Mastermind Blog Post December 2021

 





Prayer

Most people are familiar with prayer in some form.  Even people who do not call themselves Christian often reach out in a form of prayer that expresses what their desire is.    If you want to learn to pray the way someone else does, you can research prayer books, listen to people pray, and discuss prayer with those who do a lot of it.  You will find a variety of methods and beliefs that will astonish you.

There are a lot of people who pray out of habit and not desire.  Some people pray from a sense of guilt and even when they don’t feel guilty, they pray exactly as if they are.  Some people close their eyes in prayer and others talk to God, eyes open, staring into sky.  Some people kneel and others stand.

The topic I am addressing today is very touchy to those who believe prayer is a demanding litany.  A lot of disappointment comes to those who treat God as if he is their earthly father.  If your prayer is simply a list of demands or requests, you will not get the full benefit of the action.   God is not going to make you take the garbage out, clean your room, mow the lawn, or respect your mother.  He’s not going to give you a lawn mower, an Xbox, cell phone, or pay for your college tuition. 

When you beseech the Lord from a state of fear, anger, anguish, or discomfort, you are begging. If you demand an exact solution to your problem, you may be granted relief, but you will likely find yourself in this state of desperation often.

If you take just a few minutes to list the precious, the fleeting, the everyday, and even the monotonous moments that cross your path, with gratitude, you will begin to see your life change and prayers be answered that you didn’t even know you asked. 

God isn’t concerned about the way we pray or what we ask for with words, because he’ll give us exactly what we ask for with our actions and our attitude.  What we don’t often realize is that when we pray from a begging or desperate state of being, we are not trusting God.   When you really trust, you don’t beg any more.  If you are uncomfortable, you look around to see what action you can take to change that.  When you trust God to open the right doors for you or put the right words into your mouth, you will grow exponentially.  When you pray in thankfulness, joy and gratitude, your prayers will be answered.   You don’t get to demand a date, a time, or a place.  If you are reaching out to God with demands, you will experience a lot of demands in your life.  If you are reaching out to God by doing the next best thing that you can do to promote your own wellbeing, you are going to experience a deeper sense of wellbeing.

I am confident that those of you who use a different word to describe God, will use that word and still understand this message.

I am not defined by my circumstances.

Sincerely, Carmen Davis

 


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