When Fear Inhibits Love

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I loved this text... so I thought I would share it.

When Fear Inhibits Love
by John Welshons

When we ask God for something, our prayers of petition are offered in two primary ways: 1) we ask to have something we want or to achieve something we want to possess; or 2) we ask to not have things and experiences we don't want.

We ask God to give us health, financial security, peace of mind, harmonious relationships, success, and protection from danger. Or we ask God to take away illness, financial difficulties, sadness, and exposure to peril. Sometimes we pray for our loved ones.

If we examine our motives honestly, we will usually find that there is some form of fear inspiring our prayers. We are afraid of something. And we are asking to be protected from whatever we are afraid of.

The fear that inspires us to pray actually gives us the most significant clue in our efforts to understand unanswered prayer. When our prayers aren't answered the way we want them to be, we often have to experience the things of which we are afraid. We are forced to confront our fear.

All fear arises from lack of trust in the universe. There are many experiences we just don't want. We are afraid that if we experience them, happiness will become impossible. We won't be safe. We may be emotionally shattered. Our life will be incomplete, unfulfilling, or more difficult than we are prepared for.

For the complete article here...