The Power of Prayer
I grew up in a Catholic family. For the majority of my life, I attended Mass almost weekly, went to a Catholic grade school and high school. The Catholic way of life, was the only thing I knew. As I grew older, I became “bored” with the Catholic Church. There were a lot of things that I had learned over the years, and some things I did not agree with when it came to the Catholic Church teachings. For simplicity, I won’t go into those things, but some were concerning enough that I found myself moving away from the Catholic Church. Don’t be confused though. While I drifted away from Catholicism, I fell more into Christianity.
In high school, I was dating a girl, who like any other teenager, I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. I attended a church with her that her family frequents. In fact, her uncle was the pastor and founder of that church. I met a lot of amazing people there and became very close with them. I met the youth pastor named Jonathan (don’t call him John!). Jonathan was an incredible individual, but he by no means, lived an easy life. He grew up in the rough area of Fort Meyers, Florida, and started hanging around a rough crowd. He lived a rough life until he found Jesus.
As I grew older, I drifted farther and farther away from the church life. I attended college, was no longer dating that girl, and just wanted to focus on my life. While I still believed in Jesus, and still loved God, I didn’t practice going to church as religiously as I once used to. I had thought about going back to the Catholic church, but my beliefs differed in many ways. I didn’t enjoy acting as a robot, nor did I feel like the messages being given were modern enough for anyone to understand, more specifically, myself. I tried going to other churches, and struggled to find the right fit for me. Years later, I met my now wife, and we started going to a local church. I loved it. I could clearly understand the messages being delivered, and I felt happier with where I was. The problem I felt was the church was too big, even though I thought that’s what I wanted.
A few months ago, one of the podcasts I listen to often, was talking about religion and Jesus. I felt warmth hearing the different stories and teachings. This host of this show, I felt was in the same boat as me. It seemed like we walked down the very same path together in our past, and were now just looking for answers. I always felt like something was wrong with me since I had so many questions. Why am I questioning my faith? Why am I questioning my religion? Why am I questioning God? I must be a terrible person and surely will go to hell just for questioning everything!
Over Christmas, a new episode came out where a pastor was a guest on the show. I felt at ease when he said that there is nothing wrong with questioning things. This made sense to me. Because as children, we question everything! In our work life, we question everything! In science, we “should” question everything! That’s how we learn is by asking questions. It’s not that we don’t believe, we just don’t understand, and that’s ok!
I’ve started praying everyday, morning and night. I’ve started reading the Bible again. Since I’ve started those things, I’ve noticed a large amount of weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I still have worries, and I still want to better myself financially, physically, and emotionally, but the overall amount of stress I once had, seems to have disappeared. I don’t know if it’s because I’m new to doing these things, or if I’m finally on the right path in life, but those fears don’t bother me near as much anymore! I have found more motivation to achieve my goals. I find myself slow to anger with my family and friends. I don’t fall into a depressed state as much, and when I do, it’s not near as deep of a hole as it used to be.
I used to tell people when hard times or illnesses would fall on them or their family, “sending prayers.” But I never actually prayed for them or their loved ones. I felt it was just something you say like “thank you”, “you’re welcome,” etc. But now, I find myself actually including these people in my prayers. I pray for my family daily. I pray for my wife’s father and even her brother. I pray for everyone that I can think of at the time.
I’m not someone who is bible thumping, forcing my beliefs on people. I know that God loves me and expects me to do something. I’m just simply looking for what that is. I’m looking for the path that He wants me on, and I’ve learned that the best way to find out, is by talking to Him. You have to accept God in your life. You have to receive Him. Believe + Receive = Redemption. Receiving doesn’t mean anything other than what it is. It’s like Christmas morning when you wake up and see you have a gift from someone. You don’t have to do anything in return, you just have to receive it and open it. You make the choice to use that gift or not. But before you can make that choice, you first have to make the choice to receive the gift. It sounds silly not wanting to receive something that someone has given you, but we do it all the time! Think about the last time you went out to eat with a friend and they offered to pay for lunch. Did you receive that gift, or did you argue with them and say no way, I’m paying! It’s no different with God. He offers to buy you lunch, are you going to receive his offering, or are you going to argue with Him and say no?
Matthew 12:32 says this “Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.” What does He mean by that? The Holy Spirit is within all of us. The Holy Spirit is used to bring us closer to God to show us the light and the way. The Holy Spirit offers the gift of Jesus. If we recognize that gift, and still turn it down saying “no that’s not for me,” or “no I won’t receive Him,” we are rebuking the Holy Spirit. God is our Father, there is no other God other than Him. Receive Him and welcome Him.
Miracles are happening everyday. Some are large and incredibly easy to point out, others are small. You are a miracle. Everyday you wake up is another miracle. Every battle you win, every achievement you make is a miracle. It doesn’t have to be something incredible like someone coming back to life after being clinically dead (although that certainly is a miracle also). It doesn’t have to be an image or a dream where an angel or Jesus Himself approaches you.
When I Was a kid, I used to pray often. I prayed to God asking to see what Heaven looked like. I told him I don’t want to die, but I want to see if for myself if He would let me. That night, I had a dream. I remember it being very bright and inviting. Everything was made of gold. I didn’t see anyone, but I could feel warmth and welcome, more welcome than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
As I grew older, I had another dream. I was sitting in a church. Inside, there were rows of pews on both sides facing each other. There were about 5 pews are so on the side I was sitting on, and they were placed as rows of seating would be in a movie theater. Directly across from me, were another set of pews, only I couldn’t tell how high they went up. On my side, there was me and my family, but on the other side, I could tell the people sitting there weren’t alive on Earth anymore. My great grandma, Grandma Buffy, was sitting there. She had not yet passed away and I remember wondering why she was over there and not on this side with me. Everyone was singing and everyone was happy on both sides of the church. I remember crying in my dream, but they were tears of joy for my grandma. I learned that she was sitting with more members of my family that had passed away before me. I didn’t recognize any of them, but I new they were family members. I remember waking up that morning happy and sad at the same time. My grandma passed away shortly after that dream.
The whole point I’m trying to make is this, God is here for you, whether you are happy, sad, angry, whatever. Trust in Him, and He will do amazing things for you. You don’t have to jump all in at once. Take some time, just a little bit at a time, and come to know Him!