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As a child I always thought of God as being an old man with a long white beard, sitting on a throne, wagging His finger at me and telling me I would be punished for some childish misdemeanour. It was years later, when I was in a Bible Study group, that I learned that God was a God of love. Jesus told us this when in answer to the question “Show us the Father” He replied “He who hath seen me hath seen the Father” [John 14:9]. This means that God our Father and Jesus have the same nature so when we look at Jesus we see what God is like. It is not a physical resemblance. Jesus was good and kind and everyone who met Him loved Him. So why are so many people afraid of God?
I really feel that our churches and religious leaders put barriers between us and God. Many people feel that to speak to God they must be in a church or other religious building when in fact you can speak to God in any place and at any time. Perhaps they also feel that they need to use the set prayers we were all brought up to learn as children and which we recite from memory without really understanding or knowing what we are saying. Prayer to me is simply having a conversation with God. Speak to Him as you would speak to your best friend.
Our Churches also tell us that we must believe certain things {that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Jesus is the son of God, that Jesus died for our sins} otherwise we will not be able to enter God’s Kingdom. As Spiritualists we know that believers and unbelievers of all races and creeds as well as our beloved animals enter the next world.
As a child I used to wonder how God could possibly deal with all the prayers himself? Well I now believe that the next world is a very organized place (run by computers!) and that when a prayer is received a button is clicked and the request re-directed to someone most qualified to deal with the matter. [ Chapter 10 of my free book “Why I am a Spiritualist” discusses my experiences of answered prayers in more detail.]
I have never had any difficulty in talking to God and there are so many things to talk to Him about! Our world is full of problems big and small. Through the media (TV, Newspapers, Radio, Internet) we learn of suffering at home and abroad. Innocent civilians caught up in violent unrest in overseas countries, famine, natural disasters causing heartbreak to many. Nearer home we have problems in our private lives. The loss of a loved family member (including pets), the end of employment, the breakdown of a marriage, told you have a serious illness, financial worries. Goodness me I could go on and on.
A lovely hymn written in 1855 by Joseph Scriven is “What a Friend we have in Jesus” and one line of the hymn which is repeated in each verse is “take it to the Lord in prayer”. I think it is very sad that so many people try to face their difficulties in life without contacting the one person who can help them. Prayer gives us the opportunity to talk about our sorrows and worries to the one person who is always there. The one person we know who will listen and understand. What do people do who have no one to turn to in this way? Who do they ask for help?
God is the very best friend that anyone can have. He is all wise, all loving, all knowing and HE CANNOT FAIL, FOR HE IS GOD!
I am offering a free copy of my paperback book “Why I am a Spiritualist” to anyone interested. Please contact me by email
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