let God" to really and truly turn things over to God. It was also suggested that I get on my knees in the morning and at night and if nothing else thank God for the day and ask him to allow me to do His Will and not mine! It started slowly and this is mainly what I said for a while until I got more comfortable and my prayers began to get longer. I have also learned that Spirituality and Religion are very separate things and a person can be extremely spiritual without being religious, I have seen many examples of this lately.
As I began to get on my knees in the morning and night and pray I noticed slow changes in myself and my days. I quickly found that on days when things weren't going very well, I would realize I had forgotten to pray that morning. I recently heard that whether you have bad or good days and the way you handle them are souly based on your spiritual condition and I am starting to truly believe in this!
I have always envied people that have had these "God Moments" or these "Aha Moments" in life, I always was looking for mine and what I found is that my moment is coming slowly but it is really working, something inside of me is starting to automatically turn to God in prayer, whether it be to thank him or to ask him for help and it has been AMAZING! I am finding myself in situations that used to baffle me and make me so upset and since I know I have God with me they don't seem like that big of a deal anymore! Of course I still get upset and I still like things to go the way I planned but I can definitely see a huge difference when I ask for God to allow me to do His Will and not run on my own Self- Will!
This past month our church did a whole series on becoming a praying church and I related so much to these messages because of my own personal experience. I think it is amazing how the messages you hear always happen to pertain to things going on in your life at that exact same moment. I don't know if this post truly has a point other than the fact that I wanted to give thanks for being able to have these tools to build my relationship with God and learn how to really pray effectively. I know there are so many people out there that need prayers, and prayer is such a powerful thing! Here are some of the helpful tips that they covered in our series at church to help us learn how to pray more effectively!
1. Eyes Open
Pray first thing in the morning. Pray before meals. Pray before bed. As children, most of us had a structured prayer time where we would bow our heads and close our eyes. Today we want to learn what it means to break out of our prayer comfort zones and pray with our Eyes Open
2. Knees Bowed
Fold your hands. Lower your head. Stand up in awe. Throughout the course of history there have been many prayer postures. Today we pray with Knees Bowed to show a spirit of reverence for God.
3. Hands Extended
Lord, please give me... Please make me... Please heal me... We often pray for ourselves, which is okay until we forget about others. Today, join us as we pray with our Hands Extended for those who are hurting or lost and put the focus on others.
4. Voices Raised
We pray in private. We pray quietly. We pray at certain times. Yet, it is when we as a church lift our voices together in prayer and worship to God that we are empowered with boldness.
For the full sermon series you can go to Southeast Christian Sermons! I hope I continue this journey and remember even on the bad days that if I turn my will and my life over to the care of God that everything will always be ok!
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