"Bless Your Heart!"

All my life I have heard people use the phrase, "Bless your heart!"  Not so much recently, but when I was younger, it seemed like all the older people said it; so much so, in fact, that it lost any real meaning to me.  "Bless your heart" was a little like saying, "Hello," or "Goodbye," when using the telephone; it was just one of those phrases "old people" used frequently — and automatically, in certain situations.

What is a blessing?  And can you really "bless" someone’s heart?  And, if you did bless someone’s heart, what did it do; what did it feel like?  And why would you do such a thing, anyway?  What kid knows the answers to these questions?  Most of us are taught that the heart is simply a muscle inside your chest that pumps blood; and a blessing is something you have to say before you eat, or when someone sneezes.

The funny thing about people saying, “Bless your heart,” is that they said it when you did something really nice, or when you got hurt, or when something bad happened to you – and even sometimes when you did something really dumb. All of the different uses only served to further obscure any practical meaning.  But, I now know that, whether I am feeling good, or feeling bad, I’d always rather receive a blessing than a curse. It’s always Better to Bless.

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The Heart is the Source of Prayer

We pray for those things we desire — plain and simple.  Even if we sit around saying, "God, you’re so great!  God you’re so wonderful!  God thank you for all you do!  God  you are awesome!  God, you’re the boss — you’re in charge!", or things of a like nature, we are still desiring to offer reciprocation for good we have, or will, receive — or we desire to garner favor, or to be "good," or not go to hell, or not let our ancestors down, or something along those lines.  Prayer is our way of voicing and fulfilling our desires.  Even if we don’t know how it works, or how such a thing could be possible, we still do it; and it still works.

Of course, many prayers are actually curses; but whether your desire is for pleasant experiences, or to cast blame and criticism on those you think have made you and your life miserable in some way, you are still thinking about your desire.  And, Desire is born in the heart.  Prayer begins with an answer — although it may be in a form that is invisible to you.  Prayer begins with what we WANT, or desire; before prayer, we give thought to what it is we are praying for.

 "Whatsoever you desire, when you stand in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be given unto you."

Putting your mental and spiritual energy into a thought — the invisible form, or mold, for the answer to your prayer — is what builds the energy that becomes the "mass" of your realized desire.  Albert Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2 (Energy is equal to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared), speaks to the transition, or convertibility, of Energy to matter and vice versa.  Thought requires and produces energy.  Energy makes things happen; and, like Albert Einstein said, "Nothing happens until something moves."  Energy makes things move; energy is an animating force.

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The Role of the Heart in Prayer

We casually say things like, "I believe it with all my heart," or, "I know it in my heart;" but we rarely consider the literal reality of these sayings — or why there are so many of them, or why they endure through time.  We talk about the heart almost metaphorically — or completely metaphorically; but few people realize that the heart is actually a "THINKING" organ.  This is no metaphor; this is a literal, scientific, medical fact — and a timeless spiritual truth.  The head (brain) thinks; the heart KNOWS.

"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."  ~Proverbs 23:7

A well-known teaching on prayer says, "Whatsoever you desire, when you stand in prayer, believing, will be given to you."  Prayer is a mental exercise; we think about "whatsoever we desire" in a way we hope will give us the best chance of experiencing our desire.  But prayer alone is not enough; Belief is a key factor in the formula for successful prayer.  Thinking a thought is one thing; feeling a thought is an entirely separate matter.  Prayer is a thinking process; and belief is a thinking-feeling process that you can infuse your prayer with.

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