What is prayer?

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

For anyone who has put his or her faith in Jesus Christ, prayer is "communion with God." Through the cross of Jesus, the barriers to a relationship with God our Father were removed. When we begin to trust God and turn from our sin, He comes into our lives to begin a new relationship of love with us (Romans 8:9-10; John 14:23; Revelation 3:20; 2 Corinthians 13:5). Through prayer we actually experience a relationship with God, and the quality of our prayer life correspondingly determines the quality of our relationship with God.

Prayer is talking with God.

Prayer is listening to God.

Prayer is enjoying the presence of God.

Prayer is not simply saying words or repeating religious formulas. Jesus warned His disciples not to make meaningless repetitions of words when we pray (Matthew 6:7). There is a lot of what gives the appearance of prayer that never reaches God. For example, "The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself" (Luke 18:11). Perhaps the reason was that "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable" (Proverbs 28:9).

God is looking for heartfelt relationship. Our faith and love toward God will lead us to recognize His presence with us, to talk with Him, to listen to Him, to sense Him. This is prayer. We express our thanks, our faith, our love, our hopes with God in prayer, and we receive from Him answers, assurance, guidance, peace, strength, power, revelation of who He is and what He wants to do (Matthew 7:7-8; John 16:13; Philippians 4:6-7; Ephesians 1:17-18).

The late E. Stanley Jones, missionary and preacher, wrote:

"Prayer...is the opening of a channel from my emptiness into His fullness."

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You just read an excerpt from the book A Time for Prayer. This book is filled with prayers and thoughts that will encourage you and help you to intercede for the world around you.

A Time for Prayer is a great devotional resource, and makes a wonderful gift. For more information, or to look inside the book, click here.

Your Attitude Makes the Difference

Many things about your life boil down to the hand you have been dealt. You can't change the fact that you were born in that place and with certain givens for your appearance, IQ, or physical skills. Education and training can open some doors for you, but they cannot change your past, make you taller and more athletic, or alter the fact that some people are unfair in the way they treat you.

In spite of the fact that all of us know that most of our life circumstances are beyond our control, we are all still tempted to fret and complain about things that cannot be changed. Of course they cause distress. They certainly put us at a disadvantage in certain contexts. They mustn't be allowed to define and limit us.
The people who do best with life move beyond the temptation to whine and feel sorry for themselves. They face the disappointment and move beyond it. They acknowledge the bad break and look for a way to turn it around. They work from a half-full rather than half-empty glass mindset.

These people have a different attitude than the defeatist and whiner. They have found a way to make lemonade from their lemons.

There is a section in John Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayer that reads . . .

Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

Let me use disappointment as material for patience;

Let me use success as material for thankfulness;

Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;

Let me use danger as material for courage;

Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;

Let me use praise as material for humility;

Let me use pleasures as material for temperance;

Let me use pains as material for endurance.

When a given day begins, countless things are headed your way over which you have no control. It may be bad weather or someone's bad temper, a deadline that won't budge or a client equally resistant to change. The one factor you can control through it all is your attitude toward them.

Your attitude today will make all the difference in everything that matters.

Rubel Shelly


Rubel Shelly is a Preacher and Professor of Religion and Philosophy located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. In addition to church and academic responsibilities, he has worked actively with such community projects as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, From Nashville With Love, Metro (Nashville) Public Schools, Faith Family Medical Clinic, and Operation Andrew Ministries. To learn more about Rubel please go to: www.RubelShelly.com

"Before you speak, ask yourself: is it kind, is it true, is it necessary, does it improve upon the silence?"

~ Shirdi Sai Baba

Photo: http://bit.ly/cQZg41

“Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.”

-Denis Waitley

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"The man who has no imagination has no wings." Muhammad Ali

Nature's inspiration

‎"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn." -Elizabeth Lawrence


Hope you're enjoying the beautiful wonders of our season! Here's a movie to inspire you.

The Cookie Thief

There's a nice poem by Valerie Cox circulating on the Internet about a woman who bought some cookies and a book at an airport and sat down to read and nibble while waiting for her plane. She soon noticed a man sitting next to her, who casually took a cookie from the bag.

Although shocked and seething, the woman remained silent as the man, without the slightest sign of shame or gratitude, quietly helped himself, matching her cookie for cookie.

When there was one cookie left, she watched in amazement as he picked it up, smiled at her as if he were being gracious, and broke it in half. He ate one half and gave her the other.

Congratulating herself for maintaining her cool, she said nothing to this rude cookie thief, astonished at the nerve of some people.

Later, when she was settling into her seat on the plane, she rummaged through her purse and discovered the bag of cookies she'd purchased, still unopened. The moral message is contained in the poem's closing stanza:

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair,
"Then the others were his, and he tried to share."
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

Being sure is not the same as being right. Certainty without humility can lead to self-righteousness that distorts our view and understanding of the world and of people.

Humility doesn't require us to be equivocal or doubtful about our deepest convictions. What it asks is that we hold and advocate our beliefs without dismissing the possibility that others may be right instead.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

Michael Josephson
www.charactercounts.org

"There is only one thing more powerful than all the armies of the world, that is an idea whose time has come."

-- Victor Hugo

A Peacock in the Land of Penguins

Hardcover, 125 pages, 6.75" square By BJ Gallagher and Warren H. Schmidt Forward by Ken Blanchard A Peacock in the Land of Penguins brings new insight to an important topic – cultivating new ideas instead of “business as usual”. BJ Gallagher and Academy Award winning writer Warren H. Schmidt originally teamed-up in 1995 to release the first soft-cover edition of A Peacock in the Land of Penguins and it became an instant classic. In this updated, hard-cover edition, Simple Truths has worked its creative magic to frame the story Perry the Peacock around a very charming and engaging gift book. Follow Perry as he makes his journey from the Land of Learning to the Land of the Penguins and ultimately the Land of Opportunity. This story echoes one that is unfolding each and every day in organizations all across the country – how to build a corporate culture of creativity and capture the talent, energy and commitment of all employees. "If you’re interested in new ideas for making yourself and your organization successful, read this little book." Ken Blanchard Ways to Use: Give this book away at your next meeting or event. Perfect for Leadership development, Executive Retreats, Team Building, Management training

Here is the Ultimate Success Formula:

1. Decide what you want.

2. Take Action

3. Notice what’s working or not.

4. Change your approach until you achieve what your want.

From Giant Steps by Anthony Robbins

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"My greatest wealth is the deep stillness in which I strive and grow and win what the world cannot take from me with fire or sword."

-- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"Life is too short to be little."

-- Benjamin Disraeli

"The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival."

-- Aristotle

...the basic difference between an ordinary man and a Warrior is that a Warrior takes everything as a challenge ~ whereas an ordinary man takes everything as a curse or a blessing ~ by don juan

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"No one can tell whether they are richer or poor by turning to their ledger. It is the heart that makes a person rich. One is rich according to what one is, not according to what one has." Henry Ward Beecher