God doesn’t give you what you ask for, so stop asking.

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Is this title true?  Some people feel it is, Some people complain about this all the time.  Some people even stop believing in a God because of this.  Some people feel that this is not true.  Read on and see if your thoughts on prayer change.

I was recently watching the movie “Evan all mighty” and  Morgan freeman was talking about prayer and opportunities.

Morgan said….

“If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience, or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If they pray for courage does God give them courage, or does he give them the opportunity to be courageous? If they prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities for the family to be closer?”

What does the fraise “opportunity to be”  really mean?

Consider what you have prayed for, and what opportunities or challenges God may have given you in order to help you get what you asked him for.  Have you ever noticed this in your life?  It has probably happened, but usually we don’t see God giving us an opportunity to grow.  What we see is God punishing us….. So…..

This would be a good time for you to analyze when God may have given you an opportunity, that you asked for, and write this down, if you have not done so already………

Ok,  now that you have written this down I have a story for you.

As some of you may know I was in Puerto Rico a few weeks ago.  While in Puerto Rico I was talking with  a new friend of mine named Steve  D’Annunzio( www.Soulpurposeinstitute.com).   Steve and I were talking about prayer and gratitude.  I remember sharing how I was grateful for everything.

I look around me and all I see, everywhere, are things that I am grateful for.  Everything from getting up in the morning to the bills I have to pay are blessings.  How are my bills blessings??????  Perhaps that will be another article, but for now you can just know that I feel they are a blessing.  As I pondered on this topic I had an amazing new idea.  I shared my idea with Steve and he said that not only did he agree with my idea, but that he was already doing parts of it in his life.

What’s the big idea?

Before I tell you the big idea I have a few more thoughts. We seem to always be asking God for something. Even people that are not sure if they believe in God ask him for things.  It has even become a manor of speech, saying things like “God willing I’ll get a raise.” Ask ask ask seems to be all we do.  We also thank God for things, but it seems to me that asking is far more prevalent than thanking.  So this idea was born.  The idea is to only say prayers of Gratitude.  I thought that it would be great to only pray gratitude for a full year.

I told Steve about this idea and he got very excited.  Steve said “a year of gratitude, I wonder what that would do.” Steve then continued to ask me questions like how many times I was going to pray a day or a week etc.  We continued a great conversation about our feelings on prayers.

I loved this idea so much that I have committed myself to doing it for the next year.  I am committed to having a year of gratitude prayers.  I began this quest and have been working on it for a few weeks now.

Old habits die hard!  At first this was somewhat difficult.  I have a habit of praying and asking for what I want.  I would catch myself falling into this trap.  However, as the weeks have continued my gratitude prayers have grown stronger and more focused.  I have learned some amazing things In my prayers.

Tomorrow my wonderful Grandfather goes into the hospital for surgery.  I have driven to where he lives so that I can help him and help drive him to the hospital.  The vehicle that I drove up here in has been having some problems recently, and as soon as we started our trip the check engine light came on.  This is all very true.  This is also things that in the past I would have prayed for and asked God to grant me safe passage, asked for a vehicle that would make it, asked that the surgery would go well etc.

However, I am committed to my new goal of thanking God for all that I have.  So, I prayed while traveling up here, and this is my prayer.  I am grateful for a country where Doctors are amazing and well skilled at what they do.  Thank you for providing my grandfather with great health care.  Thank you for a vehicle that is running strong and has always made it to its destination.  Thank you for the food that you have provided me to eat on this trip………….

Was my prayer of gratitude answered?  Yes!  It absolutely was.  How was it answered?  God gave me a sense of thankfulness.  God gave me a sense of peace.  My gratitude removed all stress and negative feelings.  I traveled in peace and comfort.  I felt free and alive.

Gratitude is a great healer of bad attitudes. Next time you are feeling unhappy spend a few minutes listing the amazing things in your life that you are grateful for.  Your unhappiness will vanish like money in a bank account.

Do you have the guts to give God a year of gratitude?  I bet it will change your life.  You might not want to go back to the needy begging attitude after the year is up.

I would love to hear if any readers are also interested in doing this for the next year.  So if you are feel free to comment with the words “I am committed to a year of gratitude prayers.”

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Want to learn how to create a Heaven on Earth?  Check out my friend Martins group here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=66342470075&ref=ts

Have an grateful day!