”Oh, my God. I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul because you are all goodness and worthy of all love. I forgive all who have hurt me, and I ask for forgiveness for all those whom I may have hurt. My Lord, look upon me with your eyes of mercy and compassion. May your lifegiving powers flow into every cell, into the depths of my soul, cleaning, purifying, restoring me. Give me strength and wholeness. Help me to align my will with your will. Help me to serve and fulfill my destiny that you have ordained for me. Help me to be in service to your divine message of peace and love and mercy and justice and freedom. Amen.”
Hi, and welcome back to your seven-day challenge on the power of prayer. Excuse me. So today I wanted to share with you a fun little story on … It’s called Too Much Prayer. Hopefully, you’re not feeling that way, but this is a cute story that I just wanted to introduce you to.
It starts with a little five-year-old boy whose name was Johnny. Johnny was very bright little boy, and he told his dad that he’d like to have a baby brother. His dad said, ”Ah, yeah.” His dad was very bright, and he said that maybe there was something that he could do to help. So he thought for a moment and he said, ”I’ll tell you what, Johnny. If you pray every day for two months for a baby brother, I guarantee that God will give it to you.”
Strange guarantee. Dad must have known something that Johnny didn’t. Well, Johnny responded very eagerly to his dad’s challenge, and he went to his bedroom early that night to start praying for a baby brother. He prayed every night for a whole month, but after that, he began to get a little skeptical and doubting a little. So he checked around the neighborhood, and he found out that what he thought was going to happen had never, ever occurred in the history of his neighborhood. You just don’t pray for two months and, ba-boom, a new baby brother. So Johnny quit praying.
After another month, guess what? Johnny’s mother went to the hospital. When she came back home, Johnny’s parents called him into the bedroom. He very carefully, cautiously walked into the room, not expecting to find anything, and there was a little bundle lying right next to his mom. His dad pulled back the blanket, and there was not one but two baby brothers. His mother had had twins.
Johnny’s dad looked down at him and said, ”Now aren’t you glad you prayed?” Johnny hesitated for a moment, and then he looked up at his dad and he said, ”Yes, but aren’t you glad I quit when I did?”
Hopefully, you’re not feeling that you have too much prayer. There’s always room in your life for more prayer. Today’s prayer is a couple of very short prayers. So set your intention again for what you need today, whether it’s love or forgiveness or mercy.
Maxine Salima Adelstein M.Ed., D.D.
Salima helps people to discover and embody the deep truth of their beauty and essence through her work as a healer and teacher. She is a Murshid Murabbi Ruhi, (Sufi Spiritual Guide) in the Shadhilyya Sufi tradition, a rank given to her by her guide, Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal. Her heart is filled with the joy and compassion that result from living in the heart of God.
