Wednesday, February 3, 2016

PERSONAL JOURNEYS - Daily Readings, Devotions, Prayers, and Affirmations

This section of our efforts is going to be devoted to the ways and means by which we have such an ardent and fulfilling spiritual life within our body of believers. As has been stated before, we do not have any concrete and glass structure that we all travel to in order to share and worship. Our community is an exclusively online fellowship, and, therefore, involves followers from all over the country, and, indeed, the world. Therefore, how we worship is strictly of personal preference, and carried out in private spaces.
            We accept all who come to us with open hearts and minds, and we do not condemn any belief system, except those that preach or teach hatred and violence. However, we have found, through sharing with one another, that we have some common practices that we have all found to be immensely helpful in our spiritual walks. In this section, we will be sharing these practices so that others may profit from them as we have. We do not contend that anyone must follow these practices, as worship should be as individual as those performing it. But, we do hope that this section will help those who feel they want to take their own private worship to the next level.

Daily Readings, Devotions, Prayers, and Affirmations
            The most important thing about worship is that it should not be something that is done only once a week or on special holidays. Worship should be something that is as much a part of life as breathing. The daily habit of reading, praying, and affirming ourselves and our beliefs is very important, in that it brings us back to the reasons of why we live and believe as we do on a daily basis, thereby affirming our inner strengths and giving us peace.
            Many people prefer to do these things in the mornings, when they first rise and as part of their morning routines, however there is no set time or place that they need to be done. To do them in the middle of the day, before going to bed, or on a lunch break, will in no way demean them or make them of less importance. The important thing is that they be done, every day, regularly and faithfully.
            The first of these things is a daily reading of whatever Holy Scriptures that you hold dear. These may be from the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Rig Veda, the Koran, the I Ching, or any of the other numerous volumes of holy writings that have come into being throughout the ages. If your belief system has no holy writings, then a selection from a book of poetry that speaks to you of your beliefs may be appropriate. The reading should be of fairly short duration, 5-10 minutes, and should be of spiritual and personal quality to the individual.
            The second thing should be some sort of devotion. A devotion is a short lesson based upon a premise presented in the form of a verse or section of sacred writings. There are devotional books from all the different religious beliefs of the world, many of them for little or no cost, available in book stores and online. Our suggestion is that you pick one and try it. If you do not feel that it is correct for you, you will not need to get anything else from that particular belief system again. This is also a great way of finding out what other belief systems are and what they believe in. A good devotion should take you about 10-15 minutes to get through.
            Now is the time for the third part of our daily exercises, the prayer. Prayers can take many shapes, and the shape of the individual’s prayer should be exclusively up to them. We, at Children of Father God and Mother Earth, are rooted in the Christian belief system, and so we have many things that adhere to that particular way of worship. We have a prayer for this time that is an eclectic mix of certain prayers found in the Holy Bible, but is helpful in focusing the mind of the person reciting it. It goes like this:
            Our Father who art in Heaven
            Hallowed be Thy name
            Thy kingdom come
            Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven
            Give us this day our daily bread
            And forgive us our trespasses
            As we forgive those who trespass against us
            Lead us not into temptation
            But deliver us from evil
            Dear Lord, I pray that you will bless me indeed
            Give me the resources to keep a roof over me and mine
            And food on our table
            As I continue to walk the road that you have placed me on
            Dear Lord, I pray that you will enhance my domain
            Give me new things to do and to learn
            To stretch me as an individual
            As I continue in the work that you have given me to accomplish
            Dear Lord, I pray that you will keep your hand ever upon me to keep me from evil
            Clothe me in your armor
            To protect me from the fiery darts of the enemy
            But give me my own sword of courage and wisdom
            So that I may, through your strength, fight the darkness wherever it may be found
            Even if it is within myself
            Dear Lord, I thank you for yesterday, today, and tomorrow
            I thank you for all that you have done, are doing, and will do in my life
            I turn my family, my friends, and all that I hold dear
            Over to your guidance, your protection, and your peace
            And, giving you all the praise, and the honor, and the glory
            I pray all these things in the name of your Son and my Savior
            Jesus Christ.
            Amen.
This prayer has been very helpful to many of our followers, and we offer it to you here in hopes that it will also be helpful to you along your spiritual journey.
            The last part of daily exercises should be affirmations. Affirmations are small sentences that usually begin with “I am,” or “I will.” These are meant to be self-affirming to the individual, in that they are a way to speak positivity to our own subconscious, and therefore into our lives. There are many affirmations that can be said to ourselves. Some of them may be like this:
            I am a beautiful person and God loves me.
            I do not need to be concerned with what anyone but God thinks of me.
            I am blessed and all is well.
            I am getting better every day and it will only continue.
Affirmations are ways to confirm our specialness to God and the rest of the world we live in. These can be very useful to those who are perhaps a little overwhelmed with the cares and worries of life. Affirmations can be as few or as many as the individual wishes, but should only take about five minutes to recite.

            Daily readings, devotions, prayers, and affirmations should usually take only about 20-30 minutes to accomplish on a daily basis. This duration may be lengthened if the individual wishes to add meditation or a longer prayer time. However, making time for these things in one’s daily routine can add immeasurable depth and spiritual meaning to anyone looking for those things in their lives.

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