In hindsight everything is clearer. Thankfully, God accepts us despite our fumbling process along the way. So there isn’t a specific prayer with all the right words, other than the one Jesus taught:
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,[a] but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:9-13
From this prayer we learn that God is in heaven and His name is to be respected. God’s kingdom will come to us (when Jesus returns) and His will happens whether we submit or resist- God’s will happens (and the consequence will be a result of our choice.) God gives us everything we need (our daily bread/scripture) and He forgives our sins- as we forgive others. God can lead us away from temptation and protect us from the evil one (through the Holy Spirit) when we ask Him to do this for us.
There are so many “religions” in the world but Jesus kept the instructions for all of us pretty simple:
Receive the Holy Spirit (Born of the Spirit; Born Again) John 3
We can recite prayers but if the words don’t come from our heart – they are meaningless, it is better to speak our own words and heartfelt thoughts to God, submit/surrender “our own will,” accepting God’s will, because His will happens despite what we may want, ask God for guidance and ask God for the Holy Spirit to perfect us as we grow in our faith and obedience to God’s commands.
My past. Churches and religion were all the same to me: full of righteousness, rules and tradition and I wasn’t, I was the outsider, a little rebellious and the rejected one. I wanted God in my life, but I didn’t want the rejection I felt in the church or through religious doctrine, so I avoided it. You wouldn’t find me reading a bible, I wasn’t that type of person. I wanted to be a “good” person, but if I was honest with myself, I knew I wasn’t. I prayed occasionally but not regularly.
In hindsight. I know now, what I didn’t know then, and life became clear when I finally read the Bible. No one could have reached me the way the Bible did. In fact, I believe it was God who reached me, the first time I was seeking an answer from the Bible, I prayed and asked Him to show me something that would answer my question. I randomly opened the Bible and there was the answer to my question. I believe God answered me. So many of the questions I had about life, situations, afterlife, etc. were eventually answered, but not immediately. I had to read, search, discover and study to find the answers. This was a long process.
Looking back to my “anger” with churches and religion: I was aware of the 10 Commandments but I also saw the hypocrisy, fakeness within the church, it seemed no one was truly living in accordance with them. I must admit no one had been truly unkind to me, and I wasn’t judging others, I was observing. I think it was my own self-conviction, guilt and disappointment in myself that made it so uncomfortable for me to be there. It made me “resentful” in a sense, I knew others were not perfect, but for some reason I felt rejected even though they were included/accepted. This was likely spiritual warfare. I didn’t know about spiritual warfare until I read the Bible, but this could easily be a situation of being attacked spiritually to keep me from being a part of the community, separate me from God. It was so easy to no longer have the obligation of going to church, (that meant more free time to do what I wanted). And that’s how I remained until God shook up my life in many ways (before I read the Bible). Now, I can see others in my former status having the same reaction I had: anger, distancing, intolerance to hear or spend time (in church, studying the Bible, etc.).
The further we get away from God, the easier it is to fill that time with things that take us away from God and the easier it is for evil to influence us. (I saw this following quote from the bible, 3 days after I drafted this- see what I mean about the bible answering questions!)
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” Romans 8:7
I’m writing this to reach someone who feels the way as I did (rejected) and who doesn’t know about spiritual warfare. I no longer feel this way- thankfully! But it would have helped me if I had known this.
Please know this happens; allowing evil to misguide us will eventually lead us to a place we don’t want to go Hell/death- eternal separation from God. This is exactly why we need the opposite of “avoiding”. We need God. If the people at church are a deterrent, don’t go, but pray, read and study God’s words which is the Bible (it is spiritually influenced), as often as possible. (If you continue reading the bible, you will eventually become aware that this is not like any other book, and you will see that it is spiritually influenced.) Whenever fear, guilt, shame or disappointment sets in, remember what is in John 3! Know that God loves us and wants us to be in a personal relationship with Him. It is so much better once we cross to the other side (meaning with God and not against Him): there is a feeling of peace in all circumstances.
(This is a link to the podcast on Spotify for this post, if you prefer to listen.)
Wake Up. When the world took notice of the “pandemic” in 2020, it made me wonder: Is there more significance to this? Affecting the entire world, is this a “wake up” call from God? I think it was. It is now 2022 and the “signs” have not ceased, they have increased. Most who study bible prophecy and are honest about what they discover, will tell you, we won’t know for certain when the final 7 years starts, but approximately 3.5 years into the 7 years, we will know (once the man of lawlessness, AntiChrist, is revealed). Until then we will only see signs, Jesus tells us those signs in Matthew 24.
Preparation Time. I’ve been thinking that we might be in the final 7 years and while the timing of it shouldn’t be our focus, the preparation should. I feel a sense of urgency knowing how long it took me to “get my life in order” (meaning with God). It wasn’t overnight! I can see other people that I care about are just like me before my eyes were opened – so that is what concerns me and brings out this sense of urgency. We may not have much time, but others don’t feel that way or see the urgency like I do. I know I can’t do it for anyone, but I care about them. It is exhausting having conversations when you know that someone doesn’t see it, understand it or doesn’t believe it and I can’t force a belief on anyone, all I can do is pray, which I do. If someone believes, they will take action, if they don’t, they will stay the same. The urgency is always present because we are not guaranteed to live “X” number of years, anything could happen at any time. So the urgency is present whether it is 7 years from now, or if God says our time is up unexpectedly. It is a race against time in that regard.
My Question to God. As I mentioned, it’s not enjoyable telling anyone that there may be a short time before Jesus returns, so I prayed (2/12/22) and asked God if we are in the final 7 years and asked what should I be doing right now? As I’ve done before, in prayer, I ask God about something, then open the bible to see what scripture shows up (it is consistently relevant to me). When I asked the question above, this was the page I opened to:
Then I called my sister and told her what happened and said this doesn’t say anything about the final 7 years so I guess I should back off a bit. But she pointed out, you asked 2 questions: one was is it the final 7 years and the second was what you should be doing. She had a point. So I told her I would try again and let her know.
My answer. I prayed again and asked God to show me something that would let me know if we are in the final 7 years. I didn’t want to affect the outcome of what page was opened (i.e. knowing what part of the bible is Old Testament vs New Testament and turning to a certain area of the Bible influencing the outcome) so I placed the bible on the spine of the book and let it open. Well first, the cover opened and it was a blank page, Second the same think happened, then the 3rd time it opened to Ezekiel 38 (about Gog and Magog). When I saw that I called her again and said this is about the time after Jesus returns, so I guess we are not in the final 7 years. And I went about my day, not giving much more thought to it. But then I watched this video and Amir mentions Ezekiel 38 unfolding! That certainly caught my attention: click here for the video but it was too late at night when I watched it, so I decided I would look into that scripture more the next day, which I did, I searched for studies on God and Magog; I watched this and then re-read the scripture, I can see the third opinion: This war likely will be a long war that could begin before the man of lawlessness is revealed and finish at Armaggedon, when Jesus returns. It was certainly an interesting theory, one that I hadn’t heard before and certainly made turning to Ezekiel 38 more relevant regarding the final 7 years. It seemed to be an affirmation to me. I wouldn’t jump to this conclusion if I didn’t have prior questions answered in this way, some that were future events that occurred the way the scripture indicated, and not the way I hoped it would be. Another point, it’s always God’s will, not ours and no matter what we plan, God’s will/His word, will prevail. This is a humbling experience because we realize we ultimately don’t have control of anything. If you haven’t learned that yet, just wait, you will learn that eventually.
What is next? God doesn’t reveal things without His purpose in mind. As I was reading prior chapters in Ezekiel to get a better understanding, I read Ezekiel 33, verse 6: 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ It made me reflect, I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s demise, if God is showing me this and telling me we are in the final 7 years, I need to communicate this!
All Christians: I think this applies to you right now too: If your eyes are opened to what is going on in the world, use that wisdom to help those who are not yet aware.
Maybe someone will be impacted by what happened to me, maybe by you, or various sources? I know what happened to me a couple days ago, what has happened to me in the past and what time period I believe we are in right now: The End Times. Even if I am wrong, if I misunderstood or let my personal thoughts influence this, the final 7 years doesn’t matter, but preparation does. (Technically there is a benefit to getting right with God sooner than later, you could possibly not die an earthly death, you could ascend to meet Jesus when he returns, but that shouldn’t be the goal, it is just a benefit if a person has prepared prior to Jesus’ return and is living righteously) 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17NOW is the time to prepare, no matter if we are in the final 7 years or if it turns out to be far into the future. Being prepared (spiritually) is the most important thing to do right now. Pray to God, reconcile with God, repair that relationship, ask for His Spirit to guide you daily and give you wisdom and discernment about what is happening right now. If we seek Him, He will reveal Himself in a personal way to each of us. Don’t put this off. What if war happens unexpectedly and somehow you or I am in the area of destruction? Will you be ready? Have you told God you want His presence? Don’t fear what can happen to the body, fear what can happen to your soul. (Matthew 10:28)
God has amazing plans for us in the future, when we become immortal! You don’t want to miss out on this! Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 I can’t wait for this period; I’d like to miss the in between period, but that is not likely!
How many times have we had this happen: something that puzzled us becomes known and then we think: “Wow, I should have seen that!”? Often it happens when we consider another person’s thoughts, another person’s perspective, someone who notices something we didn’t initially, until that person points it out. This is how each of us can help each other. So many people throughout my life have unknowingly influenced me; they unknowingly contributed to my direction in life: some were positive influences and others were negative influences, but both influenced change in me. This is also a reminder to “be thankful in all circumstances.” when that influence contributes to a positive change, and even if the circumstance is negative. But sometimes the change was negative: a great reminder to be intentional with friendships.
Those are examples of “small details” in life, the bigger picture in life is something that I gradually became aware of, through other people who pointed out very obvious details that I’ve passed over so many times throughout my entire life:
There is a literal Kingdom that has been and is forming right in front of us; it’s a “right in front of your face” “secret” formation (only because we are “blind” to it), so subtle that many don’t see it!
Thinking about a “Kingdom” in a literal sense is not something a US citizen would necessarily embrace, and many others may not either because of the mistrust and corruption we see every day. But this literally is happening right now, but not by force as many historical Kingdoms have formed in the past; with this one, each of us is allowed and encouraged to decide if we choose to live in this Kingdom which is currently forming.
Something finally connected with me this morning, many people might know the words to this prayer, but many of us may have simply memorized it, not thinking about each and every word. Here is the prayer, the prayer Jesus gave by example of how to pray to God:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,[a] but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
This is what I see now, some of which I didn’t see before:
Where is God? “in heaven“- a spiritual realm we can’t fully comprehend because we haven’t seen it, (click the links for supporting documentation).
Hallowed: “greatly revered and honored”- God, and only God, is to be worshipped, nothing should be more important than God in our lives (the first 3 Commandments given by God, summarized here)
your kingdom come: This is literal, I didn’t comprehend this until now! God’s Kingdom will be coming to us, to earth, a NEW earth with a NEW ruler (Jesus) pay attention to how many times Kingdom is referenced, Kingdom – of heaven, not only that but the bible references “heavens”, plural, not a single place where people will permanently be! There is a new literal place that is offered to those who accept God’s Kingdom and God’s commands/God’s Kingdom’s rules will live, a place so beautiful, so challenging to describe, so peaceful, without sickness or evil.
your will be done: God’s plan will happen, but along the way people’s choices are allowed by God, but eventually His plan will prevail, Jesus was part of God’s plan, part of God’s plan from the very beginning, prophesized by Isaiah approximately 700 years before Jesus was born!
on earth as it is in heaven -the Kingdom of heaven will be brought here, to earth, under Jesus as ruler (see prior links)
Give us today our daily bread – if we seek God first, all that we need will be provided to us, Jesus said this.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors – Jesus explained how important it is for us to forgive others, it affects us if we don’t forgive.
It’s pretty amazing how much is within this simple prayer and referenced in other teachings Jesus gave us and throughout the Bible! There are a couple of videos I recommend on this subject, if you, or someone you know prefers to watch rather than read ?
This is something I certainly look forward to! I love to travel, so I think about the beautiful places I’ve experienced (like driving the Na Pali Highway in Oahu, HI), or other places I’ve only seen through photos….and God created all that, but He has plans for something even better than that, something new- now THAT is VERY exciting to think about!!
Should we trust our feelings? My guess is anyone reading that question will have a number of reactions, such as: “YES!!!!“or “NOOO!!!!” or “I have no idea; I’m confused, help!” So what is the Truth? How do we know which answer is the correct one? These answers are provided below.
Should we always trust our feelings? The Truth is NO.
2. Are there times we should trust our feelings? YES. Then, when? See below.
3. What if we are confused? How can we determine the correct answer? See below.
When Trusting your Feelings is Wrong:
Let’s be honest. Since the day we were born, we started out selfish, self-centered, right? All of us were born that way. If and when we grow and mature (emotionally, not in years), we become less self centered/selfish, but it takes intention and effort to grow and mature, it doesn’t come naturally, just like growth in anything else (such as working out, eating healthy, growing a business, relationships) : “no pain, no gain.”
So a simple question to ask ourselves is: Is my feeling motivated by self-centeredness, selfishness? If the answer to this is “yes” then trusting your feelings is wrong. Spend time being honest with yourself about the answer to this question. Don’t lie to yourself, be honest.
When Trusting your Feelings is Right:
With the same question above, we can know if trusting our feelings is right. Is my feeling motivated by selflessness, driven by loving , contributing to or helping others? If the answer to this is “yes” then trusting your feelings is right.
What if the motivation behind the feeling is selfless, driven by love, contribution or helping others but FEARis holding me back? Fear can a blocker to something good or it can be something that protects us. If the reason behind the fear has to do with a life or death situation then trust your fear! But if not, do not let fear guide you, it is BLOCKING YOU from growth. Say you are motivated for the right reasons and you don’t submit to fear, you proceed, then something doesn’t work out as you planned? That was still the right thing to do because it is growth. We grow when we go through tough times, we come out better! As many say: if we’re not growing, we’re dying! We can’t be doing neither, think about it. Don’t let the wrong kind of fear hold you back.
When your Feelings are Confusingyou:
This is the hardest one! Confusion is telling us to: WAIT, HAVE PATIENCE, but most of all PRAY! If the answer isn’t clear after reading the above testing question to know if trusting our feelings is wrong or right, then our situation is more complicated (based on the bible, confusion occurs when unrepentant sin in involved) and we need may need forgiveness and guidance from God. Waiting does not mean do nothing, it means slow down, pause, be patient but take action in prayer right away. Talk to God about it from the deepest most honest, vulnerable part of ourselves. This is between you/me and God alone, no one else. God will give us clarity eventually. But don’t “do nothing” during this time of “waiting and patience” pray about it often until clarity is received, not “a feeling,” but unquestionable clarity. Confusion is due to sin, according to the Bible. So where do we get this clarity? From God’s word, the bible. This is the coolest, most awesome thing to discover! It seriously has all the answers to the complicated questions and it is the truth.
I wasn’t taught to go to the bible for answers to questions until recently. I didn’t use it as a resource (ever) quite honestly, but once I discovered this, I am so thankful because it answers so many questions. Today, there is no excuse for not having this resource, if you have access to the internet. Some of the bible is hard to understand the first time reading. To truly know the meaning behind a quote you see, you need to read it in context so you get the full understanding. Even when you do that for the first time, there may be questions. This is where other people can help. Not necessarily by giving their interpretation of the bible, but by directing us to other passages that answer our questions. Be VERY cautious of people who interpret the Bible, don’t take their word, but ask questions, pray about it, then you will know. There are many people today who give their opinions, don’t trust “opinions” only trust facts. Facts are found by reading the bible and through prayer. Many people are misguided but can be convincing so they will give us the wrong information and lead us down a path of destruction. Sometimes people truly have good intentions, but are still not correct. Look for answers in the bible and through prayer.
I hope considering these simple questions helps. I’ve added resources and references next:
RESOURCES
A few different FREE online bible resources (check them out to see what you like best):
S.A.I.L. 