Finding your Prayer MOJO: Getting unstuck - a guest post by Kay Olson, CSB - Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche, CSB Christian Science Practitioner & Teacher

4/5/2012

Finding your Prayer MOJO: Getting unstuck - a guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

"Nothing happened." Who hasn’t felt at one time or another that their prayers have not been very fruitful? That the time spent in prayer seems to have been of little use?

Take a minute and think about how the trees, the bushes, the grass, appear in winter. Nothing seems to be happening. If you didn’t know better, you would think that the leafless tree, the flowerless bush, the greenless grass are dead. However, during those long cold winter months, living is going on in the tree and the shrub and the grass.

The vegetation is strengthening, restoring, renewing, preparing for spring. We are confident the tree will leaf out, and the bush will bloom, and the grass will become a carpet of green. Likewise, during those periods of prayer something is going on, no matter how unfruitful those prayers may appear. We should be just as confident and expectant of the outcome. After all we don’t pray on our own. Prayers are actually God-impelled and God-empowered.

Our prayers strengthen our spiritual sense. They prepare us for the inevitable flowering of our sincere efforts for healing.

When I feel stuck I often think about Mary Baker Eddy’s message to her students: “Under the affliction in the very depths… STOP. Contemplate what you have to be grateful for.” (Mary Baker Eddy Library: reference unidentified)

I follow this two-step method for getting unstuck:

STOP. Stop ruminating over the problem.
CONTEMPLATE. Contemplate the uncountable good in my life.

Then I make sure I feel it. When you let yourself be, feel, grateful, you can sing Solomon’s song, “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." (Song of Solomon 2:11,12)

So, if you are feeling a little stuck in your prayers and would like some MOJO - the confidence and spiritual authority that keeps your prayers moving - try taking those simple steps with me.

Kay Olson is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher. She can be reached at kayolson@mindspring.com.

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Michelle Nanouche

4/5/2012 04:07:48 am

Hi Kay,

I just love this. I have already share that MBE quote twice this morning. The point that you make - that contemplation isn't just making a gratitude list, but involves claiming it, owning it, being it, feeling it, is really so helpful.

I was thinking. since all that really is is God and His idea, man, everything worth being grateful for is already "in", or a part of, us. And the rest? It is like Pandora and her box - a myth. Who has to work or pray to recover from a myth? Once you know it is a myth, the question is settled.

Thanks as always for your insightful guest posts.

And for those who haven't yet visited www.spirituality.com since the April 2 change, two of Kays posts were put up on blogs on their site from the very first day! So proud of Kay and pleased that a wider audience gets to hear from her!

kay olson

4/5/2012 09:42:09 am

Thanks for your comments, Michelle. I read (somewhere) that Mrs. Eddy considered gratitude the most powerful human quality.

I like your thought that there is no need to "recover from a myth"!

Elisabeth Brugnone

4/5/2012 06:32:19 pm

...lovely...

kay olson

4/5/2012 09:33:23 pm

Glad you like it - the thought of life going on when it seems not to be, is very lovely..........

Béatrice

4/6/2012 01:17:13 am

Thank you so much for this post! It made me think of the words I had read once in a book which is quite unrelated to this blog: 'For Love of a Rose', written (in English) by Antonia Ridge. It's the story of two French families who have 'created' the famous rose named 'Peace'. At one point in this (true) story, one of the characters, during a very difficult time, is reminded of the hymn 'Count your blessings', and is doing this faithfully, counting the blessings one by one! I always loved this story, and the title of this hymn has stayed with me, although I did not know the hymn itself. Your post made me look it up in the internet, and here it is:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Isn't that lovely! I am glad I have found it, thanks to your post!
Thank you so much!

Michelle Nanouche link

4/7/2012 12:27:42 am

Special, Béatrice! Thanks so much for looking that up and posting it for us!

Kay Olson

4/15/2012 06:37:06 am

Thanks so much for that wonderful message Beatrice! I'll save it

Dennis R

4/13/2012 01:08:03 pm

Maybe you can help me with this question. Another blog discussed demonstraing supply and friendship. It said don't wait for it, demonstrate it. Go for it.

The following is my question. The blogger answered me, but maybe I am dense and cannot understand. You seem to write very clearingly. Can you answer my question?

How do you go for it? How do you demonstrate friendship when there is no one there to demonstrate it to? How do you demonstrate supply when the bank account is almost empty?
I understand that we can be content just in God's presence and we should be happy just demonstrating His qualities, but how do we pay the bills?

Kay Olson

4/15/2012 06:46:59 am

Good questions, Dennis. Re. friendship, someone said that to have a friend, just be a friend. I like to remember something my husband told me years ago - "When ever I smile at someone I always get a smile back." I've tried this - in the grocery store, sitting in my car at a stop light - it always works - friends I don't even know - and you have friends you haven't met yet.!

As for the bank account - begin thinking about the spiritual fact that "supply precedes demand".. Think about the disciples haul when they "cast their net on the right side" - ie. on th side of God and his abundant love. Supply is counted in spiritual ideas and they guide you into new and productive directions. I remember needing some income but decided to keep the money issue out of my thought and simply keep counting my blessings with gratitude for every little thing. I soon received a letter in the mail with just the amount of money I needed. Just trust your prayers and God's answers and you will have what you need, too!
K

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