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It is once again a new year. We’re all busy setting goals and making plans. There always seems to be a lot of hope around the new year, but as the year progresses, that hope fizzles into something else because we’ve lost that inspiration and excitement.
Being a Christian, prayer is a very important part of my life. I know though, that most Christians, just like I do, struggle with prayer. What do we pray for? How do we pray? Is what we are praying for in God’s will?
If you want to know God’s will, read the Bible. God is very clear with what He wants, and He reveals it to us in the Bible. He also reveals the things we need to pray for.
The most important prayers we pray are for ourselves and others. Here are five groups we need to pray for:
1. Our leaders
I personally don’t like the direction our country is going in. I think there needs to be fundamental change, but true change happens in the heart. When true change takes place in the heart, then the things around us will change.
When we pray for our leaders, we need to pray that they will make good decisions. The decisions they make ultimately affect all of us, and we want them to use wisdom to make good decisions.
2. Our neighbors
After reading the Bible for awhile, I understood that there are two kinds of people in the world: our neighbors and our brothers. Brothers are fellow believers, while neighbors are everyone else.
Where a lot of people go wrong is that they think they have to like everyone they meet. Liking someone is about who he/she is. Let’s be honest here: not everyone is likeable. I don’t like everyone I meet. Jesus didn’t like the Pharisees. It’s not a sin to not like someone.
Jesus didn’t tell us we had to like anyone. He said to love everyone. Love your neighbor as yourself. Praying for your neighbor is one way to show your love. Pray for their needs to be met. Pray that they will find answers to their problems.
3. Our brothers
As I said before, our brothers are fellow believers. There are many believers throughout the world that don’t have it as well as we do in the United States. They are persecuted beyond belief, and yet they still continue to believe.
The Bible says that prayer availeth much. By praying for fellow believers, we are helping others in ways we may not understand.
4. Our enemies
In Matthew 5:44Matthew 5:44
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
WP-Bible plugin, Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies. (He also says to love them.) This is a hard thing to do.
When Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed for forgiveness for those who had Him crucified. If He could be that loving and forgiving, who are we to argue?
The value of this prayer is that it has the potential to release us from the hurt someone may have caused us. (We are not excusing the behavior or giving others a free pass to do it again.)
When we refuse to forgive, we aren’t hurting those we refuse to forgive. We are hurting ourselves. By praying for blessing for our enemies, it will release us from any hold they may have on us.
5. Ourselves
As a woman this is one I am especially guilty of. We get so concerned about others, or worse, we’re so concerned about being involved in the business of others that we forget to pray for ourselves.
Jesus wasn’t timid about praying for Himself. He asked God to “remove the cup”. This means that Jesus asked God not to have Him die on the cross. (It was a prayer that was denied because it wasn’t in line with God’s will.)
Praying for ourselves is a way of taking care of ourselves. It’s a chance to talk to God and enjoy relationship with Him.
Remembers, when you pray, you don’t need to use fancy words, or say special prayers, or anything like that. Speak from your heart. Tell God your concerns. He knows exactly what you need. He knows what others need. Learn His will and watch your prayers get answered.
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January 06 2009 | Christian Articles | Comments Off
I have suspected for a long time that systems like “The Secret” don’t really work. The reason is that they don’t really incorporate action into the whole process of success. Action is a crucial ingredient of succeess. Unless you take action, nothing happens.
However, there are plenty of negative people who are successful. The problem is that they don’t really enjoy their success, whether it’s financial or in other areas of their lives.
This is why systems like “The Secret” can become a launching pad for your success. The key to enjoying your success does start in the mind.
If you really want to succeed, and you want to enjoy your success, regardless of what area in your life, there are certain things you need to do that will help you.
Here are five that I have used successfully:
1. Use meditation for stress reduction and relaxation.
Meditation doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You don’t have to use any special words or anything like that. Simply sitting for 15 minutes a day and clearing your mind will have a dramatic impact on your stress, as well as help you relax.
To meditate, all you have to do is find a comfortable chair or recline on the floor. Let your body relax. Find something to focus on. Clear your mind. Meditation will help you relax and allow those things in life you need to deal with come to the surface.
2. Read something positive every day.
We put a lot of “junk” into our minds, whether it’s television, magazines, and tons of stuff on the internet. I know my daughter is particularly fond of reality TV and celebrity magazines.
I find that stuff to be depressing. Regardless of your faith or persuasion, there is plenty of stuff to read that is positive and reveals universal human truth.
Commit to spending a few minutes each day reading something that will help you become more positive.
3. Put a “STOP” to those negative thoughts.
Negative thoughts are unhealthy. Doctors estimate that at least two thirds of all illness has a pyschological root. This is a testament to how powerful the mind really is.
From my own personal experience, I know that the negative thoughts we often have are about ourselves. The way to stop those thoughts is every time you have one say “Stop” either in your mind or out loud. Do this enough times, and you’ll eventually stop having those thoughts.
4. Set goals.
When most people set goals, they do it wrong. They have so many things they want to do in life that they get overwhelmed in the process.
If you want to set goals, the first step is to know exactly what you want. What is your ultimate goal? Is it to have $10,000,000 in the bank? Is is to find your dream lover?
Regardless of what your goal is, decide your overall goal in life. Decide when you want to realistically have it. Then break that overall goal down into smaller goals that contribute to the overall goal. Accomplish each little goal, and eventually you will accomplish your overall goal.
5. Visualize your goals for success.
Most people take the “seeing is believing” approach to life. Because they think they have to see it before they can believe it, they never see it.
You have to see the end result in your mind first. It all starts in your mind. Once you see it in your mind, then your goal can become a reality.
The way to do this is close your eyes for a few moments. See yourself driving that car, living in that house, going out to dinner with your dream lover. See it in your mind first, and then take action. This is the true secret to achieving success.
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January 05 2009 | Christian Articles | Comments Off
Although James Allen’s book, “As a Man Thinketh” is probably the first classic on the topic of changing your thoughts to change your life, it really is a hard read. There’s not really any practical advice in it to show you how to get what you want out of life.
On the other hand, “The Science of Getting Rich” is full of gems to help you understand how to achieve the life you want. When you understand these principles, you will take the right kind of action to achieve your dreams.
1. Getting rich is the result of following certain principles, nothing more.
Did you ever notice how the universe works on certain scientific principles? We can depend on the laws of physics. They work the same way every time. The principles behind getting rich and achieving the life you want work on certain scientific principles too.
These include knowing what you want (your dream), believing you can achieve your dream and then taking the appropriate actions to reach your dream.
2. God wants you to have abundance, not poverty.
I grew up in the Baptist church. Lots of hell fire and brimstone there. The problem is that those teachings are for non believers. Once you get saved, they no longer apply. If you think you have die first to be happy, then you need to read the Bible because that definitely isn’t what it says.
When God created Adam and Eve, He put them in a beautiful garden. Everything was perfect. There was plenty of everything. Adam and Eve were going to live forever, and they would enjoy a face to face relationship with God. That hardly sounds like a god who wants you to be miserable.
3. There is more than enough for everyone.
There weren’t as many people around when Wallace Wattles lived, but one thing hasn’t changed: there’s more than enough resources on Earth to support everyone. In fact, the Earth has the capacity to support around 50 – 60 billion people. Even if you add up all of the people who have ever lived, that’s only a fraction of what the Earth can support.
That’s why it’s not necessary to compete with others to achieve what you want.
4. To achieve abundance, you must satisfy the mind, body, and soul.
Have you ever noticed how Hollywood stars seem to have everything, but they’re miserable? In fact, a lot of people who have a lot of money are miserable. Have you ever wondered why?
It’s because their lives are out of balance. Money will only satisfy the physical needs. It won’t satisfy all of our other needs: health, relationships, the need to be loved. When you acquire monetary wealth, as well as enrich all of the other areas of your life, you will be happy. Understand that money is a tool to help achieve what you want in life. It isn’t something to be worshipped or acquired to make us feel better about ourselves.
5. Success in life is becoming what you want to be.
This is the ultimate success. When you have the career you want, the type of relationships you want, the bank account you want, you are achieving in the physical what you want to be. Success in life is far more though. It’s a satisfaction of knowing you have achieved your full potential.
Let me caution you though, don’t wait until you have achieved everything you want before you allow yourself to enjoy your life. Enjoy it now. Most of the things we want in life we probably already have and just take for granted.
Ultimately, having the life you want is about hope. As Wallace Wattles says, “The world is not going to the devil; it is going to God. It is wonderful Becoming.”
It’s all about going for it, having the faith to believe and then the willingness to do what it takes to make our dreams become real.
Get your free action plan at Simpleology: “The Simple Science of Getting What You Want.”
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October 02 2008 | Christian Articles and Science of Getting Rich | Comments Off
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