Prayer is the ultimate
reality check. You can fool some of the people some of the time.
You can fool yourself some of the time. You can never fool God.
Prayer is a place you go to find out how you are doing. If you are
getting into trouble, you can probably get straightened out during prayer.
You bring many problems on yourself. So many mistakes seem like a good
idea at the time. A scripture says, "There is a way that seems right
unto a man, but the ends thereof are death." Those words summarize the
disasters of countless lives. When your hormones are talking, there is
a way that seems right unto a man. When you are consumed by greed,
there is a way that seems right unto a man. When you want something
you cannot afford, there is a way that seems right unto a man. The way
that seems right gets you into trouble again and again. You need a
periodic reality check if you want avoid the way that seems right, and
prayer is that reality check.
Prayer clarifies your vision. Prayer isn't asking for a miracle or
trying to make your problems disappear. You pray to discover the way
things actually are so you don't fool yourself and follow the way that seems
right, but ends in disaster.
ALIGN YOURSELF WITH GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE
Go out in a boat and toss a line to shore. After the line is made fast
to shore, pull on the line. When you do this, you don't pull the shore
to the boat. Instead, you pull the boat to shore. That's the way
it works with prayer. When you pull on the rope connecting you to God,
you don't pull God to your way of doing things. Instead, you pull
yourself to God's way of doing things. You align yourself
with God's program for your life.
Most of the time when people pray, they ask God to help them escape from
trouble or to get something they want. While there is nothing wrong
with praying when you are in difficulty, you would be better off if you
would pray in a manner that prevents you from getting into trouble in
the first place. Prayer keeps you from taking the way that seems
right, but ends in misery.
PRAYER DOESN'T CHANGE GOD - PRAYER CHANGES YOU
Once you are in trouble, prayer won't change God. However, prayer will
change you. When you stop trying to make God solve your problems, and
get on with the business of finding out what He wants you to do about them,
you have discovered what prayer is all about. The purpose of prayer
isn't to change God. It's to change you. You need to pray until
you have done an ultimate reality check and found out where you are and what
you need to do.
You don't need to get God aligned with your program for life. You need
to get yourself aligned with his program. Spirituality is a very
personal matter. God has an agenda and direction for your life that no
one else knows. Nobody can talk to God and find out his agenda for
you. That's your unique privilege, and it forms the core of your
life's adventure with God.
Some people carry an enormous burden of false beliefs about themselves and
about their potential for excellence. They continually focus
on their limitations rather than on their possibilities.
Prayer helps them detect and eliminate harmful false beliefs. They
step higher and run faster without those burdens on their back. They
discover the truth that sets them free.
Go ahead. Do an ultimate reality check and find out about God's plan for
your life. Then hang on for the ride, because it's time to max out on
God's love.
FREE
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JUMP
INTO GOD'S OCEAN OF LOVE - When I jump into God's ocean of
love, my life is never the same. I am born spiritually and become
a new person. Old things pass away, and all things become new.
I think new thoughts, take new actions, and have a new life.
SEND GOD'S
LOVE TO EVERYONE
- Whatever shortcomings
others have, I will send them love and leave the judgment up to God.
God is the judge of how each person lives, and He is fully qualified and
able to judge in a fair manner without my help.
PERFECTION IS A DISEASE AND GOD'S LOVE IS THE CURE -
Excellence is the path to my dreams unless I stop at a roadblock called
perfection. God never demands perfection. God loves and
accepts me the way that I am, and if it's good enough for God, it's good
enough for me.
BLOWN TO
SMITHEREENS - God's love still is the most powerful force in
the universe, and it will blow the maze of sin to smithereens when my
heart, mind, and will are all aligned with God's love.
THE FACTS OF
LOVE -
Until I understand God's love, I will never know what God is like.
I must see myself through God's eyes and learn the facts of love.
God's love never falters or fails. There is nothing in the entire
universe that separate me from God's love.
THE PURE IN HEART
SHALL SEE GOD - Jesus said
that the pure in heart have a special blessing. They are able to
see God. When I have a clean mind and a pure heart, I have 20/20
spiritual vision, and I can see God at work in my world.
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD -
God speaks all the time, but the only way to hear his voice of love is
to become silent and listen. That is why the Bible says, "Be still
and know that I am God."
ONCE IS
NOT ENOUGH - Jesus said I must
be born again. Once is not enough. The first time I was
born, I was born in the flesh. The second time I am born, I am born in
the spirit. God is a Spirit, and He is the One who makes my spirit
come alive. That is why I call him Father.
WHAT
GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
- God's plan of love is simple. What goes around comes around.
The love I send to others comes multiplied back to me. God gives
me as much love as I am willing to pass on to others. When I send
God's love to everyone, I become immersed in an ocean of love.
DON'T LET THE WORLD CLIP YOUR WINGS -God designed me to fly like an eagle. I will not let the world
clip my wings or force me into its mold. I will fly like an eagle.
LIVE AS IF YOU ARE IN GOD'S PRESENCE -
The power and presence of God in the world is love. Whenever I see
love, I see God's hand at work. When I practice God's presence, I
experience his love. I feel the power of his love flowing through
me to other people.
ENOUGH FAITH
- Faith isn't about size. It's about stepping out in the direction
of your dreams regardless of the consequences. I never need to
worry if I have enough faith. Any faith at all is enough to start
moving in a positive direction.
HOW TO INCREASE MY FAITH
-Faith isn't something I must have before I
move in the direction of my dreams. Instead, it's something that
develops after I start moving.
DOUBLE DOSE OF
FAITH -
Practical faith comes in two types. Type I
faith empowers you to do the things you can do and should do for
yourself. Type II faith empowers God to do the things for you that
you can't do for yourself.
THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE
-
The most powerful force in the universe is God's love. God is love
and works by love, and by nothing else than love. The power and
presence of God in the world is love. When I experience God's
love, I experience his presence and power.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
-
God's love carries away my burden of guilt. His love not only
wipes the slate clean, it also throws the slate away. There is no
limit to how good my life can become when I max out on the power of his
love.
MAX
OUT ON GOD'S LOVE
-
There is nothing I can do to earn God's love or make him love me more.
God already loves me from the top of my head to the tip of my toes, and
it doesn't get any better than that.
COMING TO MY SENSES -My five
senses are eternal skeptics. The five senses that insure my safe
passage through the physical world blind me to the reality of the
spiritual one. There is a time to listen to my senses, and a time
to come to my senses.
ULTIMATE REALITY
CHECK -Prayer is the place
I go to find out how I am doing. If I am getting into trouble, I can
probably get straightened out with prayer. Prayer is the way I
align myself with God’s program for my life. Prayer doesn’t change
God. Prayer changes me.
TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE -
Jesus used freedom as a primary test of truth. He
said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Why
did he say that? He said it because truth is the only thing that
leads to freedom. Everything else ties you up in knots and puts you
into bondage.
I HAVE A DREAM -God gave me the
ability to dream. Dreams are God’s way of pointing out I have the
possibility of achieving excellence in my life.
AFFIRMATIONS CHANGE THE WAY I FEEL -Affirmations give me
the power to change what is in my heart. Affirmations do more than
change the way I think; they also change the way I feel.
