Power of prayer -- the most powerful dialogue of your life

 

Power of prayer -- the most powerful dialogue of your life
Wisdom that is achieved from years of experience is a critical element in understanding the power of prayer. It wasn't until I was in my fifties and sixties that I truly began to believe in the power of prayer and how to make God my partner in all that I was involved in. As I grew spiritually, I learned that the power of prayer was not only to be practiced in times of need, but rather, the power of prayer was to be a habitual part of my life.
The test is how I choose to live my life and deal with these (happenings), the good and in particular the bad ones. My test is turning the "bad" situations around to work for me. Bad experiences may, in the long run, be a blessing. What lesson is there for me to learn from running that red light, other than the obvious? I believe we need to look beyond appearances -- to look beyond the obvious. I am raising many questions. The answers to these questions are for us to solve. I have learned that my challenge in life is to wrestle with these questions, much as Jacob wrestled with the stranger as described in the Torah (Genesis 32:23-32). My interpretation of this passage is Jacob wanted to know the stranger's name and in so doing win the fight, but the stranger's name was never revealed. Why do you think Jacob never heard the name of the stranger? The Torah does not provide the answer. This is a question we must answer for ourselves. Who is the stranger we are wrestling with? What issues are still unresolved in our life? Solving this riddle has been one of the primary missions in my life.
Was the stranger that Jacob wrestled with God? Did God want to have contact with humans yet remain supreme? We will never know that answer until we use the power of prayer to make our own contact with God. There is a belief by some that God is neutral and does not interject Himself into a person's life. This may be true in some respects if we do not invite God into our everyday existence. I have found my life drastically changed, however, after I invited God to partner with me. My experiences do not suggest that I am completely in control of what has happened in my life or what is happening in my life now. The thought that I am in total control of my life and its outcome is a frightening one, since I am not in a position to know or to see the broader picture. My ability to know what I will need in the future is hindered by what Emmet Fox calls my "mental equivalent." He published a little book by the same name in the late 1960s.
So how do we pray to God? How do we evoke the power of prayer? I do not believe there is single right way to pray. The only right way is to be sincere in the words we use. I do not believe God has a formula we need to follow. He just wants to hear from us, in our own words. It is critical to use our own words, even if we repeat them. After all, they are our prayers. We each use different words to invite someone into our home. The same is true when we address God.

 

 

A spiritual and inspirational guide. Drawing From The Well by Ruth Shults

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