Thursday, January 10, 2013

Persistence Brings Results

Today I begin the first day of a 21 day fast. I do this fast every year and I look forward to the changes that I experience in my mind, body and soul. Most years I choose to use a devotional of some kind to help me focus my prayer activity during this time of fasting and this year I am choosing to learn from and read a devotional written by Emmet Fox. I enjoy his Unity based teachings and focus on Biblical Principle. Check it out.

Today's reading is about persistence. January is always a time of renewed resolutions and commiting to plans for the year. Right about now we are still going strong with whatever we have started, a new exercise routine, quiet time with God, or eating better. The gyms are all more crowded and my Zumba and Bikram classes are all packed... but within a few months that will change. People will get caught up in life and priorities will shift. Only the truely persistent ones will keep up the practice and see the results. I think this is especially true for our spiritual lives. 

We often get impatient, whether it is with our bodies not changing as fast as we want them to or our prayers not being answered as quickly or in the way we want them to. Our first inclination is to quit, to think "this isn't working". We plant seeds in our lives, only to "dig them up" just to check to see why its taking so long. In doing this, we fail to see the results we desire. We inadvertantly destroy the harvest.

So today I focus on persistence. Being persistent in the practice of those things I desire, whether it is Bikram or Zumba for a healthier body, or Spiritual Enrichment Education classes for my mind and soul. I need to be persistent and not give up. Prayer is the one thing that can change your life. Prayer changes the patterns of thought in your mind and what you think, you beome. With that, if i choose to be persistent in anything, I choose to be persistent in prayer.

I am excited about this Fast and look forward to the new thoughts, and new insights that are part of spending time in the Presence of God.

 

 

 

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