January 24th, 2012

New Beginnings, New Prayer

A friend lovingly chided me recently, suggesting that I communicate more often what, in my daily prayer, I’m finding inspiring. She is right! I know I need to pick up a pencil, go to the computer, scratch on my iPad, – and share what I’m finding helpful in my prayer and my work. So here’s a current inspiration:

I’ve been loving a prayer tucked in an obscure book in the Bible, – known as the prayer of Jabez. A few weeks ago, as I read this prayer in Chronicles (1^st Chronicles 4:9–10), it stirred my thought, focused my own prayer, and gave me further direction for my work.

There has been music written about this prayer, – (check iTunes.) There’ve been books written about it, and people have researched the significance of it. I’d love to just send you to one small book that so eloquently opens up this very sincere desire to have a life that is broad, filled with contribution, and satisfaction — all based on prayer. In this book, The Prayer of Jabez,* Dr. Bruce Wilkinson explains that this remarkable prayer has touched the lives of so many who have prayed with it. And he suggests that individuals pray it each day for breakthroughs in their lives.

This prayer reminds us of the humility that it takes to be effective in our work, whatever that work may be.  It reminds us that we are not the source of our good or our blessings.  It speaks to our willingness to serve, and the results that come from a willing heart.

Let me post it here for you to consider as I’ve been considering it. See if, perhaps, it doesn’t inspire you as it has inspired me.

The Jabez Prayer

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,

“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,

and enlarge my territory,

that Your hand would be with me,

and that You would keep me from evil,

that I may not cause pain!”

So God granted him what he requested.

I love the sense of the possible, the confidence and expectancy of good, and the recognition that we can, through our prayer and our work, make a great difference in the lives of those close to us, perhaps even those we don’t even know.

So I’m suggesting that we may find wonderful inspiration as we consider each part of this prayer, these sincere, earnest focuses of our thought:

That You would bless me. In order to bless others, we might feel impelled to ask for blessing, asking perhaps for a greater understanding of God and God’s goodness and provision for each and all. (How important it is that we first recognize fully the blessings we already have. In doing this, we are acknowledging so many blessings already provided.)

That You would enlarge my territory. That I may find new ways to bless, to help – one by one, conversation by conversation, on a plane, in line at a mall, at home, in our relationships with our friends and family. How can I help? How can I serve? How can I open my love and care to others in new fresh ways? Keep me close to your purpose for me, Father.

That Your hand would be with me. This is not something that we do alone, because the prayer includes the confidence that the intelligence of divine Mind, and the presence of divine Love’s guidance and care are present and active in all we do and are. Therefore, there is no false ego and no false responsibility.

And that You, Father, would keep me from evil. We can go right to that point. Not that we stand within evil, trying to get away from it. But that we, and those we love and care for, including each and every individual and all mankind, be kept from evil, from danger, from wrong desires, from wrong relationships, from materialism, from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Don’t be afraid to pray to be kept from evil by understanding its unreality, its impotence, and that it is not the reality of God’s government for His all-good creation.

And finally what I have considered to be an important point: the word “Jabez” means  “pain” in Hebrew. Literally it could read “He causes (or will cause) pain.” The prayer ends, then, with the final request that “I may not cause pain.” And Scripture records that God granted the request.

This prayer touched me as it has touched thousands of others – for its purity, sincerity, possibilities, its humility, its forthright relationship of God and man, and its trust in the effectiveness of prayer and its result.

So as I treasure this prayer each day now, I am finding that my heart is even more open to being willing to bless, to help, to heal as my hand is in the Father’s, not doing it of myself but being blessed by the Father; then able and willing to bless others. I recommend this to you with great love.

Pam

*The Prayer of Jabez by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson is published by Multnomah Books, 2000.

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January 23rd, 2012

Gratitude for the Weekly Bible Lesson

The past Thanksgiving my wife and I visited our family who live and work at Principia College near St. Louis. We were there five days and had a wonderful time. All of the family was there. We flew home to SFO and waited outside for a short while for the airport bus to take us home. During the bus ride home one of my hands and arm became numb and very painful. My first thought was, “I had a safe trip back to SFO and now I am sitting comfortably on this bus, how could this happen?” Then I tried to think of some reason- heavy luggage? being cramped up in the plane for hours? and some other possibilities. That was the wrong thing to do, for sure.  Mortal mind, or human worry or concern, was the open trap and I fell right in.

After arriving home very late Sunday night we went to bed. I awoke a few hours later and my hand was swollen and still painful. I got out of bed and went to the computer and printed out the Bible Lesson for the week. The title was “God the Only Cause and Creator.” That was just what I needed. It is amazing how those Lessons always have a solution or promise for what is needed. I went right to work with that Lesson. I first realized that I needed to get out of the trap. Then the thought came that God is not going to take me to a warm and loving family reunion where every thing was harmonious and good and then let it be spoiled with some painful condition.  I realized that all of those causes that I tried to tack on were, in reality, erroneous and lies, and did not apply to me. As was brought out in the Lesson, there is only one real cause- God- and this cause has no place for any pain or discomfort. I reasoned that I was reflecting only what God knows- the good cause and I could be free of the pain. In a short time the swelling and pain left and I was able to go about my normal activities. I am grateful for this lesson and the Weekly Bible Lessons.*

Frank

*The Weekly Bible Lessons referred to are from The Christian Science Quarterly and are available from The Christian Science Publishing Society, or ChristianScience.com. These Bible Lessons are read in all Christian Science Churches throughout the world, as the basis for the church service.

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January 2nd, 2012

Blessing to you all!

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day….” Deut 28.

How poignant is that intro.  I am reminded that God’s Love is absolutely unconditional. Yet the “blessings” we experience, or become aware of in our everyday life and affairs, are conditional, aren’t they? In order to recognize and accept and really feel blessed, this requires our “obedience,” our alignment of our thoughts, motives and acts, if you will, with Love and our desire to do good.

Some of our elders used to say, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” As a metaphysician, a practitioner of the Science of Life, I equate that to mean that the “mortal” believes, or wants to believe, that he can completely or partially ignore spiritual laws (doesn’t want to practice that unselfed love, for example) and yet inherit the bounty of the joy of life that we are designed to experience.

At the same time, I realize that whatever befalls us, and in the midst of our trials, the sweetness and the blessing of this great promise and our obedience, our alignment with Principle, with what is right, supports us and enables us to carry on “unbroken” and in the complete confidence that we dwell in the harmony of God.

I am grateful to Christian Science; to its Founder: and for all who desire to practice and continually put their best foot forward, in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, toward the mark.

Blessings to you all for a most prosperous, spiritually aligned, and joyful year, as it is your divine birthright.

Love, Rhonda

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