What If You Were Happy?

What if you focused on happiness in your life?  What if, even if it were really difficult to find, you focused on it anyway?  What if you looked in all the nooks and crannies for happiness?

I hear the retorts, "That would be so Polly Anna!"  So!?  What if you could be happy?  What if you were so happy you didn't care if they called you Polly Anna?

And, I'm not talking about not feeling sadness, anger, grief or whatever comes up.  I'm talking about consciously focusing on happiness, on joy.  If anger comes up when you focus on happiness and joy, then by all means feel it.  I'd be willing to bet it will pass quickly, very quickly.

Conduct your own experiment.  See what happens.

I am there

Day 21 of 21 Days of Prayer Outside the Box Closing

I am There by James Dillet Freeman

Do you need me?

I am there.

You cannot see me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.

I am not strange visions.  I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there.  Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me. I am there.

Even if you deny Me. I am there.

Even when you feel most alone. I am there.

Even in your fears. I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of "yours" and mine."

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.

And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning, only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.

I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law's fulfilling.  I am assurance.  I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by.  I am the love that you can cling to.  I am your assurance. I am your peace.  I am one with you. I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you. 

Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

P.S. What I found out:

Even if you find yourself on the floor in the closet believing that I am not there, I am and you can pray and I will answer even if you have no idea what to say.

Powerful Forgiveness

Day 21 of 21 Days of Prayer Outside the Box

I may have repeated this forgiveness prayer more than any other.  It seems when I ask for God to teach me true perspective it is about a relationship with another person that could use forgiveness more than 90 percent of the time.  When I first started learning about forgiveness I thought I only had a couple people I needed to forgive.  I thought I didn't hold many grudges.  I thought I was very forgiving and only had difficulty forgiving a very few.

My first really big aha was when someone told me I wouldn't reach forgiveness with those few people if I didn't allow myself to release the anger I harbored in a healthy way. I had no idea how angry I was.
 I didn't even know anger could be released in a healthy way.  So I started down a journey for many years learning about that.

On the journey I found that actually I spent a lot more time than I wanted to admit in anger.  I found that I needed to forgive.  I learned that forgiveness was not something I did for the other person.  I found ultimately that the person I most needed to forgive was myself.

So here is the prayer my mentor gave me.  I use it a lot like affirmative prayer from Day 5.

I love you.
I bless you.
I release you.
I fully and freely forgive you.
Now be on you way.

I have used it in this way for years.  The last line reminds me of a gentler version of the Day 19 prayer. (Sometimes Day 19 may need to proceed this prayer). Recently I have begun to change the last line to "May your life be filled with joy."  Forgiveness has been a journey and a process for me, a freeing journey and process.

Happy New Year

Thank You

Day 20 of 21 Days of Prayer Outside the Box

This bears repeating. "If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough." Try this today.  Use it as you would an affirmative prayer from Day 5.  Try seeing how many times you can find a time to pray the "Thank you" prayer.  

Take it one step further.  My dad (who was more out of the box than anyone I knew, but liked to figure out what made the in the box stuff tick) introduced me to Merlin Carothers book "Prison to Praise" before I could even listen to anything that came from the Bible without crawling out of my skin.  His book is all about the verse from I Thessalonians "In every thing give thanks."  This may sound like a tall order.  Really?  Everything?  It is incredibly effective prayer.  If the Bible is difficult for you, as it was for me for some time, this book may challenge you, but if you are ready for a big challenge this may be just the thing.

If nothing else, just try it.  You can find thousands of things written on gratitude, but when it comes right down to it truly trying it will give you something no amount of reading can.

Bless that Bleep

Day 19 of 21 Days of Prayer Outside the Box

When I first learned the concept of praying for someone I was really upset with I struggled with the concept and the prayer.  I trusted that it worked because I heard from trusted friends that it had worked for them, so I tried praying.  Mostly I told God I was willing to pray for them, but I had no idea how.

One day one of those friends shared with me the words she used that had been passed to her from another. She said, "Oh, I just pray, 'God, Bless that  son of a Bleep right out of my life'" (Fill in the Bleep with what works for you).  I laughed so hard.  She was serious.  She said it works.  Praying for  the person's joy is very effective, but if you can't get that our of your mouth you go with the process of getting there.  Again, God can handle it.  Again, an authentic prayer.

I don't remember if I have ever actually prayed those words.  I think I probably did, at least once or twice.  The most powerful part for me was laughing so hard, getting over myself, and getting over trying to do it "right."

Today my favorite prayer for someone who upsets me is from Day 15, but if I can't bring myself to that prayer I know this one will work.

Use Me

Day 18 of 21 Days of Prayer Outside the Box

Here is another song that is an awesome prayer. It is Use Me by Rickie Byars Beckwith from the Agape Church which may look like it is traditional but if you ever get the chance to experience it you will definitely see that it is Outside the Box in an incredibly amazing way.

This prayer reminds me of the prayer from Day 10 but in a musical form.  I love singing along with this song.

Use me, oh God
I stand for you and here I'll abide
As you show me all that I must do
I used to think God was the sun
God is the sun, but God's so much more
Than the Earth, or the stars
or all of Creation
God is Creator, all in all
Needing us to shine It's light
As me, as you, so
Use me, oh God
I stand for you and here I'll abide
As you show me all that I must do
(All that I'm saying is)
Command my hands, what must they do
Command my life, it's here for you
God is the love that heals all Creation
God is Creator, makes all things new
And God needs us
To shine It's light
As me, as you
Use me, oh God
I stand for you and here I'll abide
As you show me all that I must do

To listen to the song on Utube go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqsxSXDCJDw

To download a copy go to http://www.amazon.com/Use-Me/dp/B0014BVUSK

God Can Take It

Day 17 of 21 Days of Prayer Outside the Box

Years ago I learned that God can take it when I get angry.  In fact, I found that this is one of the best ways to express my anger in a safe and effective manner.  A friend once told me, "God can take it when you are angry.  Just talk to him.  It is okay to express your anger authentically."  At the time, this felt like news to me. It seemed wrong.  I wasn't necessarily ever told I couldn't be angry with God, but somehow I ended up with that belief.

The first time I actually tried it, I remember sort of looking around, afraid I might get caught.  It makes me kind of laugh now, and it also seems a little sad how afraid I was to be authentic with my Higher Power. Today, this is a comfortable and comforting type of prayer for me.