Believe: The power of prayer

Yes…the answer to a prayer sometimes comes in disguise, but it always comes. And when it comes, we must learn to acknowledge it and be grateful. It is easy to remember God when we are going through a hardship; then we approach Him and intensely ask for help. But when things are good, we tend to forget to thank Him. Oftentimes we forget that gratefulness is important, and we end up not giving the glory and praise that is due to God. To remember to say thank you is important, because in doing so, we make ourselves aware of the gifts that are constantly given to us, we feel blessed, and we truly understand God’s awesome love for us.

Let’s pray, so that:

Ø  We can be less selfish, desiring to be givers instead of receivers: We must get rid of “I want! I expect! I deserve!” and think “What can I give both to others and to God?” After all Scripture says that it is more blessed to give than to receive! Now many times when we think about giving, we think in terms of giving money. But sometimes the most precious thing that we can give or share is not material. Oftentimes what is most valuable for us is in fact what is most precious for us to give.   For example, we can share a friend. Let’s have a desire to share those special people who have come into our lives, so that they may go and touch others in the same way that they have come into our lives and touched us!

Ø  We can find joy in every situation: “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).  Mother Teresa used to say, “The best way to show our gratitude is to accept everything with joy”. And that “a joyful heart is the result of a heart burning with love”. We may not always be able to give much, but we can all always give the joy that springs from a heart that is in love with God. Let’s give thanks for all that we have, and have had! Let’s give our best to God a heart full of joy!

Ø  We are not proud and we can surrender totally to the will of God: “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). We pray this constantly, but when it is time to apply it to real life events, we have a hard time accepting it. Many times, we want our way, we want what we want, we get upset if we don’t get it, and we cannot even find a reason to be grateful. The fact is that we deserve nothing. We cannot allow ourselves to be disheartened by anything, not even when at first sight it seems that our prayers have not been answered. Mother Teresa also used to say, “If we are discouraged, it is a sign of pride. We must not let anything disturb us so much and fill us with so much sorrow or discouragement that it makes us forfeit the joy of serving God and thanking God in all that happens in our lives!”  In Holy Scripture God reminds us to “Persevere in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). As we turn to Him and to His love, we can face everything with an attitude of loving trust. A song I love says: “Jesus knows the heartache that you are feeling deep inside…and He will heal your heart!” So even when it seems impossible to remain cheerful and we barely have the strength to smile, we can draw our strength from Him who is always there for us.  Him, who is our rock and our salvation.

If we do not make prayer and thanksgiving a habit, inadvertently we will have a tendency to become unaware of our blessings. On the other hand, when we are grateful, we feel closer to Him and we become happy as we ponder how blessed we are. Being happy is easy when we understand how much love is constantly being poured our way. The ability to understand this is a grace given by God, and God always gives good things to those who ask.

If we just have a little faith, if we trust a little more, if we are just a bit more grateful, we will be aware of all the miracles that happen in our lives. And we will take pleasure in the fact that we have come to know and understand that God is a reality and not a myth. We will feel God, alive in our heart, not just as words in a book we hardly ever read. He will bless us with the desire to get to know Him more through the power of His holy Word. We will marvel at the fact that He is living inside us, guiding us and providing strength to us in every situation, so that we may reflect His love to others. We will be able to console because He has given us consolation; we will be able to love because He has given us love. Then we will be examples and living proof of the miracles that He performs in our lives.

Wisdom to contemplate:

“Everything is possible to one who has faith.” (Mark 9:23)

“Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

“O LORD of hosts, happy are those who trust in you!” (Psalm 84:13)



Russia, Israel, China, Ukraine and then some!

More than a few page views from Russia have been a constant in my blog lately.  More than a few others are from various wonderful countries around the world and it makes me so very happy!  Ukraine, Germany, USA, Czeck Republic, Poland, France, China, and Canada are just a few examples.

To write Princess in Overalls was my greatest dream, and to know that many people from around the world have read this book touches my heart very deeply!  Every person that reads my book is a real gift to me, and I want you to know that I would love to hear from you!   To have a  more interactive blog is my dream and to get to know you better would be fantastic!

If you would like to ask me any questions or to request a particular topic, please feel  ree to do it.  Either through comments on "Posts" here on my blog, or to my email...  carolturkia@yahoo.com.

This is just a quick note....because it has been so unusual to see so very many page views from so many amazing places these past few weeks!

Because I do not want this blogg or my book to be so impersonal I want to share with you a few pictures here and there.  Today I will share with you a picture of the little girl that inspired the character "Ellie", I hope you like it!


With much love and blessings,



Carolina

Want to Know: What is life teaching us?

 There are many trade-offs to the hardships that come with constant traveling and moving around.  But, in the end we will find ourselves becoming very interesting people. We will have learned lessons that could not have been learned otherwise, lessons about other people and lessons about ourselves. Not everybody has the opportunity to partake of this type of life, so if we have had such an opportunity, we should be grateful to God for giving us such a gift. But we must always keep in mind that the joys of moving come as a package with the sorrows of departing.

            There are many types of lives…from the life of sedentary people who were born and raised in the city in which they live to the life of nomads who have moved around all their lives. After considering the different types of life, I have only one thing to say: We should feel blessed whichever our life is like. Yes, we should feel blessed, because our lives are unique and precious.   We live through the experiences, adventures and situations that have a potential of becoming great learning experiences.  There is nothing impossible for God, and His specialty is to turn bad situations around and to make them a blessing in our lives.  We are in this world to grow in holiness and to experience this wonderful world God has so lovingly created for us.  And whatever comes our way, come what may, we experience exactly the situations we were meant to experience, exactly as we were meant to experience them. Everything in our lives has a purpose to make us grow; to make our spirit, our mind and our heart grow; to help us grow in our knowledge and love of God and in our knowledge and love of our neighbour.

         So, no matter what our life is like, no matter what the situation, we must never fail to search for what it is that God is teaching us. Let’s take the time and ask ourselves:

·      What can I learn from this?

·      Where is it taking me?

·      What lessons am I supposed to be learning?

·      What can I change?

·      How can I be better?

 These are all important questions because they remind us that nothing happens by accident, everything happens for a reason and everything is perfect.

            When we ask ourselves a question, it is important that we look for an answer. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). If we ask, our minds will find answers that will help us understand the various situations and different moments of our lives. Even when a particular situation might be dragging us down and we barely have the strength to carry on, if we manage to hold on and ask the right questions, we will soon see wonderful changes changes in the way we feel, changes in the way we think and changes in the way things seem.[1] We will see clearly that things can change in a moment and that there is much to be learned. Even in the toughest times, we can find the right answers, and the right approach. We are blessed to have the chance to live through situations that will give us wisdom and that will mold our character. We are exactly where we are meant to be.

            The Bible tells us we are citizens of heaven. What a wonderful citizenship to have! We belong to heaven, and this beautiful world was made for us. How special are we? How great is God’s love for us? That thought is enough to enable us to feel special no matter how our lives have been. It is marvelous to know God made this wonderful world just for us. Understanding that we are citizens of heaven should be enough to bring a smile to our faces every day of our lives!

Wisdom to contemplate:

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 (Philippians 3:20)

“The earth is the LORD’S and all it holds, the world and those who live there. For God founded it on the seas, established it over the rivers. (Psalm 24:1)

---

[1] Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within.

Fear of the Worst

       

     I am amazed at how many times painful situations can change our lives for the best. I believe it is important to “rejoice always” as the Bible says (Philippians 4:4) and always be grateful to God no matter what. To rejoice means to celebrate, to be glad, to be very pleased.

As we go through life, we sometimes face difficult situations, sad moments and challenging times moments in which what we experience is not what we would have chosen or what we had planned. For example, we can receive bad news, have to say goodbye to a friend or loved one, go through a separation, a divorce or be fired from a job. When these things happen, we find it hard to rejoice, and we might feel it is hard to be grateful to God. At these times, we need to remind ourselves of the importance of being always grateful and ask God to give us the grace to rejoice. As it says in Philippians, we need to “rejoice always”! Not sometimes. Not only when things happen as we wish. Not only when we are happy and we think the situation is fair. Not only when things go our way. No, it says “always.”

It also says “Have no anxiety at all.” (Philippians 4:6) This leaves room for zero anxiety, zero distress, zero sorrow, zero worry and zero fear. But we are humans, biological as well as spiritual creatures. Sometimes our heart aches, our emotions get the best of us, our brain does not understand why things have to change or why things have to be so hard. It is sometimes hard to rejoice or feel grateful. It is human to feel sad. So what are we to do? How can we rejoice always?

            In the Bible, we are advised to do three things: Be grateful, pray and think about the good!

Be grateful. The Bible says we should be “giving thanks always and for everything.” (Ephesians 5:20) Let’s be grateful to God every day, all the time, no matter what, especially when we are not in the mood or when we are weighed down with burdens. Let’s never say, “I can’t be grateful for this or for that.” We can feel grateful because in a bad situation we had the opportunity to learn a lesson or because within a bad situation things could always have been worse. In every situation, we can find something to be grateful for. For example, when someone we love leaves us, we can be grateful that we had the blessing of meeting that person and having had that person in our lives.

To feel grateful, we need to remember two things. First, we need to remember as St.  Francis said that “nothing is ours! Great wisdom will come to us as we meditate upon this thought until we become firmly convinced of it we own nothing. Everything has been entrusted to us for a limited time only.” The chance to share our love with others is a gift from God. Sometimes we get possessive and forget that nothing is ours and everything is God’s. If we have anything even for a limited time, it is thanks to His greatness, kindness and loving heart. It is a gift.

            We are blessed to have all the things we treasure in our lives, all our friends, our family, our children, our opportunities, our experiences, our health, our youth, our intelligence and our skills. But when the time comes to say goodbye, when time is up, we need to let go. We need to keep the good memories, learn whatever lesson the experience left behind, grieve what needs to be grieved and then find the courage to keep on going.

            When God calls for a change in our life and/or in the life of a friend or loved one, we need to be ready to lovingly say: “Yes!” Sometimes we can be like spoiled children, whose parents have taken them to Disneyland and who have a tantrum when the vacation is over and it is time to go home. Instead of saying thank you for all they have enjoyed there and appreciating how good and loving their parents were, these children have a tantrum because they want to stay longer. They disregard the precious gift their parents have given them, and they focus instead on what they can no longer have. Let’s not be like spoiled children. Let’s be loving, obedient children of our heavenly Father.

            The second thing we need to remember in order to feel grateful in every situation is to be humble. Humble means: meek, docile, calm, submissive, obedient, soft and gentle. It is the opposite of being proud and having a big ego. It is the opposite of “I want it my way,” “I don’t want it this way” and “I don’t like it that way.” We can be excited and full of joy at what lies ahead, but we must also be detached from everything and be ready to give it up if necessary. Let’s be meek and humble of heart, like Jesus (Matthew 11:29), so that we can let go when God calls us to let go.

Pray. In order to rejoice always, the second thing the Bible advises us to do is to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In Philippians 4:6, we are called to pray “with thanksgiving.” If we are upset and ungrateful and complaining, then we are not praying with thanksgiving! Once we have a life of prayer, then we can be sure that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) Even if we do not understand why, even if the situation is hard to accept, we must pray and try to rejoice, and then God’s peace will guard our hearts.

Think about good things. The Bible says: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8) We can manage our brain well and keep our emotions in check, but we need to want to do it, and we need to put effort into it. We must make a conscious choice to focus on all the good we have. We choose where we set your eyes, either on all that is good in our life or on all that is bad. If someone says, “There is nothing good I can think of right now,” we should remember that there is always God’s love to feel happy about. We should never say, “I cannot thank God for this” or “I have nothing to be grateful for.” Instead, as Mother Teresa advised, “we should make a commitment to see every experience, whether good or bad, happy or sad, as a magnificent opportunity to do something beautiful for God.” In the toughest moments we encounter, we give glory to God if we gather the strength to smile and trust and thank, even if that is all we can do.

Wisdom to contemplate:

“And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:14-15)

“No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)