Hello, I'm your host, Charmaine, and welcome to Beautiful JEMMS.
On the last episode, we talked about relationship with God. And one of his roles as the great excavator who puts the plan into action with heavy machinery… and the heavy machinery we're going to talk about today is prayer. So, there are two reasons why prayer is important. One is a more general reason. And the other one is more specific to what we're working on in this podcast. The first is, is that we're living in uncertain times, with the political climate change, it feels like the clouds have parted, the sun has come out, maybe literally, the weather is getting better. It's summertime, and, you know, the restrictions are being lifted. So, generally speaking people are starting to feel good. And you know, that is definitely a blessing. But we are also very aware that things are still uncertain, we don't really know exactly what the future holds. And I think we would be wise to kind of keep that mind frame because there are more changes to come, maybe even more surprising changes to come. Right.
So, we don't want to be caught off guard the same way that we were caught off guard with COVID. So, if things become chaotic outside of us, and we have chaos going on inside of us, that's the recipe for a perfect storm. What we want is to be rooted and grounded in our inner world. And we can do that through prayer, even while the world may or may not be chaotic or uncertain, or if even if it's doing well.
You know, it makes me think of that scripture where the apostle Paul said that he was good, whether he was a bass or whether he was a bounding. So, that's the idea there. By remaining in contact through prayer with God, he sees the whole picture. So, he will direct you. Now, the second reason is, is that we can ask God directly for both guidance and help, as we mined our JEMMS to do that in our work. A great way to do this is to just ask some questions, so that God can reveal answers to you. Right, so what I've done is I've created just a few baseline questions that you can either take and use as they are, or tailor them to yourself and your situation, add or take away. Okay, but it's just a suggestion for you. Here we go.
What is the first area that I need to focus on to heal?
Why is this area important to heal?
Who has affected me in this area?
How have I contributed to this unhealed area?
What can I do to heal? And where can I go for help?
Now another part of this is actually receiving those answers, right, you're asking for them to be revealed to you, which means that your eyes may be open to some things that may or may not be easy for you to see. Alright, and this is where you have to continue the prayer and ask for help to be receptive to the answers that you receive. Right. So you can ask for your spirit to remain open and your mind and your heart to receive these messages. You can ask for the ability to face and accept what is revealed to you to forgive yourself and others. You can also ask for qualities to support you through the healing process, like courage, love, faith, endurance strength.
Now, this is where God will activate your workers. So, you have your angels you have your ancestors, and the Holy Spirit, for example, that will come to your aid, when things kind of get tough for you to handle on your own. Now, I do realize that there are different spiritual systems out there. And the choice is your own. Many of the systems however, do use prayer. Right? So, I just want to take a minute and talk about religion and spirituality. Okay, so religion provides a structure for prayer. Right? It's how many of us first learn how to pray.
Interestingly, in the past, a priest actually encouraged me to look up the definition. I'm going to share the definition and the etymology or the origin of religion and spirituality with you. Okay. So, religion the definition of religion is a personalized set, or institutionalized system of religious beliefs and practices. It originates from, to bind fast to place an obligation on, or a bond between humans and gods. The definition of spirituality is the state of being spiritual.
Okay, so what is spiritual mean? It means related to or joined in spirit. Now, the root word is spirit. So let's drill down even further. Spirit is the immaterial, intelligent, or sentient part of a person. And the origin of this word is the breath of God or breath of life. So what are the differences here between the two, religion is a structure or a system used to provide boundaries and guidelines for your spiritual life. It's man's way of quantifying God. Spirituality however, speaks to the unquantifiable nature of God. He is boundless, and we are always connected to his boundless energy. While religion provides the groundwork, spirituality speaks to the footwork of building on your relationship. To work out the difference here.
Let's go with another example. Just so that we can get a clearer picture. So, let's say religion is equal to your parents’ house. And spirituality is actually talking with your parents, there are three scenarios that could happen potentially, the first is that you go to your parents’ house, you enjoy the comforts of home and food and knowing that your parent is there, but you don't talk to them. The second is, you go home, you pull up a chair and speak with them, you break bread and enjoy their company. The third is you meet them outside of the house. So maybe take a walk-in nature to spend some time with them and converse. Which of these scenarios do you think your parents would prefer? Barring that you like them, and they like you? Right, the last two, I mean, with the first one, they may be happy that you were home, but they would ideally want to talk to you. In the last two scenarios, what was the focal point, the focal point there was actually speaking to them, right, building that relationship with them. And so that speaks to spirituality. In the second scenario, religion and spirituality can go together. And the third scenario, spirituality stands alone. So basically, your spiritual life is where it's at.
Now, I'd like to share with you something I recorded concerning black people spirituality, and religion. And I'm sharing this to give you more food for thought as to why spirituality is especially important for us as black people. Some of my words may be a bit strong, however, it's coming from a place of passion, love and concern for us as a people we have in this country been led to believe so many things that we don't really know, front, from back and back from front, when it comes to how religion is used in the black community, to pacify us, coming in the name of God and presenting things that are true and things that are right things that are just things that are moral, morally right. And yet, we're not being treated morally right in this country. And we just keep turning to these religious institutions, which are the same institutions that were used to enslave us the same institutions that said it was okay to enslave us. It's just so frustrating. It's so frustrating, because how do we move forward? The biggest way that we are going to be able to move forward is really staying connected with God. Whatever people's beliefs are, as long as you believe in God, having that relationship with Him ultimately is important. That will be your true north That is what I know.
There's so much information out there. You have to find what resonates with you and if you found it great. But if you are still oppressed in mind and in spirit, then maybe you need to rethink and question some things and just stop going along with everything because everybody else is going along with it. comfortability is not a sign that you're moving in the right direction. comfortability is a sign that you're just comfortable. Are you letting him direct your life or are you letting religion direct your life? Religion is a man-made construct, manmade institution that's supposed to help you with spirituality,
but your spiritual relationship with God, in my experience, and from what I've seen, is your own, there's nobody responsible for that, but you and it's owning it that's important. Whatever it is, again, that you believe is owning it, own that relationship with God, take control of it. He's waiting on you, not the other way around. It doesn't just mean going to church and showing up on Sunday. And then forgetting about him for the rest of the week. tuning in on YouTube for a few minutes to see your pastor.
How are you living your life in connection with what God sent you here for? Whatever that may be? Are you walking in your purpose living in your purpose? And how do we do that? We know how to pray. We know how to pray black people are we are are a spiritual people. I was looking up some information about the statistics behind basically where black people lie and their religious beliefs. And one of the statistics I ran across, showed that less than 5% of the black population were agnostic, or atheists less than 5%. It was like something like two or 3%.
Do you understand what that means?
That no matter what your religious beliefs are, we are naturally a spiritual people. Period, we gravitate towards spirit, we gravitate towards God, you have more power and control than you believe. And then you know, some of us because they are many of us that are very aware of their spiritual connection, and their spiritual power.
Prayer. Talk to God, talk to him. Wherever you're at, wherever you're at.
If you believe in God, and you haven't talked to him in five years, talk to him. Even with you, those five years. He's been with you the whole time. Meet him where you are at. There's work that we're here to do.
What's your part? You're only going to know that the relationship with God.
I was trying to figure out what do I say I don't want to offend people, I don't want to say the wrong thing. And the truth is, is that people already know in their hearts. I believe what it means to have relationship with God. Because if you have a connection with him, which we all do, it's literally a choice, just like picking up the phone. So, if you are truly about getting to know who you are, if you're truly about understanding what your purpose is, then you got to do the work on the inside. That work on the inside is not for the faint of heart. Snot. But believe it or not that spiritual work. And when you're handling spiritual work, your best guide is God. So yes, prayer is powerful. Meditation is powerful stillness. They call it mindfulness. Stillness is powerful. Being in nature, powerful, always to connect with God and there are many other ways, but very powerful ways to connect with God. What I'm basically getting at in that recording is that we as black people can no longer afford to be led by the same systems used to enslave us physically, mentally or more. rationally and spiritually, religion is fine. But religion should be used to support your spirituality, not the other way around. If we want to see real changes here in America, we need to take charge of healing ourselves on an individual basis. That's the starting point. Because when we come together collectively, we will then be a force to be reckoned with.
Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I pray that you build your relationship with God, love yourself unconditionally, and put in the work to mind refine and shine those JEMMS.