Staying in Prayer

When I was growing up, my mother always use to
say, “You should always stay in prayer.”

I had no idea what she meant by that.
Did she mean I should walk around all day saying,
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my
soul to keep?” That was the only prayer I knew at
the time. Seem sort of ridiculous to me since I
wasn’t going to sleep. Or did she mean I should
always say, “God is great. God is good. Lord we
thank you for this food?” That was another one I
used. I only prayed at night and before meals.

But now that I’m older and wiser, I truly understand
the power of prayer and what she meant by constantly
staying in prayer.

Before I explain my understanding of staying in prayer,
I want to tell you this.

Most people I speak with don’t believe prayer
works. I’m not talking about just anybody,
I’m talking about people who I know are Christians.
They tell me that they ask for things and don’t
receive them.

The reason you don’t receive the things you ask
for in prayer is because you don’t know how to
pray—properly.

Yes, most people say a little prayer before going
to sleep each night. And, then, of course, they say
it when things go wrong. “Lord, please if you’ll
just get me out of this bind I will do everything
I know I should be doing from this point on.”
And as soon as everything works out right, they
renege on their promise.

That isn’t really praying.

Praying is, in my opinion, exactly what my mother
use to tell me. Praying is staying constantly in
communication with God. Praying is believing that
you have already received the thing that you ask
of God. Praying is constantly thanking God for all
that He has done and will do in your life.

When I wake up each morning, the very first thing
I do before getting out of bed is to say a little
prayer of thanks to God for allowing me to see another
day. I thank Him for the wonderful day that He has
in store for me. I say, “Lord, you are truly the
Greatest and I thank you for blessing me with another
day to experience all that you have in store for me.
I thank you for the wonderful opportunities that you
will bring into my life today. I thank you for taking
care of my family and making sure no harm comes to
them today. I thank you for bringing the right people
into my life that I need in order to get to the next
level of where I want to go. I thank you in the name
of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen.”

I thank God in advance for these things because I know
that He is going to bring them to me. I have faith that
he will bring to me all that I ask of Him because I am
his child.

After I say my prayers, I read my list of goals for
this year. Then, I spend time visualizing myself
accomplishing each and every goal. After my visualization
exercise, I thank God again for allowing me the opportunity
to accomplish all that I set out to do.

Then, I start my day. But that isn’t the end of my prayers.

NO.

In fact, it’s just the beginning.

As I get my children ready for school, I say a little
prayer of thanks for the wonderful day they will have
and how they will learn something new and exciting.

As I get in the car to drive them to school, I pray
and thank God for allowing us to get there with little
or no traffic and thank Him for getting us to our
destination safe and sound.

As I go about my day, I say a little pray for everything I do.

Before writing this newsletter I say a pray of
thanks for guiding me to write the right words
to reach at least one person so they may have a
greater understanding of their purpose and their
connection to God.

If I’m not praying for anything specific, I say
my daily affirmations. Affirmations help reprogram
your subconscious mind so that you may achieve the
things you desire. I highly recommend that you
incorporate affirmations into your life. I have
listed a few that I use. Feel free to use the ones
that work for you.

* My seeming impossible good now comes to pass,
the unexpected now happens!

* The Christ in me is risen, I now fulfill my destiny

* Endless good now comes to me in endless ways.

* God goes before me making clear, easy and successful my way!

* I give thanks for my whirlwind success. I sweep all
before me for I work with the Spirit and follow the
Divine Plan of my life.

* Divine Order is now established in my mind, body
and affairs. I see clearly and act quickly and my
greatest expectations come to pass in a miraculous way.

* There is no competition on the spiritual plane.
What is rightfully mine is given me under grace.

* The tide of Destiny has turned and everything comes my way.

* The genius within me is now released. I now fulfill my destiny.

* Man's will is powerless to interfere with God's will.
God's will is now done in my mind, body and affairs.

These are just a few that I use daily in my life.
I actually got these affirmations from the book,
Your Word is Your Wand by Florence Shinn Scoval.

You can create affirmations for any situation in
your life.

Let’s say you are about to take a big test in school,
you can say:

“I am totally relaxed and pass this test with
flying colors. God is my teacher and with Him,
I easily succeed.”

If you are having relationship problems and want
things to work out for the best, you can say,
“God has ordained this marriage (relationship) and
it gets better and better every day.”

With affirmations, you don’t just state them once
and be done with it. You say them over and over
and over and over and over again. This way, you
are letting your spirit know what you want and
it will bring it to you, exactly how you ask for it.

In other words, stay in prayer.

By constantly staying in pray, you stay in contact
with God. God will guide your life and wonders shall
never cease.

If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself.
What do you have to lose? Nothing. But what you
gain will be incredible.
 

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and coach. She has an amazing way of reaching you with her down-to-earth style and her ability to make the impossible seem possible. Sign up for her FREE weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to mailto:yourlifespurpose-subscribe@topica.com.