Expanding my social network

Father,

Forgive me for all of my sins.  There have been times when I feel frustrated and alone.  Sometimes I even wonder why my prayers don't get answered.  I wonder, too, if it is my fault.  I just don't know or understand why they aren't answered.  I guess You want me to dig deeper.  Digging deeper in oneself is not easy and it hasn't always been for me.  I don't always know what to do or even how to ask.  I have so many needs and requests to present to You.  I sometimes wonder why if I am saying or doing all of the right things.  I just wish I knew.  Lord, sometimes, I believe that Your ways and thoughts and higher than mine.  I ask for clarity.  I need direction in my life.  You have convicted me to do something.  Take some action.  Do something for myself.  The problem is, I just don't know where to begin.  I ask You for guidance as well.  Lord, what do I need to do?  I have learned to be envious and lonely at not being able to relate to other people.  Looking back at my life, I realize that all I needed was someone I can get close to.  Now, I find myself feeling like the world has passed me by.  I have not grown with the rest of the world.  I have grown complacent.  I needed to realize that the friend or friends have to be true.  I have felt so guilty about not always being able and social towards others. I have social skills though these days, they seem to be lacking.  It is as if I have not grown.  I have nowhere to go or no one else to turn to, but I do have options now.  My question is, should I take those opportunities that have been given to me?  I have prayed about those opportunities, but how will I get there.  How will get anywhere?  I sometimes have resigned myself to where I am and what I am doing.  I need some change in my life.  How do I overcome the mindset that I do have about my social life?  I know that I need to change me.  I also know that I have no idea how to change.  I would like to write to You about other things, and not just my weight or OCD.  I would like to have someone who is a person of integrity to talk to.  I would love to chat about pertinent things.  I would like to date and have a family.  I would like to be independent and stand on my own two feet.  I thank You for giving me the opportunity to express this request in writing.  Thank You.

In Jesus' name,


Amen

Being convicted

Lord,

Thank You for convicting me.  I need help.  I have spent years satisfying the flesh and I don't know how to overcome it.  I know that I need to lose weight and keep it off.  The problem is, I have no idea how to take the action You need me to take.  I am concerned because I don't know where to begin and also because I procrastinate too much.  I have no idea how to overcome my fears.  Well, I give You my all, including my fears.  I casts all of those cares over to You.  I repent of all of my sins.  I have tried on my own to overcome whatever issues I need to overcome.  I don't wish to make a vow or wish to make a promise because I fail to keep them and follow them.  I know it is because of fear. How do I be made in perfect love since I have fears.  I don't know how to overcome them, but You can.  I surrender this issue over to You.  I thank You that You love me and that You care for me.  I believe that there are no accidents with You.  I have been online all day, so I know that I need to lay off the internet.  My heart was not in it anymore.  I didn't know what to do.  I ask You that You would show me what I need to do and where I begin.  Give me the wisdom and guidance to live for You and serve You.  How do I stop procrastinating and just starting to move forward?  Over the years I have liked my life as it is, but I realize now that I got too comfortable.  Teach me Your ways, O Lord. Give me the clarity that I so need continually as You have before.  You have convicted me before.  I am asking for continued clarity and I also ask for You direction in my life.  I would like to thank You for answering my prayer.

In Jesus' name,


Amen

Not to ask amiss

Lord,

I am not sure where I am really going in this world.  I no longer feel like the world has passed me by. I give You all credit and all praise for doing such for me.  I have to see that there are things that I need to and supposed to do.  The problem is, I don't know what to do and where to go.  I have received so much help that I feel bad about not knowing what help I am supposed to take.  None of it has sunk in except for the fact that I have made little progress, especially when it comes to losing weight.  I now feel like maybe unleashing would be a good thing.  Teach me how to pray without asking amiss.  I had trouble with finding the right words to say.  Maybe I should not focus on the words, but to focus on You.  I ask for forgiveness of my sins and I thank You in advance for answering this and all other prayers.

I realize that I am putting too much pressure on myself.  I am listening to a song about stress and wanting to live for You.  Living like and being a believer hasn't always been easy however.  It is worth it.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I thank You for saving me and for convicting me daily. I am not perfected but I thank You for peace of mind.  Forgive me for all of my sins including the sin of gluttony.  I really can't explain in detail why I engage in such mindless eating.  I ask that You would help me with my weight, which I am concerned about.  I am worried that I will never lose the weight nor keep it off.  I am over 300 pounds and have health problems.  I have been told that I need to take my health more seriously and they are right.  I need to be held accountable for how I take care of myself.  Help me to see myself for who I really am and what I need to do.

What seems small or big to me is even larger to You.  It took me a while to actually allow that to sink in.  I need some change period, including when it comes to my spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health. I get out of control and I don't know how to stop.  Lord, give me wisdom and control of my habits.  Give me and guide my understanding of what is most important in life.  I realize that I may be asking amiss and I am truly sorry.  I realize also that my prayers can be selfish.  Without asking amiss, I ask for forgiveness of sins, peace of mind, wisdom, and accountability.  I live in a world that is larger than myself and I ask that You would help me to see that my view of myself, You, and the world could be what is holding me back.  Life is about more than food and drink.  Forgive me, Father, for I have been living as if I had little faith especially in You.  I ask for conviction from the Holy Spirit, for I thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for giving me peace of mind and again, for forgiveness.

I have grown tired of the same thing over and over again.  I would like to be able and strong enough to make different, and better choices as You show me how.  I ask that You would show me how. I realize that I am not of this world despite my living in it.  Help me to die to self daily, for I realize that I have not done so.  I also ask for wise counsel from You and for those who have wisdom.  Bless those who give counsel without providing ungodly counsel and an ungodly attitude in mind.  I have lived according to the flesh and I ask for forgiveness.  I repent of my sins.  I also ask that You would teach me that there are things that are more important to You than a change in my physical self, but also a change in my emotions, health, understanding, and spiritual matters.  Help me to see this world, and I give You thanks for thus far answering my prayers.  I give You praise for giving me clarity on things that are most important to me.

Today, I have been feeling frustrated because I had no idea what to say to God.

Lord,

I am not sure where I am really going in this world.  I no longer feel like the world has passed me by. I give You all credit and all praise for doing such for me.  I have to see that there are things that I need to and supposed to do.  The problem is, I don't know what to do and where to go.  I have received so much help that I feel bad about not knowing what help I am supposed to take.  None of it has sunk in except for the fact that I have made little progress, especially when it comes to losing weight.  I now feel like maybe unleashing would be a good thing.  Teach me how to pray without asking amiss.  I had trouble with finding the right words to say.  Maybe I should not focus on the words, but to focus on You.  I ask for forgiveness of my sins and I thank You in advance for answering this and all other prayers.

In Jesus' name,


Amen

Taking action

Lord,

Show me how to step out of comfort zone.  I want to make progress.  I don't want to wait until it is too late to do anything about it.  Forgive me of all of my sins; cleanse me from my unrighteousness. Give me not just the will but the strength and motivation to do so.  Father, help me.  I thank You in advance for answering my prayer.

In Jesus' name,


Amen

Short prayer of thank you.

Father,

I thank You.

In Jesus' name,


Amen

God's Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins

God's Grandeur
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs --
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast with ah! bright wings.