Sunday, February 14, 2010

Thoughts on Prayer and the Bible


I went to mass today and the gospel was about the Beautitudes. One cannot just read the beautitudes and understand them. One must read them and meditate upon them through prayer just like every thing else in the bible. The most controversial part about them is the part that says "blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for their is the kingdom of heaven". Many people think that this means we shall remain poor and that material gain is a sin. I can see how one can think that, for the bible also states that one cannot serve God and money.

The Word, however, calls us to pray. Pray for wisdom, pray for help, pray for courage..etc. One cannot have one without the other. You can read the bible for literary purposes but the Word is meant to be used as a spiritual weapon to save our souls and feed our spirit. It gives us hope when man tells us there is no more hope. It forces us to go beyond mankind and believe there is a greater power working behind the scenes on our behalf. The word gives us power to conquer and eliminate evil things we struggle with daily such as depression, pornography, suicidal thoughts, temptations, addictions to drugs or alcohol, etc. These are things that may have a stronghold in our lives where we cannot see beyond them. Only through Christ can we make those changes in our lives that we cannot do alone, and through the Word we get to know Christ.

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