I can raise my thoughts and desires to God at any time of the day or night...

Father Jim Northrop included this quote about prayer in his daily column,

"Daily Thought."

I remember, Our Lord recommended this little book to Nancy Fowler, the visionary from Conyers, Georgia.

from: My Daily Bread: A Summary of the Spiritual Life by Father Anthony Paone.

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August 2, 2012

Union with God Through Prayer

...My CHILD, when people march in a parade, they all keep the same step, the same rhythm, and the same pace. They try to form one single unit with the others. When, however, the parade is over, each person resumes his own way of walking. No two walk quite the same. Due to their bodily structure, figure, athletic development, and other reasons, each person has his own manner of walking. So too is it with prayer.

2. In public prayer all recite the same words, express the same sentiments, and assume the same tone and tempo to form a group-prayer. In their private prayers, no two pray quite the same. Each has his own personal touch in dealing with Me. For this reason different methods of prayer have been developed in the history of the Church.

3. Some people like to pray with the help of prayer books; some prefer to think about My words and apply them to their lives; some prefer to use their imagination, picturing Me near and conversing with them; some like to contemplate the events of My earthly life and imagine themselves as part of those events. There are people who like to pray for sinners, others who like to examine their lives frequently to see where they may please Me more; and others who simply like to kneel or sit in My presence and enjoy My nearness.

4. Prayer is the raising of your thoughts and your will to Me. In prayer you stand before Me with respect, with gratitude, with sorrow, and with desire. Prayer brings respect for My infinite power and goodness, gratitude for My numberless gifts, sorrow for your sins and for the sins of others, and desire for My mercy, for My assistance, and for My friendship.

5. Some people find it harder than others to attain this spiritual union with Me. Different persons use different means to reach Me. Some need to think a while, others need a certain posture of the body. Still others are dependent upon the place of their prayer. And so, again you see how each finds Me in his own way. However, the prayer itself is the same for all. It is a union with Me in thought and desire. Whatever one does to reach that stage, is only a preliminary to prayer.

THINK; By being a prayerful man, I will be letting God share in my life. He and I will be living and acting together. I will be supplying the good will and He will supply the strength. In prayer I unite my mind and will to God. Prayer is a friendly chat with Him. At times it is like a brief look at a friend, a look filled with understanding and love. Prayer is independent of time and place. I can raise my thoughts and desires to God at any time of the day or night, whether I be at play or at work, alone or in a crowd. I can say more to God by just raising my mind to Him than I could say to a human friend in an hour. He alone knows me perfectly, knows my slightest wish, feeling, and thought.

God loves me so much that He actually wants to hear me talk to Him. He is truly pleased with my attempts to converse with Him. His answer comes to me in the form of a holy thought, desire, or resolution. Others may tire of hearing me talk, but God loves me so much that He could listen to me forever. The more I chat with God, the better I come to know Him. The better I know Him the more I will love Him in my daily life. PRAY; O Holy Ghost, my God, You Who bring heavenly light to my soul many times each day, have watched me go along hour after hour showing so few signs of gratitude, love, sorrow for sin, and so little respect for You. To You I owe all that I am and have. I must pray. Without prayer I cut myself off from You. Without prayer I become less a man. Prayer makes me a better and greater man because it draws me to You and You to me. Through prayer You will teach me many things which I will not learn from books. By prayer I can draw down upon myself and others many blessings and heavenly help for our daily labors and difficulties. In spite of all my limitations, prayer is the one thing which I can always do and do well. All I need is to tell You whatever is on my mind. I need no introduction to You. I can talk to You as to an old friend, the only friend who understands me perfectly. Lord, help me to pray often this day, be it but a few passing words from time to time. Amen....

from My Daily Bread pp.368-371

www.jnorthrop.com...

I see a frequent use of the term "ME"


It appears this person attempts to speak as god, which is a real no no.

Such assumed self-aggrandizations are against all the rules and in old temple times that would be nailed to the cross.

Dear colbe,

Thanks a lot. The differences in prayer styles are important to recognize and accept. For example, I'm no good at public recitations of the Rosary, but the Carmelite school of spirituality has always looked good to me.

Doesn't matter what kind of car you're driving as long as you get there.

I hope this will encourage people to find their own method of approaching God, and rejoice when they have found it. Thanks again.

With respect,
Charles1952

colbe!! Where the heck have you been?

Some people find it harder than others to attain this spiritual union with Me. Different persons use different means to reach Me. Some need to think a while, others need a certain posture of the body. Still others are dependent upon the place of their prayer. And so, again you see how each finds Me in his own way. However, the prayer itself is the same for all. It is a union with Me in thought and desire. Whatever one does to reach that stage, is only a preliminary to prayer.

Wow.

Good for you!!!
Seems you have had a shift in perspectives. Cool. Very cool.

reply to post by colbe

Some people find it harder than others to attain this spiritual union with Me.

Personally I find this entire "daily thought" blog post offensive to my religious sensibilities.
I do not see "spiritual union with Me" as a chance for conversation.
I also am offended by this reduction of the glorious God to a familiarity of a 'buddy'.
I think this is delusional to start with and also as a waste of energy better spent conversing with real people rather than an 'imaginary friend' inside your head. I think there is a sort of built in survival mechanism for something like the Tom Hanks movie, Cast Away, but ordinarily, there are other people around who you can relate to for ordinary conversation, and there may be people out there who would invite such exchanges.
The Lord's Prayer in the Gospels is pretty concise and has none of these self-indulgent factors in it, and depends mostly on the concept that what we need every day for sustaining life comes from God and that generosity should be reciprocated by us to others around us, and what God requires from us is to recognize the goodness of who we appeal to.

Hello wildtimes, charles, magnum and jdewey,

Hi, friends, I haven't been posting much...hope you all are okay?

My Daily Bread, reads like a mediation, a message from Our Lord but
I don't know for sure if it falls under private revelation. I couldn't find anything to confirm but it's still an inspiration from Our Lord given to Father Paone. Definitely though, Jesus did recommend this little book to the visionary, Nancy Fowler.

This pocket size book is a classic, short chapters, one or two pages. I think it's online to read, kinda hard way to read a book.

The messages from Heaven sound urgent, that we don't have much time
before the beginning of major events, divine too.

One to share, Ned Dougherty's monthly message, this month from
Michael the Archangel for the U.S. Why do we have two non-Christians,
both pro-abortion, pro-sodomy running for the highest office in the
land? I am not voting for either one.

Go to www.Catholicbinder.com... or to Ned's website to read the full
message.

~ + ~ +

Messages to Ned Dougherty

hwww.EndTimesDaily.com

August 1st, 2012
Message from St. Michael the Archangel
Meditation Garden, St. Rosalie’s Parish
Hampton Bays, New York, USA at 1:00pm

A Message to the People of the United States of America:

...You have been duped by your leaders and your politicians into a belief that you live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Alas! You can no longer hold claim to such a title that has been diminished in your country ever since its founding. Little by little, the evil one has been whittling away at your once held and cherished beliefs that you are truly a republic under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

You have been deluded through the centuries since the founding of your country by even those who originally founded these United States. Because of their masonic beliefs and connections, they sinisterly created a shadow government that is ruled by the evil one from the dark realms, and he has had many minions doing his work in your earthly realms, who are driven by power, materialism, and greed to turn this once great nation into what it has become – an oppressive and draconian system of power and control over you as citizens. It is the evil one who is in control over your government, your institutions, and many of your universities and schools.

This once great nation has become sinister and corrupt. You have created laws and philosophies that have denigrated the very concept of life. You murder your children who are yet to be born, and you have passed laws and have accepted the demonic doctrine of free choice to obfuscate the very existence of life in the womb. Of all of the sins of this country, the sin against life itself is the most outrageous and grievous affront to your Lord and Maker.

You have championed your country as a leader in the free world to war against terrorism around the world. Yet, you have become the country that has caused more terrorism and war in the world than any other country in the modern world. Of course, you do not want to see it this way, because you have become brainwashed by your leaders into thinking that your country is the greatest democracy and that you stand for freedom in the world. Unfortunately from the spiritual realms, your actions as a country are not viewed well by the Father in Heaven who has created all of you.

You must wake up to the truth that you are no longer the once great nation that you aspired to be. This is because the shadow government that has taken control of your country does not answer to the Father in Heaven but to His enemy, satan, the ruler of the netherworld, who has come to your earthly realms to wreck havoc and destruction on all of humanity.

You have sat idly by as the masonic forces have corrupted and manipulated your laws so that they can control all of you in this country to their own personal benefit, as well as for the benefit of the evil one.

You have allowed your legislative entities to become corrupted by the evil one, because you have placed politicians in high offices, who willingly admitted that they were doing the work of satan by their promulgating laws against the very child in the womb. You have lost your moral compass as a nation, and you are now being dismantled and destroyed because of your unwillingness to recognize not only the meaning of life but the sacredness of life.

You have been given many warnings throughout the centuries by men and women of morals and courage to recognize the difference between right and wrong, as your forefathers attempted to do in the creation of this country. Alas! From the very beginning, the evil one has been whittling away at you as a nation to the point now where you have become totally corrupted and without a moral compass to do what is right in the eyes of your Lord and Saviour....

In the US, religion really needs to stay out of politics. Else, loose the 501C3 tax status.

When the ministry gets their own issues straight, the world might again have an ear for some of the logical truths expressed well in the world of reality. Until then.........

reply to post by MagnumOpus and colbe

You're so right, people with political positions based on their personal beliefs should never be allowed to express them. In fact, it's probably better if no one is allowed to express any religious thought outside of a church. That'll show those pesky religious people.

Dear colbe,

I don't think anyone can question Satanic influences in our government. I don't quite see the connections between Masonry, Satanic beliefs, and the control of the government. I may be just uninformed.

Other than that nit, I'm grateful that you remind us of spiritual things from time to time, it's a cool spring in a parched wasteland.

They're right, though, there's not much room for discussion on a revelation.

With respect,
Charles1952

Originally posted by MagnumOpus

When the ministry gets their own issues straight, the world might again have an ear for some of the logical truths expressed well in the world of reality. Until then.........

Logical truths?

Wait...you're expecting logical truths?

The logic of the waking world has little to do with religious truths. It's the paradoxical dream-world logic that has to do with it.

"The words of truth are always paradoxical." -Lao Tzu