Do Not Pray for Patience

Patience. I could use more of that. Patience to stand in lines, patience for my favorite Thursday night television shows, patience to let life guide me, patience for everything. It would make sense to pray for patience.

Unfortunately, there is more to prayer than ask and receive. It was stated perfectly by Morgan Freeman, playing God, in the movie Bruce Almighty. When talking to Bruce, he stated:

“Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”

Okay, a bit hokey to use a quote from a movie with Jim Carrey, but I was really struck by this line. It so eloquently explains how prayers are answered. God has already blessed me with everything I will ever need. I already have all of the patience in the world; it is up to me to use it. Everything I pray for, ie. affirm, I already have the skills to achieve. It is acting with the confidence that I know I am powerful; that is the hard part.

If I want more patience, be patient. If I want more love, be loving. Whatever it is that I want more of, practice it. Trust that it is already there. I just have to recognize it within myself and I do that though feeling it, affirming it, living it.

Once I am actively living the goal, I notice that it gets easy, circumstances change, I change. I have grown.

If you pray for patience, expect to find yourself waiting in line, waiting for your favorite Thursday night televisions shows, waiting for guidance, waiting for everything.

It is up to you to initiate your patience because you already have it.

The good I seek is prospering within me.
I recognize it and let it shine through.

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