How To Get Your Prayers Answered!

Want to know how to get your prayers answered? Obviously there is no formula that magically binds God to give you what you want -- and thank God for that, since he knows so much better than we do what is best for us -- but you can do a few things to make sure you are in a position to receive the answers and blessings that God wants to give you!

What Can Keep Us from Receiving Answers from God?

Psalm 103:7 says, God "made known his ways unto Moses and his acts unto the children of Israel." For most of the Israelites, they knew God only from what they saw him do. But with Moses, God actually revealed his plans and purposes before he acted; God showed Moses his heart.

That's like the difference between reading about the public actions of a President or Prime Minister in the news, on the one hand, and knowing the President or Prime Minister personally and being privy to his decision-making process.

If you want to know God's wisdom so that you can apply it to your life, the best way to do this is by getting to know God better. And how do you get to know God better? The best way is by reading his word.

Just like any good habit, reading the Bible may feel like work at first. Let's be honest, if you start with Leviticus or Deuteronomy, chances are you will quit reading before it becomes fun, since those are not the easiest parts of the Bible to read.  So I would recommend starting with the Gospels and the Psalms. There are a lot of reading plans and study groups out there that you can use. But the most important thing is to do like Nike: just do it!

Set aside some time each morning to read the Bible and pray. How much time? Start with something you feel you can easily do. If you only have five minutes, then set aside five minutes. If you can spend more time than that, then do so. But it's better to do a little consistently than to do much inconsistently; incidentally, that is true for trying to develop any new habit! Each day, give God the firstfruits of your time: spend your first few minutes after waking reading the Bible and then praying over what you read.

If you don't know where else to start, here's an easy reading program that worked for me when I first started to read the Bible regularly as an adult: read one chapter from the Gospel of Matthew and one Psalm each day. Once you finish Matthew, go on to Mark.

As the saying goes, "If you want to hear God speak audibly, read the Bible aloud."

As is true with any friendship, the more time you spend hearing or reading God's word, the more you will come to know his heart. And the more you come to know God's heart, the better you will be able to distinguish between what is in accordance with God's will and what is not.

Start Each Prayer with the Premise that God Loves You!

Whenever you pray, and whatever you pray for, pray with the belief that God loves you, because he does! 

As Paul says in Romans 5: 1-11, "God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us . . . For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." 

And in Romans 8: 31-32, Paul says, "If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for all of us, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" 

In other words, if Jesus willingly suffered and died for us when we were at our worst, then you best believe God won't withhold anything from us that we need to live a good and fulfilling life!

No matter what you are praying about or praying for, start each prayer with the premise that God loves you!

Have an Attitude of Gratitude towards God!

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul tells us that we should give thanks in every situation, because that is God's will for us.

No matter what you are going through, maintain an attitude of gratitude. Obviously, this can be easier said than done; but no matter how difficult it seems to stay positive and thankful, you really have no choice but to try, because the alternative is so harmful. 

If you hold a grudge, you poison your own mood and outlook on life. This is true whether you are holding a grudge against another person or against Life itself or God. Counting your problems is a surefire recipe for despair!

No matter what your situation is, you can always, ALWAYS, find something for which to be thankful. Tell God thanks for those things that are good in your life. Have food to eat? Clean water to drink? Clothes to wear? A roof over your head? Those things sound so basic, but start there. Look around you right now and try to find ten things that you would miss if you were to lose them. Here's one: are you able to breath easily and freely? Think about how grateful you would be to be able to breathe like that if you had emphysema!

In psychology, the action of focusing on what is good, rather than what is bad, is called "reframing." Even if you don't believe in God, reframing your perspective on your situation by counting your blessings and expressing gratitude for them is a powerful antidote for depression. 

Forgive Yourself and Others

Jesus makes this explicit in his teachings on prayer: if you want God to answer your prayers, be sure to forgive! This is not an option! 

As the Lord's Prayer goes, "Forgive us our debts [or trespasses], as we forgive our debtors [or those who trespass against us]." (Matthew 6:12.)

In Mark 11: 24-26, Jesus makes this teaching more explicit. After telling his disciples to have faith and trust God to give them what they ask for, Jesus says, "And when you stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not fogive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. 

Even if you have a good reason for holding a grudge, you exercise this dubious "right" at your own peril: you need forgiveness and mercy as much as anyone! And if you don't forgive others, you will have a hard time forgiving yourself, because deep down, you will know that you're not living up to your arbitrary standards of morality either. But if you are willing to forgive yourself and others, you can be sure that God has forgiven you as well. 

From mindfulness meditation, there's a technique which may also be helpful here. If you feel angry, turn your attention upon the raw sensations of this emotion, as you feel it in your body. Be willing to feel the physical tension or other pattern of energy that arises when you feel angry. Paradoxically, when you allow yourself to feel the raw physical pangs of anger, without identifying with it or trying to suppress it, the feeling is robbed of much of its power. It's almost like anger is a beach ball that you have tried to hold under the water, but which keeps rising to the surface: instead of trying to hold your anger down and force it out of your awareness, which is an impossible task, just let go of it.

Don't worry; it's not a sin to feel angry: in Ephesians 4:26, Paul quotes the Psalmist by saying, "Be angry, and sin not." What is wrong, harmful, and contrary to God's will for your life is for you to hold onto your anger, nurse a grudge, and try to get even.

As 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Recap: How to Get Your Prayers Answered...

When you pray, pray from the wholehearted belief that God really does love you; be sure to have an attitude of gratitude and thank God for your blessings, especially if you don't feel like it; and forgive yourself and others, so that you are no longer holding any grudges against anyone. Moreover, start each day with prayer and Bible-reading, with no agenda other than to know God better and to know his will for your life. If you do these things, you will find that your prayer-life improves significantly, and you will see more of your prayers answered. Just be sure to give God thanks and praise when that happens!

Meditating on the 23rd Psalm

I love meditating on the 23rd Psalm. It's one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible. It has a lot of beautiful and vivid imagery about God's love, presence, peace, protection, and provision. In my quiet times, I often will just take a line from this Psalm and silently savor it, just letting the words seep deep into my soul.

Meditating on the 23rd Psalm

About David, Writer of the 23rd Psalm

David was many things: a poet, a musician, a songwriter, a singer, a shepherd, a soldier, a worshipper, and a king. I love him as a character in so many memorable stories in the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings. Sometimes he is the hero; sometimes he wins; sometimes he loses; and sometimes he is even the villain. But throughout it all, there remains a genuineness and humility that sets him apart. For all his very human failures and flaws, David always remains open to receiving God's instruction and even correction. 

David's sincere and earnest love of God comes through in the beautiful poetry of the Psalms. David doesn't put on airs or sugarcoat his difficult feelings and experiences. He doesn't try to weasel out of responsibility for his choices, including the terrible ones. He is raw and real in his prayers. He lets it all out and freely acknowledges that he struggles to do what is right, and when he makes mistakes and even when he sins egregiously, he confesses his wrongs frankly and without making excuses.

When Jesus told the parable of the two debtors, he indicated that those who are forgiven much love God the most. They know they need him. They know they can't make it on their own and that apart from God, they really don't have much to offer or boast about. David was such a person. He received a lot of mercy and forgiveness from God, and he never forgot that. He stayed humble and teachable, even when he was at the height of his fame and success.

The 23rd Psalm is so memorable, in part, because it conveys David's deep and abiding love for God and his complete faith and confidence in God's goodness and mercy.

Below is the text of the 23rd Psalm; read through it slowly:

The 23rd Psalm (KJV)

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;

He leadeth me beside still waters;

He restoreth my soul;

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil,

For thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me;

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

Thou anointest my head with oil;

My cup runneth over.

Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Meditating on the 23rd Psalm 

As you read through this beautiful Psalm, what words or phrases stood out to you the most?  God is your shepherd: he will protect you, guide you, provide for you, and bless you, even in the midst of adversity and in the presence of enemies!  Which of these images of God or his actions in your life, which of these metaphors, or which of these promises strikes you as the most encouraging or comforting?

Once a word or phrase comes to the forefront of your mind, set a timer for as many minutes as you are comfortable sitting silently. If you've never meditated, you can start with 5 minutes and see how that goes. 

If you already meditate regularly, you can assume the posture that feels most natural. You want your posture to be conducive to being both relaxed and alert: many people find it helpful to sit in a chair with their back straight and their feet flat on the ground, but if you prefer to sit cross-legged or even in the lotus position (if you're that flexible) then go with that. 

Gently close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and then softly and slowly repeat the word or phrase to yourself, gradually softening your voice until it is barely audible, and then keep softening your voice even more, until you are simply thinking the word or phrase without saying it. In your mind, continue repeating the word or phrase slowly and softly. 

If you get distracted, don't worry about it; when you notice your attention has wandered, simply bring it back to the word or phrase you chose from the 23rd Psalm. Continue meditating on the 23rd Psalm in this way until the timer goes off.

You Don't Have To Be Perfect To Be Amazing!

You don't have to be perfect to be amazing! According to the Apostle Paul, we are God's masterpieces, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared in advance that we might walk in them! Ephesians 2:10. God does not make mistakes! And if you are his workmanship, you must be pretty awesome!

"You Don't Have to be Perfect to be Amazing!"

Forgive Yourself!

If you have done anything wrong, then ask God for forgiveness, and then receive that forgiveness. Forgive yourself!

Don't try to have a higher standard for yourself than God does. He has made forgiveness easy, so don't you try to make it difficult. Forgive yourself!

If you have harmed someone else, then apologize for what you have done. Don't focus on what the other person did. Just acknowledge what you did or failed to do. If there is something that can be reasonably done to right the wrong, then do it. The key word is "reasonable," which can be tough to determine when you are one of the parties involved in a conflict. Ask a neutral third party whose judgement you trust what you think you should do. Pray about it. And once you have a genuine conviction about what you should do to make amends, then do it.

And once you have apologized and taken reasonable steps to make amends, then move on with your life! Forgive yourself! Just like you would forgive someone you love dearly, like your child or your best friend.

Jesus said that you should love your neighbor as yourself. Interestingly, for many people, the stumbling block here is loving themselves! And if you don't love yourself -- if you instead have hatred and contempt for yourself and criticize yourself constantly -- what kind of love can you possibly offer anyone else? If you have mostly negative feelings towards yourself, then you will more likely hate your neighbor like you hate yourself, rather than loving them!

Change Your Perspective about the Past!

If you are looking back over your past and you feel like you've had more failures than successes, more regrets than good memories, and more sorrow than joy, you've got to change your relationship with your past. The past is over and done with. You can't go back and change it now. But you can change how you think about it.

Here's something you can try: look at your life as it is right now and find some things to be grateful for. You may not feel like it, but it's the only way to change your negative habits of mind. Maybe you have trained yourself to look for the bad in each situation, so that you expect things to be bad and to only get worse. That habit of mind won't change on its own. You have to conscientiously make a point, each day, of looking for things you can be grateful for. 

Start a gratitude journal! Every morning, as soon as you wake up (or maybe after you've poured yourself a cup of coffee to drink while you do this), write down three things you are grateful for. And don't just do this mechanically. As you write each one down, stop and think about it for a minute. Savor it, if you can. Imagine what it would feel like to lose it, and then imagine how overjoyed you would feel if, after losing it, you found it again! By doing this, you can increase your appreciation for what you already have, and stop beating yourself over what you don't have; and you can become happy to be who you are, where you are, with the life you're actually living, rather than some idealized vision of how things could have turned out if you had taken a different path -- a vision which is almost certainly unrealistic and leaves out a lot of the difficulties you would have faced if you actually had taken that different path. Instead of ruminating over what you think went wrong, express gratitude for what has gone well! 

Have an attitude of gratitude! Give thanks to God for what you actually have -- especially your relationships with God and with others -- and thank God for the life you are actually living!

Here's another thing you can do: make peace with your past. It is what it is, but it's not who you are; and it's definitely not who you're destined to become. As 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness." Take God at his word and receive his forgiveness. 

If you feel discouraged, pause for a minute, turn your attention towards that feeling, and examine it in a dispassionate, open-hearted, and curious way: examine it like you would examine a piece of cloth or something equally impersonal. Pay attention to the physical sensations associated with the feeling. Where do you  feel it? Become aware of it, not as a judgment about you or your life, but merely as a pattern of energy in your body. In doing this, you may discover something ironic: as you become willing to feel this sensation and pay attention to it more closely, rather than trying to fight or suppress it, you will find (with enough practice) that the emotion loses energy and dissipates on its own.

Remember this: a feeling is not a fact, even if it purports to be. Maybe a feeling of sadness feels like a compelling judgment that your life is bad, but it is not. Practice the technique of "reframing" -- which is where you change your perspective on something by shifting your frame of reference; sometimes this is also called "paradigm shifting." Here's an example: let's say the traffic is unexpectedly bad and you are running late for an important meeting. One perspective would be to focus only on the inconvenience of being late, the feeling of pressure to arrive on time, or the anticipation of being embarrassed to arrive after the meeting has already started. If you make that your focus, your mood will be negative. Instead, try thinking about how you would have felt if, instead of simply running late because of bad traffic, you had experienced a breakdown and you had to wait on the side of the road for a tow truck -- that would surely be so much worse than just being a little late because of traffic: focus on what a blessing it is to have a car that is working the way it should! You may be late, but at least you're moving towards your destination! And then think, how bad is this really going to be? Probably not nearly as bad as you imagine! And will it really matter in 20 years that you arrived late today for this meeting? Probably not! By shifting your perspective, you will  soon find that your negative feelings about the situation subside, even if just for a moment; but the fact that your feelings can change like that, when your circumstances have stayed the same and only your perspective has changed, shows that your feelings are not so absolutely and objectively true as they "feel."

Progress, NOT Perfection!

The reality is, as long as we are living in this world, we will always be "on the road" to somewhere else. We never arrive once and for all. And so that means we are continually making progress, which means we aren't perfect! Perfection is not the goal in this life: progress is. As the recovery-program slogan goes, "Progress, NOT perfection."

You Don't Have to be Perfect to be AMAZING!!!

You don't have to be perfect to be amazing. God already loves you and has a plan for your life. God has already forgiven you and set you free. Be free! Allow yourself to be as amazing as God wants to empower and enable you to be!

Why Worry When You Can Pray?

Why worry when you can pray? It's an honest question. When we've done everything we are capable of doing, but we're still worried, what more can we do? Let me tell you a story...

Why Worry When You Can Pray?!

A Story about Worry

Joan has given hundreds of speeches before large audiences and has been a keynote speaker at major conferences and other events in her field. She knows that her daughter, Meghan, an eighth-grader, has to give a presentation at school tomorrow and that she's nervous about it. Joan wants to help her daughter, but she knows not to force herself into her daughter's business or nag her about her speech. If she does, Meghan will become defensive and resist her attempts to help. It's happened before. So instead, Joan casually mentions that she has helped others with their speeches and, if Meghan is interested, she would gladly help her, too. And then she leaves it at that.

That night, while Joan is watching television, Meghan comes in quietly and sits down beside her. Joan smiles reassuringly and gives her a hug. She asks how she's doing.

Meghan says, "I'm fine," and looks down. A moment later, she looks back up and adds, "I'm kind of scared about tomorrow. I don't like speaking in front of people."

Joan nods and says, "I know how you feel." She talks about how she used to have stage fright and how scary it can be to talk in front of a group of people when you're not used to it. 

"So how did you get over it?" asks Meghan. 

Joan tells her daughter some of the techniques she had used to get over her own fear of public speaking. Then, she asks if she would like to practice her speech in front of her, and maybe she could offer some feedback and tips.

Meghan agrees, and she stands up and begins her speech. Kindly, gently, reassuringly, Joan coaches her daughter and gives her a few simple strategies to use. By the time they finish, Meghan is feeling visibly relieved and more confident. Joan hugs her proudly; she knows her daughter will do well.

In many ways, we are like the daughter in the story above, and God is like the mom. We face problems in Life. We have limited knowledge, skills, and resources. God's knowledge, skills, and resources are unlimited. But he knows not to force himself on us. If we feel we are being coerced against our will, we tend to get defensive and stubborn. So instead of making us listen to his counsel and accept his help, God humbly and graciously offers his assistance to us, but then waits patiently for us to ask for his help.

Worry Does NOT Help! Prayer Does!

Why worry when you can pray? Why ruminate over your problems and all the what-ifs that could go wrong? Not only do anxious thoughts fail to help us, but such worried thinking actually harms us! When we panic, we are less able to see possibilities. We get stuck in either/or, black-and-white kind of thinking. We are unable to think creatively. Worrying incessantly does no good. Our feelings of fear or anxiety serve only to help us avoid unwarranted risks, but when risks are worth taking -- and in Life, every positive action that we can take will involve some risk -- worrying incessantly can keep us from preparing for and responsibly facing challenging opportunities. 

When you are afraid, use the tools God has given you to conquer your fear. Pray. Read the Bible. Seek the counsel of wise men and women whose judgment you trust, especially those who have successfully conquered the challenge you are now facing. Formulate a plan where you can make manageable, measurable progress towards your goals, and find a friend or mentor to hold you accountable to sticking with your plan. Once you've done your part, trust that God will be with you and help you in your time of need. As Ephesians 6:13 says, "Having done all, stand." Stand tall on God's promises. Believe that he is with you and that he will never leave you or forsake you! (Hebrews 13:5) And then go claim your victory in Jesus' name! 

Here is an encouraging sermon from Joel Osteen (embedded from YouTube) about having faith when you are afraid and facing difficult challenges:

Why Worry When You Can Pray?!!

Whenever you are facing challenging circumstances, ask yourself the following question, aloud: "Why worry, when you can pray?" When you hear yourself say it, you will remind yourself that you have a God who is always there, ready to listen and ready to help!

Be a Blessing to Someone Today!

The best way to feel blessed yourself is to be a blessing to someone else today!

Love your neighbor as yourself! Bless someone else, and you will be blessed yourself!

In our hyper-individualized American culture, the cultural wisdom tells you that if you want to feel better about yourself, you should engage in "self-care." And "self-care" often means being intentionally self indulgent and self centered.

But once you have a healthy level of self-respect and proper boundaries, focusing excessively on yourself will actually make you less happy and less fulfilled. 

Of course, if you don't have a healthy level of self-respect and proper boundaries, so that others push you around and walk all over you without any repercussion, then that is a separate issue that needs to be addressed.

Healthy Self-Respect and Proper Boundaries Help You to Help Others More Effectively 

A message if self-care may sometimes be needed to correct for low self-esteem and codependency, where a person feels obligated to put themselves last in any and every situation, no matter what. Some people were raised with an unhealthy belief that enjoying nice things for yourself is somehow sinful. (Usually, this belief is encouraged by selfish and narcissistic religious leaders who don't practice what they preach.) Sometimes, people do need to learn how to say "No!" to the unreasonable and selfish demands of others and to say "Yes!" to their own legitimate needs and desires. After all, you can't obey Jesus's teaching of loving your neighbor as yourself, if you don't love yourself!

If that is the case, find a Christian leader whose life you would want to emulate. Pick someone who is genuinely happy and who has healthy, happy, mutually rewarding relationships. In other words, find someone who both talks the talk and walks the walk. Once you have identified some people like that, ask them to counsel you. As Proverbs 11:14 says, there is wisdom in having multiple good counselors.

Learn to love yourself, but don't stop there. If you love yourself, you're only doing half of what Jesus taught when he said to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Once You Respect Yourself and Have Healthy Boundaries, Look for Ways to Show Your Love for Others! 

Assuming you do have a healthy self-respect and have proper boundaries in your relationships with others, then engaging in "self-care" will only take you so far. 

If you focus only on yourself and your own needs and wants, you will paradoxically become less happy and less fulfilled in life. 

As it turns out, the best way to make yourself feel happier and more fulfilled is to do something nice for someone else! Of course, this is what all the world's major religions have taught for centuries. Now, research in the field of positive psychology is confirming that teaching!

In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells the parable of The Good Samaritan in response to a series of questions from a religious leader. When asked about how to gain eternal life, Jesus responds with a question: what does the Law say? "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and love thy neighbor as thyself." (Luke 10: 27.) So the religious leader asked a followup question: "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responded with the story of a man in desperate need of help; his own countrymen pass him by without giving aid, ostensibly because of religious considerations (if the man was dead, they would be ritually impure for temple services). But a Samaritan, a member of a lower caste and a natural enemy of the injured man, stopped to help him. Jesus said that this is an example of how we should be towards others: the best way to show our love for God is to perform acts of loving kindness towards others. (See also, the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31-46!)

In John 12:24-25, Jesus declares something of a paradox: if you try to hang on to something, you will lose it; but if you let go of it in order to serve God by being a blessing to others, you will gain more than whatever you gave up. How does this work? How can you be better off when you sacrifice for the good of others?

In addition to the spiritual blessings promised by Jesus (as well as the leaders of the world's other major religions), we experience verifiable emotional blessings when we act kindly towards others! 

We are social creatures. There are no indigenous people anywhere who live in isolation: every people group throughout the world originally lived in small tribes. For a person who ventured out on his own, there would have been a lot of hungry predators waiting to eat him! We are physically one of the weakest animals on the planet; in one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat, we would be quickly killed by most of the large predators out there. But what allowed us to survive and thrive as a species was our ability to work together (in addition to our opposable thumbs). Consequently, our instincts and emotions are designed to get us to seek companionship, since relationships with other people are so critical to our survival.

Our brains are "wired" to reward altruism, since acts of kindness towards others strengthens our relationships and social bonds. Because of the type of creatures we are, doing good to others makes us feel subjectively happier and more fulfilled!

Check out this video below (embedded from YouTube) of Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar discussing the scientific evidence for the benefits of being kind towards others!

Spirituality and science agree: in order to live a fulfilled and rewarding life, we should perform acts of loving kindness towards. So go and be a blessing to someone today! Not only will you bless the other person, you will also bless yourself!

How to Stop Procrastinating Now!

Stop Putting Life on Hold! Stop Procrastinating NOW!

"I want to stop procrastinating . . . starting tomorrow!" announced someone who will never stop procrastinating!

But seriously, how do we break the habit of putting life on hold until some distant future day, when we will hopefully feel up to it, feel sufficiently prepared for it, or feel like we finally have enough time to deal with it? 

How do we stop procrastinating NOW?

There Is Never Going to Be a Better Time than Now!

In 2 Corinthians 6:2, the Apostle Paul said, "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Today! 

It has to be Today! Whenever you experience God's grace, mercy, forgiveness, redemption, empowerment, and blessing, you are experiencing them in the present. Today.

Tomorrow, by definition, will always be a day away. Whatever day it is, that day is today, and today is the day to seize all the opportunities and to use all the tools and resources God has given you.

Today, right here, right now, is the only day we have in which to act, to change, or simply to be present in our lives.

Lord willing, we will be alive tomorrow to do all of those things, but guess what? When "tomorrow" arrives, that day will be "today." 

All of this may sound so basic as to not be worth saying. But this really is an important insight! It is always NOW. You are alive TODAY. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but TODAY! Really embracing and living in this truth can be profound and profoundly life changing. 

Our default is not to be fully engaged in the present moment. Our default is to daydream about the future or ruminate about the past. And if our attention is on the past or future, then it won't be on the present, which is the only time we really have to experience and live Life.

With God, It Is Always Now!

It is always now! Maybe this sounds Buddhist or New Age, but guess what? It is also Biblical. And I'm not going to miss out on Biblical wisdom just because it's an insight that Buddhists or New Agers have popularized. 

Why should we be fully alive and engaged in the present? Because that's how God is! In John 8:58, Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am." He didn't say, "Before Abraham was, I was." (If your translation says "was" or "existed," it is incorrect.) Thousands of years ago, Jesus is. Let that sink in. Abraham may past tense, but Jesus is always present.  

Think about it like this. In Mark 12, the Sadducees questioned Jesus about the resurrection and tried to trip him up with an apparent paradox from the Torah. Jesus didn't take the bait. He recognized that the question was based on false assumptions about God and the Mosaic Law. In his reply, Jesus said that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. (Mark 12: 27.) 

I think it's consistent with Jesus's teachings to paraphrase him in the following way: God is not the God of the past, but of the present. For us, there is no way we can be present 2000 or 10,000 years ago. We are bound by time, just as we are bound by space. We can experience only the present moment, just like we can only be in one place at a time. But for God, there are no such limitations. God is always present. For God, it is always now. That's what eternal means: not bound by time.

So the bottom line is this: God is oriented to the present. We should be too.

As the Psalmist said, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24.

Today is the day to live, to act, to be, to make a change.

The writer of Hebrews spoke of "Today" as a day of sabbath rest for God's people. (Hebrews 4:3-11.) You can rest from your own self-centered efforts and agenda today, because God wishes to work through you today to accomplish something bigger and better and more fulfilling than you could ever do on your own. That's the very definition of working smarter, not harder.

It actually takes a lot of mental and emotional energy to daydream about the future or ruminate about the past. This isn't to say that we shouldn't plan for the future -- that's something we can do today -- but our focus should always be on what we can do and experience and be in the present.

Today is the day of God's salvation. Today is the day to rejoice and be glad. Today is the day of resting in God's presence and grace and empowerment.

Once you really believe those truths, you will be ready and willing to act now. Today. In the present moment.

Like Nike Says, "Just Do It!"

Dr. Laurie Santos coined the term "The G.I. Joe Fallacy" to describe the erroneous belief that (according to the 1980s G.I. Joe cartoon series) "knowing is half the battle." Knowing is not half the battle. You still have to do.

Sure, now you know that God is ready to act in you and through you to accomplish great things today, but just knowing that isn't going to change anything. Like James said, "Faith without works is dead." (James 2:20.) You have to put God's word into practice to make it effective in your life. God's word tells you that today is the day that God has made, but now you have to act like you believe it by doing something with that knowledge.

In Steven Covey's classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the first habit is being proactive. Effective people don't wait for change to happen; they take action to bring that change about. Don't let Life happen and just react to it. Believe that you are someone God can use to change the world for the better. Be proactive!

Fortunately, positive psychology has developed useful tools to help you make positive changes in your life, starting today. But you have to decide to act and then follow through. You have to do the work. But fortunately, as many people have discovered first hand, these tools do work, and you can use these life hacks to form new habits and break old ones.

Dr. Gabriele Oettingen's Life-Hack Called "WOOP"

Click below to listen to an episode of the NPR podcast "Hidden Brain" about the tool developed by Dr. Gabriele Oettingen called "WOOP," which stands for "Wish, Outcome, Opposition, Plan." This life hack has been proven to work to help people accomplish their goals! Applying this technique won't cost you anything, and it takes relatively little time, so why not give it a try!

 
So go ahead and put your plan into action! Try out different tools and "life hacks" and find out what works best for you! Just be proactive, and act! The Lord bless you and keep you as you do!

If you have any tips you'd like to share on how to stop procrastinating now, please add them below to the comments section! And check out other articles on this site about claiming victory in Jesus today!

Have an Attitude of Gratitude!

When we're in pain, it can be hard to see the good in life. But a consensus of experts, from religious leaders to psychologists, tell us that we will be happier if we cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

Have an Attitude of Gratitude, No Matter What the Circumstances Are!

What Makes Us Discouraged?

Nothing makes us discouraged. True, sometimes things happen that we don't like. But those things don't have the power to make us feel down and out. Most things in life are outside of our control, but our attitude is not. No matter what has gone wrong in life, we can always choose to have an attitude of gratitude!

I know it's not easy to stay grateful, in spite of unpleasant circumstances. Believe me, I know. It's not easy. It's hard. But it is possible.

Don't believe me? That's fine. Because if it was just me saying it, I wouldn't believe it either. It would seem too counterintuitive to be true. Bad things happen, yet you're supposed to stay grateful about your life? How is that supposed to work?

But according to God, it does work. And it is possible. And it's what God wants us to do, no matter what the circumstances look like!

The Apostle Paul's Teachings on Gratitude

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

The Apostle Paul earned the right to say that, too. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, he talks about some of the difficulties he faced: he was whipped five times, he was beaten with wooden rods three times, he was stoned almost to death, and he was shipwrecked three times and adrift in the middle of the stormy sea. He was jailed multiple times because of his religious convictions, and not in an American jail where he was constitutionally protected from cruel and unusual punishment; no, he was thrown into Roman dungeons where no punishment would have been considered too cruel. He was ultimately killed by the Romans, very likely after being tortured. And through it all, Paul did not waiver in his commitment to God. There is no way Paul could have done all that if he had not followed his own advice and given thanks to God in every circumstance.

Philippians 4:4-9 contains a powerful distillation of Paul's teaching about having an attitude of gratitude.

• Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. 
• Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 
• Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God;
• And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
• Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
• Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you.

No matter what is going wrong, God is still good, so start by rejoicing in God. Don't give in to anxiety or despair.  Instead, pray: tell God how you feel and ask him for what you need, and make sure you do it "with thanksgiving!" Thank God because you know he will make a way. (1 Corinthians 10:13.) And then focus on positive things.

It won't be easy. But God will give you all the grace you need to do it.

Having an Attitude of Gratitude

Here's the reality of our situation: in the world, we will have problems, but Jesus has given us his word, so that we can have peace in him. (John 16:33.)

It is not a choice whether we will have difficult circumstances. We will. That's guaranteed. Jesus said it. And if that wasn't enough, every philosopher or religious leader I've ever heard of has agreed with him. For example, the first noble truth of Buddhism is that suffering is everywhere. Even those who don't believe in God believe that the world is full of problems.

But although we don't have a choice about whether we will have problems in life, we do have a choice about whether we will have peace. We will have problems, but we can have peace. The problems come no matter what. The peace comes only if we choose to trust God and follow the Bible's teachings about having an attitude of gratitude in all circumstances.

Fortunately, that choice cannot be taken away from us. In addition to these promises of God, we have the testimony of Jews and Christians who have faced the most horrific circumstances imaginable, yet who have chosen to respond with godly virtue. For example, both Viktor Frankl and Corrie Ten Boom wrote about their experiences in Nazi death camps, and both shared stories of people who did noble and heroic deeds, even in the face of cruelty and death. (I highly recommend Dr. Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning, and Corrie Ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place.)

As Zig Ziglar once said, "Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude." If you choose to have a bad attitude, you will really only hurt yourself, and that's in addition to whatever other problems you already have! Why make things worse for yourself? Why not take advantage of biblical principles and promises, so that you can have a better, more victorious life right now?

But Life Is Not Fair! I Have a Reason to Be Unhappy!

Even though it's the truth that we can only have God's peace if we choose to have an attitude of gratitude, some people will object that this ignores all the reasons people have for being unhappy. Life is unfair. People did me wrong. If you knew what I'd been through, you wouldn't say that.

Well, I don't know what you've been through -- just like you don't know what I've been through -- but I still know that you are better off finding something to be grateful about.

You're right about life being unfair. It can be very unfair. While we should do what we can to work for justice and oppose injustice, we will never remove all the unfairness from life, no matter how hard we try.

Something I learned from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is that it can be beneficial to evaluate beliefs on the basis of whether they are helpful or unhelpful, rather than whether they are true or false. "Life's not fair" is a true belief. But, how helpful is it to dwell on that belief, to ruminate over life's injustices and to remind ourselves over and over again about how we've been wronged?

Once, I was in therapy for an injury I'd suffered because of someone else's carelessness. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I had been hurt. And now I had to work through painful exercises in order to heal properly.

In that circumstance, I could think about how I had been wronged or about how it was unfair for me to be enduring painful therapy while the person who had caused my injury was (to my knowledge) healthy and able-bodied. That thought would have been true. But how helpful would it have been? Not very.

Sometimes I did allow myself to brood over the injustice of my situation, and whenever I did, I always felt worse. In addition to the pain from my injury, I also experienced the emotional pain of feeling that I had been really wronged. Because I had. But dwelling on that fact did not change anything about my situation. It did not help me to heal. It did not help me to be happy. The fact that I had been unjustly harmed was not a helpful one for me to think about.

Thankfully, God gave me the grace to give thanks in those circumstances. And when I did, I always felt better.

The hard part was this: in order to feel continually better, I had to keep making that difficult choice over and over again. Once was never enough. At some point, maybe when I was having to push through the pain, or maybe when I was having trouble falling asleep and my mind was drifting back to the events that had caused my injury, I would start to feel down again. And once I started feeling down, the thanks and praise that I gave God earlier in the day didn't do me much good: I had to start all over again and conscientiously choose to give thanks and praise in the present moment.

No matter what difficulties you're going through, and no matter what I problems I face in the future, whenever we are challenged, we each have to make the same difficult choice: we must choose to be thankful. We must choose to have an attitude of gratitude. But if we do, God has promised that we can enjoy his peace that "passeth all understanding." (Philippians 4:7.)

A Practical Tip for Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

Here is a practical tip for cultivating an attitude of gratitude: write down something that you are grateful for. Do it first thing in the morning, when you wake up. Better yet, think of someone you are grateful for, and write that person a short text message or email letting them know that you are thinking of them and that you are grateful to have them in your life. And then, before you go to bed, write down something that happened that day that you are grateful for. If you can, get someone to be your accountability partner in this and agree to send each other a text message or email each evening to briefly recap something good that happened that day. By doing this, you will actually train your mind to look for the good, rather than what is bad. And as your perspective becomes more positive, so will your mood.