Tag: friends

Pray for Those Who Won’t, Those Who Can’t and Those Who Don’t

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Spend time praying for 10 things that don’t benefit you. – Dale Partridge

Dale Partridge of The Daily Positive posted this status update on his Facebook page the other day.

I shared it on my own Facebook page with the subtitle  – “A great 2015 resolution!”

Quite the challenge for all of us. Not only to pray for others but to pray for things that will aren’t necessarily going to benefit us. Of course, any type of prayer is always good for us but Dale’s point was for us to see that prayer doesn’t always have to be all about us. It’s quite selfish to always pray for circumstances to benefit ourselves, although that’s what prayer is sometimes – a request for help.

But I think Dale’s point was to get us to stop thinking of ourselves for more than a few minutes a day. Think of others. Think about ways to help someone else for a change.

I admit it was challenging for me to think of 10 different things to pray for that don’t involve me. At first, the first few were easy to write down and pray (a friend of a friend who is ill, a family member looking for a job, a parishioner who recently had surgery) but then I really had to stop and think about more people and events that did not directly affect me. Of course there are always people out there who need our prayers. But do we really stop and think about them? These complete strangers?  These unknowns?

I thought of 3 categories of the people who need prayers:

Those that don’t pray: Non-believers, or just anyone who makes it a point to tell you that they just don’t pray. They might even believe in God and maybe go to church regularly. But, these people just don’t pray. Maybe it’s just not their thing. Maybe they don’t think prayer works.

Those who won’t pray: The people who refuse to acknowledge a higher power. The ones who perhaps believed in something or someone at one point but have left the church or had a bad experience with faith. Maybe they think God hurt them in the past.

Those who can’t pray: Those who are physically or mentally unable to pray; someone with a debilitating disease or condition who can’t speak or communicate in any way; those who have passed on (yes they need our prayers too!).

So those are the people and their unfortunate circumstances that I’m praying for currently. And of course, this challenge isn’t just a one-and-done type of endeavor. I plan on trying to do this everyday. Let this be a challenge for all of us in this new year. To give and to think about others. To cease our selfish ways for a moment and pray for others.

Fit in Your Faith Today: Challenge yourself and pray for 10 things that don’t directly benefit you. Write them down and pray for all 10 things every day for a week. Then start a new list the following week and continue for the whole year. What a tremendous accomplishment and what an amazing number of answered prayers to be thankful for at the end of one year.

 

A Personal Creed

MPiccolo2 Comments

I promise myself…

I will not use the color of my skin, my gender, my job, my level of education, or my abilities to exploit myself in any way for profit, for likes, for clicks, for jobs, or for promotion.

I will not blame others for my circumstances.

I will treat every stranger I meet with respect.

I will look everyone in the eye when speaking to them.

I will ask myself one question after I meet someone new for the first time: “What can this person teach me?” OR “How can I help this person?”

I will watch my language and my choice of words around my family and friends knowing how I speak can influence them, sometimes without even realizing it.

I understand that no human being is perfect, especially myself.

I will look for the good in every stranger I meet.

I think the word “respect” is not used enough and will show respect to every person I meet, regardless of their social status, their job, their appearance, their sexuality, their religion, their age or their gender.

I will donate my time when I am not able to donate money.

I will take full responsibility for my actions, even if I hurt someone because I made a poor decision.

I will forgive those who have done me harm or done my loved ones harm.

I will not use social media to spread false information; I will research the truth and the facts.

I understand life is precious.

I believe my actions speak louder more than my words ever could.

I will use my time on earth to live a positive life and not let others bring me down.

I will start everyday with a prayer for people who don’t pray.

I will never boast about any good deed I do.

I will say thank you when I am given a compliment.

I will listen more than speak.

I will stand up for myself to those who try to tear me down with words or actions.

I will not believe everything I see on TV, everything I see in print,  and everything I hear on the radio. I understand in this imperfect world that there are dishonest people and sometimes their voices are louder than the honest ones.

I will be honest in all things, even if the truth hurts myself or someone I love.

I will not judge those who are different than me. I will not assume what I don’t understand. I will not ignore what I wish I didn’t hear or see.

I will laugh and smile as often as I am able.

If I wake up everyday able to smile, even if I have lost the ability to speak, or walk, or hear, or see, I will do my best to fight to keep smiling as long as God gives me time.

I will encourage all young people to live their dream, no matter how many times they are told NO.

I will tell everyone who has a voice that although their voice might be small, they can make a big difference.

I understand positive and good and wonderful and joyful are not words that make headlines. But positive and good and wonderful and joyful events and people live in this world and do great things everyday. It’s just small number of people who insist on spreading negative and bad and evil.

I believe if violence can spread, that means the opposite action can happen. And that means there is more opportunity for GOOD to overcome the bad. And set the world right. And maybe one day the bad will be conquered and good will prevail.

I believe at the end of my life, I will think “I could have done more. I should have done more. I would have done more…”.

I know in my life now, I can do more. I should do more. And I will continue to do more.

I believe if everyone wrote their own personal creed, and lived it, there would be better days ahead.