Excerpts from the Book:
Pray and God Answers: The Family Prayer Book
Overview
of Second Platform of spiritual Growth:
Discover the Heavenly Father’s
Guidance
Believing in prayer necessitates taking seriously the full presence of
God. One needs to believe that God is all, and in all. A person’s prayer is
ineffective if he assumes that God has authority to guide only certain aspects
in life or that God does not care to be involved in other aspects. We need to
embrace God’s presence, knowledge, and power to guide all aspects of
our life so He can help us. This belief begins at a very young age by believing
in God even with the most basic needs of life. During this Platform we discover
many areas and ways where God has been and continues helping us, perhaps even without
our knowledge. To progress here, the key is learning to willingly cooperate
with God.
Do
not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the
pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need
them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
[St. Luke 12:29-31]
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
[St. John 3:16]
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Spiritual
Growth Experienced Through The Second Platform
Prayer is meaningful if we sincerely believe
that there is a God Who is a Creating Person, understands our situation, can and
is willing to help us. Perhaps the most difficult place to begin in developing a
life of prayer is understanding and appreciating Who God Is? When this reality
is envisioned appropriately, then prayer becomes a progressively growing
intimate journey with God, one that began before we were born and one that will
never end.
In this Second Platform, the prayerful person can look back and
appreciate, and even marvel at all the ways that God makes a difference in his
life. In fact, we discover that life is not a set of “rights,” but a set of
“gifts.” We realize that we have a Protector, One Who wants the best for us;
that wanting to pray is a gift and privilege given to us, and we truly are
blessed to have this privilege.
Realizing that we are blessed and have all these gifts brings us joy, but
it also creates a sense of humility - the humility to realize that at the center
of the spiritual universe is God. We are not the center, God is. We are not
immortal, but God is. We are not perfect, but God is. For any and all valuable
work, God must be the basis, the center, and the intent. Yes, we can accomplish
this even if we think we seek art for the sake of art, or science for the sake
of science.
Appreciating God in the manner above, not only helps us recognize all the
gifts we already have, but also the potential we have to realize even greater
blessings and joy in life. It would be safe to say that most well intentioned
people do not grow spiritually because they are not able to accomplish the Steps
in the first two Platforms - to be honest and genuine with themselves and to
appreciate God's presence and power!
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