PRAY(Ed DeRousse) PRAY

I did not always feel about God the same way I do today. God gave me two words a few years ago, choice and consequence, to chew on for the rest of my life. They changed me forever.

God intervened in my life at a time of great personal turmoil. Until that time I was not certain He even existed. He clearly offered me the choice to deny Him or accept him. Each of the choices came with consequences. I chose to accept Him and as a consequence have been given a new perspective on life.

Before I acknowledged God, I had no need to pray. Now I Pray every day. I believe the word PRAY is an acronym for PRAISE! REPENT! ASK! YIELD! Here is what those words mean to me.

PRAISE! Everyday I praise God for what I have, for what I went through, and for his guidance. My life is good now. I provided myself with plenty of opportunities to mess it up. In spite of myself, I am absolutely convinced I am now, in my later years, richer than I would have been had I not allowed God into my life. I have been married nearly forty years. I would have been divorced decades ago, if God did not have His hand on my shoulder. I also have two wonderful children and two grandchildren. God prevented me from chucking all that in.

I give thanks everyday for those experiences. What a great training amphitheater they provided. If I were the only one responsible for my life, I would have planned it turmoil free. No matter how planning is done, turmoil happens. Consequently I would have been ill-prepared.

In spite of my stupid self, God had control. He knew what I needed and guided me.

REPENT! I am not, nor will I ever be without sin. My understanding of sin is different today than before I accepted God. Sin is no longer just doing bad things, stealing, sleeping around, physically hurting others, etc. I never ever did those things. So how could I see myself as a sinner?

I used to put my job before everything else. The job came before family obligations. Heck! My father-in-law taught both my children how to ride a bike. I believed every single business meeting was more important than being with family. Those meetings were part of my job. I believed I would be fired if I neglected them. How would I support my family if I did not have a job to go to? Yes, I really did believe that way.
I have spoken ill of my jobs, my co-workers, people I pay to work for me, my material things, and even my family at times. Have you? I know you have. Shame on us! Speaking ill creates animosity and does nothing to solve whatever creates that ungodly feeling.

I repent everyday for the ungodly things I do, did yesterday, or will do?

ASK! I ask everyday for forgiveness. I ask everyday that He continues to bless me. I ask the Lord, God, to continue to look down on the United States of America with forgiveness. I ask that He continues to allow this nation to be the Godly nation He created it to be, one nation under God.

I know we (the US) are not what we once were, but I have faith that we will be led back by the hand of God. I pray that every day. I pray every day that our Lord will send laborers to those here who do not know Him, are afraid to know Him, or choose not to. I pray that we will once again provide the Godly direction to the world I believe we were created to be.

We seem in this country, to have forgotten we were created to be the spiritual leader, the light, for the rest of the world.

You may think that statement to be pretty arrogant of me. You have the right to think that. We have been a nation for only a little over five hundred years. In the scope of time, that is nothing. But, how long has it taken us to become the powerful nation we are. In only three hundred years, 1500 - 1800, we established ourselves as one of the most influential countries in the world; a position, by the way, we are still able to cherish. It took the Roman Empire nearly eight centuries to be considered a world power.

I believe it is rather arrogant to have the opinion that our worldly position would happen without a Godly guidance.

I ask everyday for His guidance to do the Godly things required for Him, my family, and my job. These things I ask in addition to the routine concerns of daily life.

YIELD! The great thing about putting faith in God is that ulcers become a lot less likely. If God believes it is right, He will open or close doors, accordingly. I take great comfort in that.

I try to live by the ten commandments so I can sleep easy at night. They are my guidepost. I have the choice to live a life with or without God in it. I believe in Heaven and Hell. There are consequences either way.

Choosing to not believe in Heaven and Hell means, to me, when your life here on Earth is over, that’s it, you’re done. You live and then you die. What value is that? That is the consequence of not believing. I, on the other hand, choose to live my life as if God will allow me to spend eternity in heaven.

I believe that those who choose to ignore God may have a rich and full material life on earth. When the body dies, though, it is over. They, who believe this way, have to accept that there is no place else to go. To me that is the same as going to Hell. An eternity in Hell is and eternity in Hell. Fifteen minutes of the “Good Life” is not worth it to me. So yes, I yield.

I am a recent convert to an accepted life with God as my light. I know He as plans for me. I am done resisting. I can not wait to experience and appreciate the adventures that God has planned for me.

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