I know it seems that I'm not here, but I am. Just been very busy with life. Thank G-d. It's good to be busy.
I feel like I have an ongoing blog in my head 24/7. Like, Sefardi Gal's thoughts and comments. I can't seem to ever press the pause or "shhhh" button.
I so often want to (actually) blog and then I get lazy or tired or remember that I have laundry to do :)
Or that I need to make some awesome baked ziti for dinner (yeah, it came out really good tonight!) & whole wheat oatmeal low sugar chocolate cookies (not as good. Why do the fattening cookies always taste better?!)
All of those are not valid excuses, but oh well. Patience is a virtue.
I received this awesome e-mail from Aish.com's "Shabbat Shalom Weekly" emails. I thought to post it since it served as great chizuk for me:
5 Steps to Genuine Prayer:
1) Feel God's presence. You are talking to a loving, all-powerful Being Who wants to give you everything that's good. All over the world God is answering prayers because He loves His children.
2) Expect results. God has a track record. If you don't really believe God can and will help you, you're not really praying.
3) Pay attention to what God is teaching you. Everything that happens is for your good. If you are in need, realize God is teaching you something. If you trust Him, you will hear what He is telling you.
4) Get in touch with what you're really after. Know your bottom line. You're talking to the awesome Creator, so don't ask for nonsense. He wants you to grow up.
5) Being serious about what you're praying for means that you're doing everything you can to make it happen. God will lend a hand only when you put in the effort. He'll never take away your independence because that's His ultimate gift to you.
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This is a great post. It's true that this should work well when davening, but sometimes it gets hard when we daven for something for what seems like a really long time and we don't see results. I don't have the answers and I don't understand why Hashem prolongs tough situations. I do know that even if all those things match up, a person keeps to all 5 pointers in this post, they may not get what they are davening for. We have to remember that Hashem has a plan, a reason-even when it's hard and painful-and instill deeper emunah in our hearts, reminding ourselves that He CAN get us out and He is the only One who CAN bring the yeshuah. We should get stronger in that emunah with each tefillah we daven.
ReplyDeleteLove the title of this post, btw!
THANK YOU HASHEM, for the countless underserved benefits You have given me!
ReplyDeleteDevorah - your posts and comments are always so insightful.
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right. I didn't think about that when posting this. It's possible to master all 5 of these "pointers" and yet still not receive what we ask for.
But tefillah is not mainly about getting what we ask for. It's about building a close relationship with HaShem and having Him give us grant we need.
There're things I've prayed for that I have not received, and at the time, I didn't understand - what am I doing wrong? But now, in retrospect, I see how being in those "sticky" situations were BEST for me.
That topic probably deserves a whole post of its own. We'll see if I ever muenster up the courage to write such a personal post :)
SG-Thank you.
DeleteRight. And I've heard that tefillah is not just about building a closer relationship with Hashem. It's also about improving our level of emunah-instilling in our hearts the things we know in our heads, that Hashem can do it, which is why we turn to Him in the first place. The more we keep asking, the more we internalize this fact-that He is the only One we can rely on and turn to.
You are lucky you were able to look back and see how those situations were best for you. Sometimes we get to see it and sometimes we don't. It's good to have the knowledge that it always IS for the best-especially when we don't see it and can't seem to make sense of it. And sometimes, I think, it may be impossible to see the good...even in retrospect. There are some life situations that just cannot be understood...no matter how hard we try.
Looking forward to that post, if you gather the courage to write it!
Oh, and regarding the title of this post -
ReplyDelete2 virtual chocolate chip cookies to whoever can guess what song it's from.
(Has been stuck in my head these past 2 weeks!)
Of course! It's Chai v'kayam-one of the favorite dancing songs in our house! Love the song-that's why the title caught my attention :-)
DeleteDevorah - you got it! Enjoy your cookies. :)
ReplyDeleteI also like the song. My son loves all of these upbeat songs.
Good point that tefillah also increases emunah. It's true. Based on the quality of my daily davening, I see such a difference in the way my day runs and how my alert I am of HaShem every waking moment.
Awww, I want real ones! (Or maybe a donut lol)
DeleteThat's a good point too. But I'm not saying that if you daven well you'll notice Hashem in your day more. I'm saying that the act of davening alone brings an increased awareness of the fact that whatever it is you are asking for is totally in His hands! Davening is an avodah in emunah.