Following Our Higher Power’s Voice

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Saturday, November 28, 2015

Following Our Higher Power’s Voice

“Happiness is not an accident. It comes from following the spiritual voice found in each of us. This isn’t always easy.” [1]

Many people familiar with the Twelve Steps and the practices of Recovery know about “Do the Next Right Thing.” When clean and sober people are not exactly sure of what to do, this slogan serves as a help and assistance.

I can do that one better. My friend Bill (now, sadly, in that Big Meeting in the sky) had something he would regularly say. “Do the Next Loving Thing.” This always made a great deal of sense to me. God as I understand God (that is, the Christian understanding) had quite a bit to say about loving others.

In fact, God mentions in the Bible that the most important command given in all of the Biblical Law Code is a two-part law: love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving in the vertical plane, and loving in the horizontal plane, too.

So, following the spiritual voice, following God as I understand God, is staying in ‘conscious contact’ with God. Following Step Eleven, too.

Today is the last day that I will be considering our daily meditation book, Keep It Simple. Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent in the Liturgical Year. I’ll be switching gears, and taking a look at what Father Henri Nouwen has to say about our Advent and Christmas journey through the month of December. Oh, and the last two days of November, too.

But for now, I am still listening and meditating on Keep It Simple. I will close with the Action for the Day: “Today, I’ll meditate and listen to my Higher Power’s gentle voice.” [2]

Dear God, help me do the Next Loving Thing. So help me, God.

@chaplaineliza

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er

(also published at http://www.matterofprayer.net

[1] Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve-Step Beginnings and Renewal. (Hazelden Meditation Series) (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989), November 29 reading.

[2] Ibid.

Listening to My Higher Power

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Monday, November 23, 2015

Listening to My Higher Power

I used to be a people-pleaser. I would do my best to be everything or make myself into whatever people wanted or needed. I would run, do, speak, or not speak. Almost always at half my acquaintances’ beck and call. When I was a teen and in my twenties and thirties, my poor sense of self-esteem kept me going overtime. (And then some.)

I gradually learned how to navigate my way through the awkward conversations, extra-long telephone calls, home visits and play dates. (Fearful of running afoul of the modern-day Pharisees, though.)

As my reading today from Keep It Simple tells me, trying to be a people-pleaser will get me exactly nowhere. Nowhere except hurt or angry, and feeling taken advantage of.

How on earth am I to stay centered and focused? Ah, ha! My reading gives me two good ways: by listening to my internal voice (“To Thine Own Self Be True”), and listening for my Higher Power’s voice. I do have wisdom inside of me. I have dreams and aspirations. I am worthwhile. What’s more, I also have God as I understand God. My Higher Power has my back. My Higher Power will never leave me nor forsake me.

So, I thank God that I no longer am a people-pleaser. (Well, hardly ever, that is.)

Let’s pray, using the prayer for today from the reading. “I pray that I’ll listen to that gentle, loving voice inside me. Higher Power, help me make my ‘conscious contact’ with You better.” [1]

@chaplaineliza

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er

(also published at www.matterofprayer.net

[1] Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve-Step Beginnings and Renewal. (Hazelden Meditation Series) (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989), November 23 reading.

Doing Things God’s Way—the Honest Way

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Saturday, November 7, 2015

Doing Things God’s Way—the Honest Way

Sometimes it’s a challenge to be honest. I mean, completely honest. (Some might say rigorously honest.)

Sometimes it’s easier to bend the truth, or only tell a half truth. Someone might get mad, or be embarrassed. Sometimes I might want someone off of my back or out of my hair.

But, what if I end up telling half of my friends one story, and the other half something else? Then, not only do I need to remember who I told what, but also keeping the story straight. I might get into big trouble, trying to remember all the half-truths and who I told what, when.

On top of that, the recovery program lets me know that honesty is not only the best policy, but it is the easiest policy, too. Telling the truth, in the long run, is the healthiest choice for me. Not only in terms of how I live my life, but in terms of sobriety, too. In terms of faith, and in terms of relationships, as well.

Since this month I am focusing on Step Eleven in the recovery program, “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God,” I need to consider staying honest as improving my relationship with my Higher Power. That’s the vertical part of the relationship piece. If I concentrate on improving my relationship with others, that can only help me, too. (The horizontal piece.)

Let’s pray. Gracious God, Higher Power, I thank You for the versatility and usefulness of this Step. Thanks for the countless thousands and thousands of people who have worked the steps before me. Thank you for this meditation today, bringing my mind, heart and soul to the task at hand: doing things God’s way—the honest way.

@chaplaineliza

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er

Something Completely Different—In Prayer

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Sunday, November 1, 2015

Something Completely Different—In Prayer

Prayer and meditation mean a lot to me. I try to do one or both on a regular basis. Recovery principles also mean a lot to me. (Did you know that I have a certificate in Alcohol and Drug Counseling, certified by the state of Illinois?) Helping people in recovery and their loved ones is also important to me.

That is why I am devoting the month of November to prayer and meditation, as seen through the lens of people in recovery. Since November is the 11^th month, in many daily reading books Step Eleven is a natural focus for the month. What is Step Eleven, you wonder? I am glad you asked.

I will be looking at “Keep It Simple,” a daily meditation book from the Hazelden Foundation. Here are my thoughts from the reading for November 1^st.

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him … “ – First half of Step Eleven. For people in recovery and their loved ones who practice the Twelve Steps, Step Eleven is an important part of the spiritual side of recovery.

As I have talked with people early in recovery, they often are distant from any idea of God or a Higher Power. Many of these people are hesitant to accept the concept of God, even as each individual understands God. That is perfectly all right. Two important words for recovering people are “willing” and “open.” People who are willing to work the Twelve Steps need only to have the willingness to be open to the idea of a God or a Higher Power. That is all, one step at a time.

“Conscious contact means knowing and sensing God in our lives throughout the day.” [1] This is the next step. Once a recovering person is open and willing to God, then comes the possibility of conscious contact with God as each person understands God.

Dear Lord, gracious God, I thank You for this excellent reminder to concentrate on You. And, with today’s meditation, I pray that our relationship does grow stronger, day by day. Amen.

@chaplaineliza

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er

[1] Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve-Step Beginnings and Renewal. (Hazelden Meditation Series) (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989), November 1 reading.