Here is an exercise to draw you into the peace of Christ. Listen here. Come and soak in God's river of peace as long as you like. Richard Kinney shares a vision God gave him to help a counselee come to peace. The end of the recording is left silent so you can continue your meditation without interruption. Listed below are verses about peace for meditation. Peace Verses John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, " Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." Romans 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 1 Corinthians 14:33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 2 Corinthians 13:11 Rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance The Lord be with you all! Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety. Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace. Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalm 119:165 Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble. Proverbs 3:17 (Wisdom) Her ways are pleasant ways And all her paths are peace. Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil , But counselors of peace have joy. Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Ecclesiastes 3:8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. Song of Solomon 8:10 "I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace (brings contentment). Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 26:3 "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:12 LORD, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works. Isaiah 27:5 "Or let him rely on My protection, Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me." Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Isaiah 48:22 "There is no peace for the wicked," says the LORD. Isaiah 52:7 How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" Isaiah 54:10 "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken, "Says the LORD who has compassion on you. Isaiah 55:12 "For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 57:19 Creating the praise of the lips Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near, "Says the LORD, "and I will heal him." Isaiah 66:12 For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. PDF of Peace Verses.

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Fill Your Home With the Light of Christ Prayer (Audio 4 minutes) God connect me now to my spirit man, And let the light of Christ radiate out through that perfect portal of God-- Through every cell of my body, through every particle of my mind and my soul. Let my mind, will, emotions and DNA be cleansed by the light of Christ, And let that power come out of me and make a 12-foot circle, a sphere, completely around me filled with the positive pressure of the light of Christ. And let it act on every room that I inhabit or pass through in this house, or wherever I go. And let it touch every person that it should touch. And let me be the head and not the tail, and a generator of light and power. I accept to look upon myself as a winner, someone who is a giver and a receiver, and is a lucky person who gets to be with God, who is going live forever in joy. I refuse to feel sorry for myself or to be overly sympathetic with anything evil or negative. Help me to be positive, strong, outgoing, and joyful. In Jesus name, Amen. Light of Christ Body Scan Exercise (Audio 24 minutes)

Here are some resources to aid you in your spiritual adventure with Christ. I have tried to list them in order of easy reading. I pray the Holy Spirit will show you your individual starting point. God Wants to be With You by Dr. Nancy Moelk Living from the Unseen: Reflections from a Transformed Life by Wendy C. Backlund Victorious Emotions: Creating a Framework for a Happier You by Wendy Backlund Practicing His Presence by Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach Igniting Hope in 40 Days by Steve Backlund Declarations: Unlocking Your Future by Steve Backlund The Veil: An Invitation to the Unseen Realm by Blake Healy Profound Good: See God Through the Lens of His Love by Blake K. Healy The Invitation: Encounters to Help You Enter Christ’s Inner Sanctum The Invitation: Encounters to Help You Enter Christ’s Inner Sanctum by Micah Turnbo Healing the Wounded Soul: Break Free From the Pain of the Past and Live Again by Katie Souza Miracles Are Normal: Co-Creating Through Oneness with God by Virginia Killingsworth Operating in the Courts of Heaven (Revised and Expanded): Granting God the Legal Rights to Fulfill His Passion and Answer Our Prayers by Robert Henderson Receiving Generational Blessings from the Courts of Heaven: Cancel Bloodline Curses and Establish an Inheritance of Blessing by Robert Henderson Robert Henderson has written many books about the Courts of Heaven. Look up his name to find a list of all his titles. Dangerous Prayers from the Courts of Heaven that Destroy Evil Altars: Establishing the Legal Framework for Closing Demonic Entryways and Breaking Generational Chains of Darkness by Dr. Francis Myles Redeeming Your Bloodline: Foundations for Breaking Generational Curses from the Courts of Heaven by Hrvoje Sirovina Unlocking Destinies From the Courts of Heaven: Dissolving Curses That Delay and Deny Our Future by Robert Henderson Here are some biographies that will help you connect with the power and healing of heaven. God's Generals: Why They Succeeded and Why Some Fail by Roberts Liardon You can hunt down longer biographies on the people covered in this book. Supernatural - The Life of William Branham Volume 1 by Owen Jorgensen

Would you like to get better at prayer? Here are some insights from a great saint to help you move forward in this area of being with God. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) practiced and wrote on a type of prayer known today as “contemplative prayer”. Contemplative prayer concentrates on what God is offering to us in our prayer time[i] instead of focusing on our words and activity towards God, St. Teresa explained the degrees of prayer in her autobiography entitled Life. St. Teresa says our soul is like a garden. There are four possible ways of watering our garden. These symbolize four ways of practicing/experiencing prayer. A Bucket The first degree of prayer requires the most effort on our part. We draw our own water from a well using a bucket and rope. St. Teresa says this type of prayer is certainly better than no prayer at all and the discipline of it does us much good. Reading and studying the Bible is also important. The first degree of prayer involves such practices as Vocal prayer, Bible reading, lists of requests, attempts at telling God how wonderful he is in long prayers or songs, etc. St. Teresa said we seek to impress God with our “long speeches." [ii] The benefits we reap are mostly from our own efforts. I know this level of prayer well having spent almost the first twenty years of my Christian life practicing it! exclusively. A Water Wheel The second level is less labor intensive on our part, it involves using a waterwheel. Waterwheels in St. Teresa's day were used to help move water closer to homes and fields so people would not have to carry it bucket by bucket. Here we begin to position ourselves to be receivers of whatever God would like to offer us. We "recollect" ourselves. This simply means we quiet our mind and heart before God and become mindful of His presence. Around 1995 I began to become interested in feeling God's presence. It was something new for me to rest and wait on God to give me something rather than putting all my efforts into "accomplishing" something for Him in my prayer time. Over the next five years, I gradually grew in being able to tolerate the sensation of God's manifest presence around me, although it was very mild. I was frightened by Him at first and the idea of someone, anyone, being so close to me was disturbing! Over time, I became more and more happy with God being close. A Flowing Stream The third degree of prayer brings in the water through irrigation: a running stream. There is no human effort involved. The soul has begun its sense that it no longer belongs to itself. This mystical experience begins an awareness of the union between God and the human soul that we have “in Christ.”. At this stage we don’t realize that our union with Christ is already complete, we are only waking up to that reality. To a greater degree than ever before, we are caught up in the person of God. At this stage, it is increasingly difficult to pull away from Him and take back control of our bodies and minds. Around the year 2000 I began meditating on Song of Songs. By 2005, I was having visions and supernatural experiences introducing me to the prayer of union. At times I could not open my eyes or move any part of my body while the presence of God overwhelmed me and left me caught up in His presence. I know others who also speak of such “Bridal Love” experiences. One person had a vision of being dressed as a bride, escorted down an aisle of a cathedral by God, the Father. Awaiting her at the altar was Jesus, the Son. Once she was given to the Groom by the Father, they turned to the altar and there stood the Holy Spirit, ready to perform the marriage vows. I don’t believe this vision was particular to the person who had it but refers to everyone. God woos us all to participate in a life lived together with Him in ever intensifying degrees. Hopefully for all of us, becoming His spouse is what the remainder of our lives will be about. We get to have the wonderful delight of bearing fruit in union with Him. Rain Falling rain symbolizes the fourth degree of prayer. It is a totally mystical moment not dependent on human effort at all. It is complete awareness of union where the person has been absorbed into the person of God and has no feeling of being alive apart from Him. St. Teresa had this intense, all-consuming experience of God. She had realized the mystery of the union with Christ (Ephesians 5:32) Whever we are in our prayer life; God is happy we turn our focus on him in prayer to whatever degree we pursue. He is always interested in drawing us further along into the awareness of our connection with him through Jesus Christ. [i] . It is "the effort the soul makes to withdraw from and forget everything created so as to allow itself to be penetrated by the divine action."[i] St. Teresa, Volume I, p. 23, Intro and quoting St. Teresa from chapter 20, no. 27 of her Life. [ii] Ibid,, Chap. 13.

https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/fd53d6_0a381d10e24e40dcb3dcfb96401941fe.mp3 Gratitude and Stepping into Freedom from Pain by Richard Kinney Have you ever wondered why small children have so much joy and energy? It doesn't matter where in the world you go; small children all have this. Why did Jesus say "Least you become like a little child, you will in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven?" Is it possible that as we grow up that we have mishandled and misinterpreted some of the experiences that have come our way, until we have lost the joy and energy we came in with? What if God has designed us to be powerful--full of life and love? I believe he has and that we have lost our way in the darkness of this world. Recently God has shown me some tools to regain our natural state. These tools dovetail very nicely with the present-day, widespread movement of the Holy Spirit highlighting gratitude as a way of life and worship. In this class I will try to unpack what was shown to me as an important addition to the way that we counsel and live. I would like to talk to you about dilation and constriction, moving forward and insisting that all of life nourish us as opposed to withdrawing and hiding. The devil wants us to be constricted and in a state of reaction. When we are in a state of reaction we are caught and unable to act freely. God wants us to stay open, able to be free and to act. We are surrounded by the love of God and the power of God on all sides. He is everywhere equally present. Unlimited power and love surround us like an ocean. If we open it, it will flood in. If you have ever been to the dam at Niagara Falls and seen them open the flood gates, you'd be very happy not to be in front of the water that comes out. The water does not need to be coaxed or begged. It just comes through in a volume largely determined by how wide the gates are open. God's power and love are like that. When we open up to it, it comes in abundantly. This is not all there is to intimacy with God, but it is a really big piece of it. Most people believe that if they don't feel the love of God, or have the power of God working through them, that there is a "supply side" problem. God is holding out on us. He is stingy and mean--or there is not enough--or worse yet, he doesn't like us. All these are lies that cause us to back up and be constricted. To be constricted is to have the soul unhealthily compressed upon itself that does not allow the love and power of God to flow freely. If a woman is going to give birth to bring life into the world she much first dilate. In order for us to allow the power of God and the love of God to move through us freely, we must heal these constricted areas in our soul and come into a healthy and normal state of dilation where the power and love of God will move through us freely. Here are some things in life that we encounter that cause our souls to constrict: pain, unfair treatment, fear, anger, hatred, guilt, blame, bad self-image, unresolved loss. Here are some things that cause our souls to dilate: love, joy, forgiveness, good self-image, peace, companionship, plenty. Think of someone you love for a few moments and see how you feel. You'll feel your heart open, your body relax, and a sense of warmth and well-being move through you. As a Christian, our lives are moving in a straight line from the moment of salvation towards heaven. As pilgrims here on earth, we live a nomadic life in this world. We need to stay open to the power and love that will allow us to represent Christ on our journey. To illustrate this, there is a fuse used to detonate explosives called "det cord". It is used by special forces and SWAT teams. It burns very rapidly and is really a series of small explosions. It's sticky like putty. You can put it on a closed and locked steel door and set it off and it will cut right through the steel and will create any shaped opening you want. Try for a moment to see your life as a series of positive and negative explosions moving very rapidly in a straight line, making up the whole of your life. This class is an instruction on one way of opening and maintaining this cord of life in a dilated and healed state that will allow God to easily move through us. We will learn to digest the best of our experiences with gratitude and thanksgiving and to move forcefully into the areas of pain and trauma--learning to re-open the "cave-ins" of our life; and healing and getting nourishment from them. We'll start with how to handle the heart-breaking moments of loss and sorrow that come into our lives. If a really big moment of loss or even of good comes into our lives, the soul must process it or digest it so we can go on in a healthy way in our lives. We see this by people obsessing over an event or person who hurt them or even a lost love they can't let go of. These unprocessed and undigested experiences are stored in the soul much like the body stores food it can't process by setting it aside in fatty tissues. Post traumatic stress syndrome is an extreme example of this. Our natural inclination towards pain is to hide from it, pretend it does not hurt, or feel that nothing can be done about it and just try to "suck it up" and go on. This leaves us blocked and in reaction whether we know it or not. The way I suggest dealing with these painful and traumatic occurrences is illustrated by the martial arts practice which is " Wu Wei ". This is using our enemy’s strength against him. I call this same process in an emotional and counseling sense "coming in the opposite spirit." Let's have a marshal art lesson to demonstrate the principle of Wu Wei (pronounced wee way). A 130-pound woman has been grabbed by a 200 pound man by her wrists. She pulls away from him with all her strength. He pulls back with his greater strength. She will not be able to break free from his grasp in this manner. What should she do? She needs to use his strength against him. First, she pulls back as hard as she can, forcing him to pull on her wrists harder. Then she steps in towards him and pushes off her back foot, letting him pull her towards him violently. Her hands are outstretched where she strikes him in the upper chest or throat knocking him back and down as she twists her wrists free from his grip by pulling out where they are grasped by his thumb and forefinger. Then she may run away or attack as she sees fit. It is by moving towards the larger opponent that she gains freedom and mastery of that opponent. In the same way, as we go back over our life into an old wound or painful circumstance that is constricting our soul, it is by stepping directly into it and not away from it and insisting that we get nourishment from it that we gain our freedom and return to a natural state of dilation and openness to God. What we need to do is to ask Jesus to hold our hand and step with us directly into the pain and say, "Jesus, this really hurts. Stay here with me and make it bearable until we pass through the pain and gain nourishment from it." What was a "stumbling block" and constrictor of our soul becomes a stepping stone of pain and trauma successfully faced and mastered. As these wounded areas in your soul are systematically opened up and restored to health, the natural flow of God's power and love will start to move through you powerfully. This flow will bring about even further healing and return you to your natural states of joy, energy and power. Our deepest held beliefs are our prayers. If we believe in a positive world with a God who cherishes and loves us just the way we are, we will tend to draw more blessing and positive experience by the action of that belief as a positive prayer. If we believe we are oppressed and unloved and unappreciated, those beliefs will draw those experiences to us. Our deepest held beliefs naturally reinforce themselves. And we will have objective proof that the lies that we believe are true. This is a cause of the failure of many of our prayers of petition to be answered. For example, a man at a job wants a promotion and prays for one. However, his deepest held belief is that he is not the kind of person who is positively noticed and not really "good material" for promotion and blessing. So his prayer goes unanswered. We have seen many times in our counseling practice, that when someone changes their deepest held negative core belief --such as, no one notices me or really enjoys my company--all of a sudden, they begin to have make friends and get promotions at work. Gratitude Gratitude for the joyful and good things that come into our lives help us to digest them and get the good out of them. Wrongly held, even good things can constrict us, as we hold them in an undigested state, as a high point that we may never achieve again. Here are some examples: A first love that we never married; being a high school football star; having a high paying job that we loved and lost; having been very strong and athletic and losing our health. If we hold these without gratitude, they can constrict our soul. Let me give you an example of a counselee of mine's life experience that started me on the seeking that led to this class. A seven-year marriage that began when she was twenty had some wonderful high points of love and romance during their first five years. In the final two years the same good experiences were happening, but the husband became very jealous, and his insecurity and jealousy ruined a truly beautiful marriage with a completely devoted wife. The wife, broken-hearted, interpreted the whole seven years of the marriage as loss--a high point in her life that she would never reach again. At age fifty, her deepest held beliefs had come true with two more very bad marriages behind her. What we did to help her was to go back with deep gratitude and thankfulness for the first five years of the marriage and interpreted that time as one of great blessing--restoring that area of her soul to its natural state of dilation. What we did with the final two years of the marriage was to ask Jesus to enter into it with us into the deep pain and loss until she came out the other side, having been nourished by the experience. She came away a stronger person strengthened by successfully facing her pain and having her soul restored in that process .Her deepest held belief changed to being optimistic and being that she could, with Jesus help, face the good and bad that comes to all of us thereby setting herself up for success in future life. Here is another example. A counselee who had a very abusive mother and truly painful childhood, had the blessing of her mother marrying a truly lovely man who became like a stepfather from heaven to her loving and adoring the child. After eight years of a father figure that most people would give anything for, he died unexpectedly of a heart attack. She was devastated. She counted all eight years as loss, setting herself up for more loss and hurt in the future. Many of us do this. What we need to do is to develop a habit of gratitude and go back to the areas of our life that blessed us. And take them in and digest them through thanksgiving and gratitude. We did this with this counselee, and she got the good and the nourishment of her wonderful step-father. By stepping into her pain with Jesus at her side, she found release and nourishment in that part of her soul. She also released the terrible loss of his sudden death., she also released. She became much livelier and more open to God--better able to live a life of joy and success. Since all things are contained in God in whom we live and move and have our being, whenever we are grateful for any part of creation, we give praise and worship to the creator. So, as we live, we digest and get good from life by the act of gratitude which connects us to God and becomes an act of worship. We need to go over our lives and see if we are holding some of things that happened to us in an undigested or constricted state and revisit them with the Lord so that we can get good from our positive as well as our negative circumstances. As an example, as a child I was abandoned by both parents and was beaten by my grandpa. Things were not good for me. But during that time, my grandma would read to me from the classics--Huckleberry Finn, King Arthur, Robin Hood. These are very large books with very big words. It created in me a life-long love of language and literature which has served me very well in my adult life. She was also a fabulous cook. Every day there was wonderful food from her kitchen. I love food and cooking and spent twenty years very happily as a caterer. Cooking is one way that I have learned to express love towards friends and family. Even in the dark times of my life, there have been some really good things. By going back and being grateful for these things we restore dilation and the natural movement of God's power through our soul. We should not, however, use this to gloss over the pain and sorrow of these times but to step into them with Jesus, as I have described to you earlier. This is a very good way to live. I am a Christian counselor and I have observed that most Christian counseling has been guilty of being overly problem and trauma centered. Very little has been done in the extremely important area of gratitude and making sure that the counselee gets the good from their past as well as resolves the pain of trauma. Both pieces of the puzzle are necessary for a healthy life of ongoing gratitude and stepping in boldly to pain and problems--past and yet to be faced. In both cases, using the approach of stepping in and gratitude, will bring a balanced healing and a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and for anyone counseled in this way. We will, through these approaches, reinterpret our lives; thereby setting ourselves up for success and for a greater number of good experiences to enter into our lives.

These four talks by Dr. Nancy Moelk were given as a parenting class in 2002. Here is a brief excerpt: "Is it possible to have great love for your children but that love is not being received very well by them? Even though we love our children with great intensity, that love does not always get communicated to our children in a way they can receive. Our idea of how to love may not be in a language that the child understands." What are the four ways to communicate love in a way that the love you have will truly touch the child? •Loving Eye Contact •Loving Voice •Undivided Attention •Non-Sexual Touch You can use these teachings and materials as classes to help yourself or for a parent class. Here are more resources on these classes if you want to use them for study. (See also this article for more insight on child raising.)

David was a very passionate person. He had big desires, a big heart and big expectations. He recklessly trusted God to protect him and prevail. He danced before the Lord with all of his might. He wanted 24 hour worship so anytime day or night he could hang out with God. But being in touch with his desires also got him into serious sin and trouble. Murder and adultery and testing the Lord by having the army counted. Yet he was considered a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). David was in touch with himself and his desires, to say the least. It gave God opportunity to work with him and develop him. David wrestled with God and God didn’t mind the struggle at all! It brought changes in David and put him increasingly on a path drawing him to God. Jesus found it easier to work with people who were more connected to their desires: prostitutes and tax collectors. He struggled to connect with those who were in denial about having desires such as the seriously religious folk. Jesus wasn’t afraid of sin and sinners. He was troubled by hard hearts that sought to hide their deepest desires from him and themselves. Too often the answer for wrong desires is to try and annihilate that part of the person that has wrong desires. One thing I have observed in many years of counseling people is that someone who is sexually abused has similar symptoms as someone whose sexuality was ignored and treated as if it didn’t exist. It is interesting how these two opposite woundings, one of abuse and the other of neglect, can have such a resemblance. God created people to have desires. God created people to be sexual. There must be some valid way of being those things or He would have never made us that way. Plus this is a way we are made in His image. He has desires and the fact that He wants to bond and be “one” with His people (see Eph. 5:32) is obviously the characteristic in Him that we resemble by longing to be “one” with another in sex. Ps. 38 was written by David when he was in the throes of difficulty. He had sinned and now he was recognizing that his desires had led him astray (once again?). So, the psalm gives a great illustration of someone wrestling with their desires before God and looking to have them reoriented towards God, the only One who can truly satisfy. Psalm 38  (NKJV) O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! 2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. David recognizes his desires have drawn him down a path away from God and into looking for fulfillment in something that doesn’t satisfy. 8  I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. He is now in a broken state, and he has no peace. 9  Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. David is being totally honest with God. He is showing God this part of his heart that got him into trouble. He is laying these desires out before God and letting him know how much he longed for and hoped for satisfaction. 15  For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. 21  Do not forsake me, O  Lord; O my God, be not far from me!22 Make haste to help me,O Lord, my salvation! David is turning his heart towards God and beginning to hope in Him. He is using his desires to come towards God now and get into orbit around God. This will extricate him in time from the power of the other thing that had him in its power. Pursuing our desires in ways that are contrary to God’s will won’t leave us happy and satisfied in the long term. Ultimately it will bankrupt our souls where we settle for a momentary pleasure at the cost of our over-all well-being. Many people have had to wrestle with that part of their soul to get it back into God’s orbit and then taste and see what God has to offer to fulfill them. On the other hand, others have never allowed their heart to utter the words: “this is what I want” or “this is what I desire” openly. They can’t admit it to themselves, much less to God. Their souls are seriously undeveloped and unopened to self, others and God. Their lives are shallow and sterile. To have fruit there must be union. For there to be union, there must be a knowing and offering of self. God seems willing to accept us right where we are. What if our desires are twisted and hung into am orbit of destructive things? He will meet us there and help us get free. What is we are shut down and afraid of ever admitting we have desires and needs? He will meet us there and help us to look for the real self, find it and develop it. His goal is to win our hearts so we want Him, we desire Him. We all are forces of nature who have our own gravity: we draw people and situations to ourselves to reflect our deepest held beliefs. Our deepest beliefs are our most powerful prayer. We draw people, situations, and things to ourselves by it. It’s our gravity. As we align to God and get into His orbit, it changes our gravity. People will increasingly be drawn into our orbit by His pull. This will bless or offend them depending on which way they want to go, towards or away from Him. Everyone is born with the desire to give and receive love, for relationship and connection. Without it, an infant will die. But because we have the Divine design inside of us, there is a hunger for Him. He is the ultimate magnet that exerts a drawing force on us all. As we progress through life, our desires get sounded out and developed. Finding out what we want is meant to be an interesting and fascinating journey. Using our free will, we grow in knowing ourselves and discovering what we like and don’t like, what we want and don’t want. But that process can be fraught with difficulties and wrong turns. There can be many dead ends of pursing our desires and finding out that particular thing doesn’t satisfy. And then we are on to something else. The relationship between an infant and its mother is a fascinating illustration of gravity. The mother longs for the infant and desires to draw the baby to herself. But she allows herself to be affected by the gravity of the baby as well. The infant cries out for the mother or care-giver in a frantic hope to draw her to herself. Her survival depends on it. Later, the baby seeks to engage others and draw them to her by catching their eyes and smiling at them in mini-connections. The baby is orbiting around the mother but in some ways the mother is orbiting around the baby! Before sin entered the world we were meant to be full of God and others were meant to be full of God. When people desired us they would get some God. When we desired others we would get some God. Instead, nobody automatically offers God and no one automatically gets God. Suppose an infant has basic needs met to the point that she survives but her deep desire that someone wants to be with her is never fulfilled. She will continue to experience this desire as unmet but will begin to find other ways of trying to meet it. She may become an experienced people pleaser, or someone who strives always to be perfect. She can give up hope of ever succeeding in getting this desire met and begin to pretend she has no desires. As life goes on, she may try many different avenues to get what she wants—to draw it to herself. She may orbit around many idols. Whoever she is connected to in the way of relationships will be affected by her ways of trying to get that need met. Desire is a fundamental part of a person's soul that is with him always. The fact that he possesses this quality is because he is made in God’s image and God has desires. God desired to create the heavens and earth. He wanted to create a special piece of it to have fellowship and relationship with. He longed for people to want him with their ability to desire so He gave them free will. Jesus exhibited desires while He lived here. He desired to be about His Father’s business at 12 years old. He desired so much to win back companions for eternity that He was willing to suffer and die to make it happen (see Romans 12:2). It is quite moving to hear Him tell His disciples in Luke 22:15, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” We can never grasp all this meant to Him. He was facing a horrible trauma at the same time He was focusing on how that decision would get for Him the thing He most desired: humanity—humanity to be with Him forever, forgiven and able to share His light, life and love! A bride to come into communion with Him. of us has our own type of gravity. Gravity is a stabilizing force in the universe that keeps things in place and in relationship to one another. Gravity is created by PRESENCE. Anything that has mass has its own gravity, us included. So, the earth’s gravity affects us but so does that of the people and things around us. We are captivated by earth’s gravity, but the earth is captivated by the sun’s gravity and the sun is captivated by our galaxy’s gravity which is held by greater galaxies. You get the picture.  Everything that has mass in the universe has its own gravity. Gravity is very much like desire. Everybody wants to draw things to themselves, and everybody is affected by what others around them want. If we get free from one thing that is “holding” us by its gravity, then we are free to move into orbit around something else! There are two main ways we can be drawn in this matter. Towards God or away from Him. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32) He knew that when His body died it would create a fundamental change in the universe where now His gravitational force would become compelling and ultimate. Everything would end up before Him eventually, for better or worse. In the meantime, we have a journey through life of the evolution of our desires. Will the path lead us to Him or away from Him? What is the evolution of our desires and how can they end up being fulfilled by the “Desire of the Nations”? Spend time with God asking Him to put you in orbit around Him more and more.

Click here to listen to the list. Which of these statements mostly describe your time spent communing and communicating with God (namely the Father, the Son and/or the Holy Spirit)? There isn’t any grading for this quiz but it is meant to help you see the range of possibilities. God is delighted with any focus and effort you put towards him! 1. Occasional “hail Mary” prayers when you can’t find any other solution. 2. A “honey-do” list of things you need God to accomplish for you to be happy, safe, and healthy. 3. A desperate catalog of all things in life you feel you need but don’t have. 4. Micromanaging of your family, friends, church, enemies, etc. 5. Vigorous soul wrestling with your own thoughts, feelings or will. 6. Vigorous soul wrestling with demons. 7. Reading the Bible. 8. Thanking God for what you have. 9. Thanking God for all that He will provide in the future. 10.Waiting on God to speak to you. 11.Listening to God’s voice. 12.Trying to find out what God’s will may be for various situations. 13.Ignoring your thoughts and focusing on your heart loving on God as a Person in your life who means so much to you. 14.Connecting to and soaking up the Presence of God that flows out of your “Oneness” with Christ. 15.Enjoying that God wants to be with you and approves of you even in your worst moments. 16.Sitting on God’s lap and resting. 17.Speaking with God through the day as your best friend. 18.Enjoying your friendship with God. 19.Seeking to find out how God sees you and your life in the hopes of agreeing with His version of you rather than the worlds. 20. Asking God to send angels to accomplish His will in various people’s lives and various situations. 21.Appropriating the fact, you are seated in the heavenly places with Christ and using that authority to declare God’s will and change things on earth. 22.Seeking God to make null and void (by the blood of Jesus) anything being used to deny you and your territory (family, job, finances, health, etc.) all that God has ordained is yours by the fact you are his beloved child and meant to be an heir of the riches of Christ. This is done in the courts of heaven. Consider incorporating some of the ideas on this list into your prayer times with God. Consider seeking God to enlarge your relationship with Him by teaching you the best ways for you to engage Him in prayer. Jesus still wants to teach His disciples how to pray! PDF of Prayer Life Quiz