Just Pray

Prayer really does work, but not always for what you may think it works for. We don't "just pray" for God to give us something or for Him to answer in the affirmative. We pray to draw closer to Him. We humans love being in relationship; friendships, working relationships, family relationships and romantic relationships. We honestly need it. So, why not cultivate our spirits and have a relationship with God?

When you feel alone, say a prayer. When you're stressed, say a prayer. When you are afraid, say a prayer. When you're happy and grateful, say a prayer. When you can't see a way out, say a prayer. Pray for and about everything.

Something that I learned from my father a long time ago; "why worry when you can pray?". Think about that. If we are honest, we probably worry about a gazillion things throughout the course of a day. Try stopping and praying each time a worry enters your mind. While we think that we are capable of multitasking successfully, the truth is we can't. Biology and the science of the brain tell us that we become less efficient in each task. So, try it. Try pausing when you worry and start praying. Before you know it the worry is a distant memory and you and God are in conversation.

When you begin to sit and think, " I'm never going to get through this" or "I'm never going to be healed", try thanking God for the things that you have gotten through or the things that you have been healed from.

How about grief? That's a tough one to pray your way through or even consider thanking God for. Well, try beginning to think of all the fun times, the laughter, what that person meant to you and how blessed you were to have them and start thanking God for that.

Our prayers are not always going to be answered the way that we want them to be answered. We may not be healed physically. We may lose our jobs. We will experience loss. These things are hard to grasp and absorb and sometimes, quite frankly, hard to pray about and hard to be thankful for. When that happens, here's something else my father shared, "when you can't lean on your own faith, lean on mine.". I will add, when you can't seem to pray, ask someone to pray for you.

The secret is, that whether you get the answer or not, prayer will remove you from the situation that you are consumed with and worried about even for just a few minutes. When the worry comes again, you can pray again. God is always listening.

Sometimes, prayer is the best medicine. The next time that heart ache grips you, just moan a prayer and keep praying until you feel your relief.

Even if you've never prayed before; if you've never spoken to God or don't believe that He exists, start praying anyway. What do you have to lose?

Prayer changes things and it changes us too. It changes our mindset and our hearts and it settles our spirit.

Say a prayer. Trust me, you'll feel better and worry less.

#mindbodyspirit #beblessedandbewell

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