| God of all, I pray that all those who are hurt find comfort. I pray that each of us who has been granted peace and comfort give peace and comfort to others in need. God, I pray for healing for this broken world. Please help us to be your hands doing good work in the world. Amen. |
| I'd really like to believe. I'd like to have faith. I think it would help me in hard times. But I'm a doubter. |
Doubts are part of belief, they are part of faith. No one is strong and has all the answers. If you sincerely open your mind and heart and seek a connection to God, you will find that connection. Even if you just create space in your mind and your life for a few moments of quiet meditation, you have done something good for your health and well-being. |
| Yes, this is clearly the solution. Just think happy thoughts. |
Science and medicine have proven, time and again, that prayer and meditation reduces stress, improves circulation, and myriad other health benefits. So yes, thinking happy thoughts does make the individual better, and therefore makes the world better. |
| "Thoughts and prayers" |
I've heard that many times. I'd add that doubt can also be part of the path to disbelief, just as it is in anything else one doubts. Doubts about a marriage sometimes result in divorce. Doubts about a job sometimes result in leaving the job and finding another, more suitable one. Doubts about the veracity of some facts or points of view can lead to increased knowledge that confirm that the doubts were warranted. Pray if you want to, about the world, or anything, if it makes you feel better. Doubts that lead to disbelief in prayer are OK too. There are lots of ways to try to make the world a better place. |
"Thinking happy thoughts" is not the same with talking to God. Thinking happy thoughts is talking to yourself. Rarely helpful, I agree. |
How do you know that when you're talking to god, that god is listening? |
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Thank you, OP.
And so it is. |
NP. I just feel a presence when I allow myself to be still. The longer I quiet my mind and am open to it, the deeper the presence feels. |
You can feel the presence of something without feeling that the presence is listening. How can you tell when God is listening? |
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Today is the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima.
It is a very good day to pray for our poor world. |
The Lady of Fatima was supposed to have given a message to the Portuguese shepherd children to deliver to the world. What happened with that? |
There were three messages. The first was about the end of WWI. The second was about the end of WWII. The third was about Russia sowing discord across the world and bringing war (unless they converted from atheism to Christ). This third part is sealed in the Vatican archives and only a summary has been released (I think). Lucia also said the final battle between God and satan would be over matrimony and the family. These were from 1917. |