War Inevitable?

Are you praying about war? If not, why not? I know that sometimes that I have a feeling like I should pray about war, but I feel hesitant. I had an insight that we should be praying more about big issues like war. If we never pray about it, how will it come to an end? And, if it is the objectification of evil, why wouldn't we pray . My insight was that prayer is effective, so we need to be applying it to what is needed most. That simple thought was helpful. How can prayer help delete the images of carnage, death, futility, and frustration?

Jesus never made a reality out of death. When he raised the girl from death, he told those around him that she was sleeping. He did the same when he raised Lazarus. He was alert to the fact that death is not reality - it's illusion. There's a book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that has a lot of insights about death. It mentions death 387 times! On page 39:9, it says: "The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them. He was "the way." To him, therefore, death was not the threshold over which he must pass into living glory." Death isn't to be feared or welcomed. Death is a belief that life is in matter. This life apart from God, Spirit, results in death. Life in Spirit never ends.

Is the situation hopeless in Iraq? It sure seems to be. There's daily bombings. It just goes on and on, with no improvement. It sure looks like good is out of the picture and that evil is unstoppable. That sure takes God out of the picture. What's needed to turn this situation around? Would you be surprised if I said prayer? What I mean by prayer is listening for God's voice, looking with God's vision. As it says in Genesis, God created everything good and he was pleased with His creation. God, Spirit, created spiritual creation. It has never morphed into material creation, never degraded into war. We can be faithful to Jesus and love our enemies. We can pray that all love their enemies, and that all the so-called "enemies" are blessed. If everyone felt blessed they wouldn't attack anyone else, and war would fade.

I am praying to know that Iraq is not immersed in war as the carnal mind portrays. I'm adopting Jesus' view that evil is a "liar [lie] and the father of it." I am seeing what God is seeing and unseeing what the carnal mind is seeing. War is not inevitable - God's peace is.

Delaying Good

Who would delay good? I think we do that all the time. We put off listening to God, praying, accepting good.

I know that I think I'll handle some issues at work and then pray. And, then I find hours have passed and I haven't prayed about the issue at all.

I will watch an episode on TV to relax and then it gets late and I have to cut my prayers short.

Or, the busyness of modern life takes over.

All of these are examples of the carnal mind's pressure to delay good. And, delaying good is a denial of God-good.

For today, I'm going to stop delaying good. I'm going to finish that blog I started a few days ago. I'm going to pray about that headache that popped up this morning. (I'm going to pray for complete freedom from it. Jesus never accepted illness or death as God's will, so why should we?)

With Love,

Dan

Healing Sought Through The Presence of God

Last week I was working so hard at my job, (i.e., lots of personal effort, long hours), but I didn't seem to be gaining ground. It was nice to have a break for Easter, to ponder what God's plan was and to have some time away from the grind to search for healing.

Christian Scientists, like other Christians, pray for God's wisdom. They listen patiently for His direction, and pray for the wisdom and willingness to follow that direction when it comes. Sometimes His voice is that "still small voice" the prophet Isaiah refers to, and sometimes it seems louder. I have found that it is essential to quiet my own thought to make room for God's voice. Christ Jesus taught us to go into our closet (store room, pantry room) and be quiet so we could hear the heavenly Father.

I pray for healing. Sometimes as you see it's for solutions on the job, and sometimes it is to heal a physical or relationship problem. I pray for myself and for others. (If you would like me to pray for you, too, please feel free to contact me at dancarne@gmail.com.) I thought I would share what I heard when I went into my "prayer closet" last night and prayed.

I felt a rush of goodness. Before I could think of the challenges of life, there was an angel message waiting for me. They told me God is right here. Love never allowed sickness. Those whom you are praying for are free. The Bible mentions free, freedom, etc. 96 times and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures mentions it 90 times. pp 225-235 in S&H are sometimes referred to as the freedom pages because they beautifully illustrate over and over man's (the man created by God) freedom from moral and physical wrong. For example, "Love and Truth make free, but evil and error lead into captivity."

I'm ready to be free of evil's fetters. I know this is divine Love's plan!