The Soul Yearns

Have you ever helped someone out who then goes on to take full credit for your work without acknowledging any part of your contribution? How did that make you feel? Why am I bringing this up? Well, this thought struck me a week back when the pastor said while praying instead of supplicating start declaring. This was in line with what I had read in a book some time back. The author felt that the Arab nations have become so powerful because every single day, five times a day, they are declaring the greatness of their God from a zillion homes and mosques. So there is immense power in declaring into the atmosphere. Jesus himself had said, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed then you can move mountains. All you have to do is declare to the mountain, and it would move. But are we mature enough in our faith to be able to make that declaration? What could stop our declaration from having the desired effect? Couple of biblical instances come to mind. Uzziah, a king of...

I was wondering whether there is a prayer process. Like, when do you switch from normal mode to prayer mode? Is it when you utter "O God my father" or "Jesus my savior" or some such thing.  There is no prescription in the Bible. But we are often told that prayer is a conversation with God.  So how do we start that conversation?  Do we speak words that feel holy?  And do we say it out loud or do we mumble quietly under your breath, or do we think it in our head?  Whether we think or speak those words, we assume that as soon as we adopt a prayerful attitude i.e. close our eyes, bow our heads, etc, God will start reading our mind or listening to our words. To me, this means that God has to be continuously listening to our words or reading our mind. And therein lies one key reason for unanswered prayers. Now, during the day, we think so many thoughts or speak to so many different people. How much the words we utter or think is in line with wh...

Can saying these two simple words "Thank You" change our perspective about an incident? It's easy to say 'thank you' to those who help us or give us a gift or compliment us. And for those of us who accept the existence of a supreme being, a God, it's easy to say 'thank you God' when good things happen in our lives. But what about saying 'thank you' when seemingly bad things happen in our lives? Do we still have the courage to say a 'thank you' for the pain? Does it even make sense? I think it does. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (CEB) it says " Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.' The key here is "every situation". The good and the bad situations. Good situation is easy to understand. But "bad"? Well, when we think about saying thank you in what we might otherwise consider a bad situation, it will require us to think deeply about the situatio...

Pray Confess your sins God hears your prayer like a father hears your request Take your problems to God Praise and thank God, he requires it Prayer is the panacea to all your problems And so on... You have tons of articles and videos and books floating around on the importance of prayer, how to pray, when to pray, why it is an absolute necessity to pray, etc. etc.  In the bible, we continuously come across verses asking us to pray or example of saints who prayed. Even Jesus prayed. So since there is so much of emphasis on prayer, I am assuming it must be something important. But why is it so important? How can my mumbling a few words under my breath make a difference? How does it help me connect with God? Or is there a process prayer that I am unaware of? Most books advise us to just have a conversation with God. Even the sample prayer Jesus taught his disciples is simple. So that's probably not the case. But since there is so much of emphasis ...

If within our own tiny little solar system, time can mean different things on different planets; if within our own world called Earth, time can be different depending on your position on the latitude and longitude, then would someone who is supposed to be our creator and also the creator of this whole universe be bound by the confines of time? I doubt it very much. Einstein's theory of relativity and the resultant space-time continuum comes to mind if you want to think of a scientific explanation.  Well, the fact of the matter is that someone who is not bound by the same restraints as we are can have a totally different  perspective of things. Here we could compare it to the ask  of employees   by their corporate leaders to develop a broader perspective and big picture thinking. The latter makes an otherwise mundane job more fulfilling.  For example, a nut on its own may feel its life is meaningless. But when it meets the bolt and realizes that togethe...

Happened to read this message in bible.com earlier this morning: Prayer is not a privilege for the pious, not the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Prayer is conversation with God while driving to work or awaiting an appointment or before interacting with a client. Prayer can be the internal voice that directs the external action. Bible.com distills all prayers into few  simple, easy-to-remember words: Father, You are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen. As you begin your morning, Father, you are good. As you commute to work or walk the hallways at school, I need help. As you wait in the grocery line, They need help. So let's stop struggling and start conversing. 

Why does God care? Well, he put a piece of him in us when he created us. That breath of life again. That was him putting a part of him in us. Now he is forever attached to us. He can only feel complete if he can get us back and make us a part of him again. Just like a parent, especially a mother can’t ever be really parted from her child, God experiences similar painful pangs when we stay separated from him. Forcing us to him will never truly make us his. And we have that empty feeling that can only be filled when we go back and become a part of him. Or rather become one with him again. When we go back and fit into that empty spot in the jigsaw. If he creates another human being, it would just mean another empty spot that he needs to fill. More pain for him if that new being also exercised his freewill to move away from him. Once bitten, twice shy. Who wants to encounter pain again and again? Not even God. Remember Jesus, God incarnate, sweating drops of blood at the though...

It’s interesting, isn’t it? The largest, most influential religion or way of life if you want to call it that, doesn’t demand much of you. Just accept that there is a God. That this God is all powerful, all knowing, and eternal – omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent as the preachers would put it. And that he is your creator. He gave you freewill so that he could look at you as a companion. But you took advantage of your freewill to go your own way, do your own things. You are born with a fatal flaw thanks to the disobedience of your first father. Now he, God, does want you back. He wants you back quite badly. But you can never match up to his standards. Though he is omnipotent, all powerful, he can’t do much about it. That is, he can’t force you to get on the straight and narrow path, become obedient, and return to his fold. This will go against the freewill policy he himself instituted. Why? Well, if there is no freewill then you can’t be his companion. It would be like talking t...

Have you ever done anyone a favor and felt surprised, even offended maybe, when the recipient of that favor didn’t extend you the courtesy of two simple words – thank you. It could have been something as simple as holding a door open for someone. You didn’t do it for the thank you. Neither receiving nor not being thanked is going to make a difference to your life one way or the other. However, when someone just breezes by without even remotely acknowledging your presence it gives you pause for thought. What are the chances that you will do this individual another favor ungrudgingly? For that matter, how many times have we felt hurt when someone for whom you did many favors insulted you for not doing one simple thing right? The hurt increases if you were not even at fault for the way things turned out. Probably, the person hurling insults at you right now is solely responsible for how things turned out. Now let’s look at ourselves and compare our lives to those around us. ...