Practicing the Power of Prayer

Originally posted on September 28, 2012

Oh, where do I begin? It's been so long and so much has happened since my last post, I hardly know where to start. 😐 Okay, I'll begin at the beginning, which effectively is now. 🕰 My morale and motivation has been so low, I haven't been able to do much except drag myself out of bed each morning to go to work, just to go back home after a disappointing day. 😟 I really hate to write when I'm sad but unless I find a way to be happy (or at least content) all the time, I'll never be able to write again and I really don't want that. 🚫 Oh, how I've missed the sensation of purging my wretched gloominess through the magic clacking of my keyboard. 💻  I will also reluctantly admit this; I've decided to take the year off from any serious decision-making, romantic relationships or anything too heavy. I just don't have the stomach for any of that right now. 😰 Yes, 2012 has been a quietly mellow year for me...sort of. 😒 My extended absence from blogging has not been on accident. I've purposely hidden myself away as I've unsuccessfully tried to figure things out on my own. I've run into brick wall after brick wall in my numerous attempts to pull myself out of my dark depression and disappointment with the world (and myself). 💔 I've tried to tuck away my substantial sadness for my family and friends as they attempt to find their happiness too. ❤ I secretly snuck away to seek solace in a world not designed to provide any. 😞 I stubbornly clutched on to a hopeless existence because my hurt was too great to conquer on my own. 😟 I was a coward. A bum. A quitter. And on this very early morning, around 3AMish-when Sis was on a dark street outside looking for a dog that was patiently waiting for re-entry into the house in our backyard, it came to me. 🦮 Finally. 😶

See, I'm probably the complete opposite of a religious zealot. 😇 I certainly believe in God and his great powers but I don't think much of religion as a whole. ✟ If it helps you, more power to ya! Whatever floats your boat. I'm in absolute favor of anything that gets your soul right. ✔  In my case, however, I know people that attend church every week and are the most negative, back-biting, pessimistic and cynical people I've ever met. 😢 They speak horribly and gossip about their own families, friends, co-workers and fellow church attendees. ✝ I know that shouldn't be what influences me most about religion but I honestly must confess that it is. In an effort to become a 'true believer' that isn't a robotically religious conformist, I lost my way. I'd honestly forgotten about the power of prayer. 📿 Sure, I pray over my food in thanks. 🥘 I pray when a friend or loved one is sick. 😷 I pray in hopes of a happy ending to a tragic event. 😗 Heck, I even pray when I'm just asked to. 😉 But I neglected to pray every day for being healthy. I refrained from praying every day for the gratefulness I feel for my beautiful circle of family and friends. I forgot to pray every day for two nice vehicles, a beautiful home, gainful employment and more doggie dependents than I know what to do with. 💸 I should pray when I'm happy, sad, overwhelmed, excited, thankful and just for the privilege of being alive. 😀 As depressed as I get sometimes, I forget that though my lifestyle isn't for everyone, I'm still living a life a lot of people would love to have. I'd really, truly forgotten that. 😐 And as I restlessly laid in bed on this very early morning, I asked for forgiveness and strength to stay on my path of prayer, no matter how out of control life gets. Granted, I'm only in the "practice" stages but I'm determined to stay on my path because I really do believe in the power of prayer. 🕇

Look, I'm not even gonna pretend that I don't have a long way to go with this but I believe that knowing and admitting that is the first step. ☝ You can't get anywhere in life (or the afterlife) without taking that first, crucial step. Right? Anyway, I thought I should memorialize my epiphany here for anyone else that may have lost their way too, or even if someone needed a gentle 'reminder'. 😜 Practice makes perfect and prayer is powerful, so I just don't see how anyone can lose with that winning combination. 😁 (And Lord knows, I'm a winner. 😬)

"No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it."
-Guy H. King

"The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but an unoffered prayer."
-F.B. Meyer

"Seven days without prayer makes one weak."
-Allen Varlett

(I had the last quote down pat.)

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