Pray with Gratitude
I’ve spent a lot of time in meditation and prayer as I’ve gotten older. I learned a very valuable lesson about both after reading the Neale Donald Walsh series “Conversations with God”. Then, I went back to the new testament of my Bible and reread Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I discovered that whenever Jesus was about to perform miracles, he always thanked His Father before beginning his work. Jesus never doubted that what he needed would be provided, so he said thank you as though his needs had already been met. His faith was complete and unwaivering.
Once I began meditating and praying from an attitude of thankfulness, or gratitude, my prayers started being answered in the ways I needed them to be answered. I’ve also learned that a prayer of gratitude for someone else is even more powerful than a pray for myself. My faith has become so much stronger since I began praying and meditating in this way. Not my religion, my faith. I am very spiritual and faithful, but I am not religious. I now believe without a doubt that the Lord works in mysterious ways and all we need to do is trust it and be thankful for it. By doing that, we help God help us and we help each other. If you study the Lord’s prayer, it is a prayer of gratitude and faith.
I’m not saying to pray “Lord, thank you for the Ferrari I’m about to receive” when you have no money and have done nothing to aid the acquisition of a Ferrari.
I am saying to pray “Lord, thank you for the opportunities and insights I am about to receive to help me solve my financial problems”. Or “Lord, thank you for the health and healing of my friend who is battling cancer. Thank you for the brilliant team of doctors, nurses, technical and support people who you have given the knowledge and abilities to treat my friend successfully. Thank you for the many healthy, happy years we will spend in the future sharing our lives and families.” Or “Lord, thank you for the strength I need to endure the hardship I am about to face”. I don’t pray for a lighter load, I pray for stronger shoulders. I believe that to be a much more powerful prayer. The Bible says God helps those who help themselves. I believe that’s 100% true.
By praying with gratitude, I’ve found I take a lot more personal responsibility for my problems, actions, and everything else in my life. By taking more personal responsibility I’m able to create the life I want rather than go along and let life happen to me. I don’t believe God meant for us to be victims of circumstance. I believe He meant for us to use our consciousness, intelligence, and abilities to create our lives and our world. We have a lot more control over a lot more than we think we do. We have much more potential than we believe we do, and we can reach a greater level of that potential if we decide to do so. Whenever you feel you can’t do something, remember to pray thankfully for the ability to do it. You may not accomplish something in the way you expected, but you will accomplish a lot more than you do now. Your accomplishment may come from getting the help of others instead of doing something by yourself. Don’t limit yourself. Open your mind and your faith to the possibilities, and you will bring more into your life. More love, more people, more joy, more money, more faith, more hope, the ability to help others much more, and so on.
Sometimes we get things we don’t think we need, but I now trust that I do need them and I need to figure out how and why I need them, and God has given me enough wits to figure it out.
So I recommend: pray with gratitude, trust in God, and strengthen your faith. You will see the power of God work miracles in your life and in the world.
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No disrespect, but I thought you should know, the Bible does not say anywhere that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is a quote from Benjamin Franklin.
Comment by Joshua | July 25, 2008