GREAT MORNING!  

So how have you been doing with this conversation, so to speak, with Rev. Mark Anthony Lord? Lots of interesting ideas and suggestions to help us get to know ourselves better and connect with our Higher Self. And THAT is what we truly want. It may come in different forms but deep down we know it’s to be closer to Source.

So, let’s see what Rev. Lord has for us today.

This chapter is titled “Want What You Want.”

And he brings in the verse from Matthew, 7:7-12, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

He suggests this verse holds the key to ending much of our suffering.   A promise of support, abundance, great freedom

Have you asked?  Have you knocked on the door three times as Jesus did?

Better still, do you know what you want?

My Dream

I ask for what my heart desires and prepare to receive God’s good.

What do I truly want for my life? This is an important question. At times I may find myself waiting for God to deliver my good, yet I haven’t even considered what I really want. What is my heart’s greatest desire?

My heart’s longing originates in God. When I reflect on what I want to do, who I want to be, and where I want to go, my heart’s desire is revealed. It may unfold in an instant or slowly over time. The key is to ask, seek, and then patiently wait for clarity.

Today I ask myself, What do I truly want? In the stirring of my heart, God speaks to me and leads me to my right path. I listen for answers with eager anticipation.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.—Psalm 37:4-5

The Universe is a yes machine.  Just ask, with feeling, with determination, with belief and especially, with faith.

The Universe doesn’t ask you to reconsider your thought, it just looks into your heart.

Pg 59

We learn that being selfish, wanting what we want wasn’t good

Now we are mixed with feeling of uncertainty…not knowing when it’s ok to want & when it’s not.

Eventuality our wanting becomes mixed with guilt, shame, fear, should and shouldn’ts, judgments & greed.

“When wanting something for yourself is judged so severely it can forever alter the way you view your needs and desires, causing you to hide and deny them.”

Our society has made it almost a sin to take care of ourselves. The vision of helping others at the expense of ourselves was, & still is to a degree, considered holy, Godlike.

Think about all the “prophets, the masters, those people who devote their lives to helping others—Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha. They were all living off of the earth, off of the goodness of others, not thinking of themselves, only of their calling.

Helping others is good, when we help family & friends, it is truly from our hearts

This is ‘love in action.’  It is not suffering. We do for others because it is the right thing to do.

The word sacrifice means to make sacred.

When we know it is the right thing to do, to look to others instead of ourselves, we don’t feel deprived…we feel fulfilled. We are making it sacred.

God is working through us. And it feels like it too, special. Sacred.

We are all selfish, we all have our own interests. And they are all different. You have yours and I have mine. You might not care for my selfish interests. But they are mine. I may not care for yours, but they are yours.

You are really the only person you can influence. It is your business to think about yourself, care for yourself, and want what you want…..no need to justify or explain.

That does not mean you can harm another or destroy property.

I love Byron Katie’s question: Who’s business is it? Mine? Yours? Gods?

Check yourself first about what is good and true for you

Rev. Mark tells us a percentage of our wanting comes from suffering-subtle and not so subtle beliefs of unworthiness, lack and limitation, doubt and worry. This discomfort is pushing you to want more, to change and grow.

Remember, the universe says yes to your wants, but also to the core, generating ideas and feelings from which wanting comes. A percentage of your wanting comes from beliefs of unworthiness, lack and limitation, doubt and worry.

It’s never a good time to want something when you are feeling fearful. Fear creates more fear. The same with thoughts of lack, feeling unlovable, feelings of regret, anger, worry.

So what can we do?  First and foremost, become aware of your feelings. Take a breath, and place your attention of what is happening to you in this present moment. Remember to be in the NOW. (are you in the Now, now? Listening?)

Now look around….find something good, something beautiful…a flower, the ocean, the tree slowly waving in the breeze.  A child enjoying playing in the sand, lovers walking hand in hand. Sun setting in beautiful colors. The playful kittens in the room or your dog tugging on a toy.

There is wonder and beauty all around us, if we just open our eyes.

You want to shift your energy from the sad or angry mood you were into something better, appreciation, gratitude.

Have compassion for yourself. If you are fearful or angry, get up and move around. Go for a walk, or a run, if you can. Clean the house. Weed the garden. Walk the dogs.

OR, work through those feelings, whatever they are. They are legitimate feelings, and in our work on self-love, it is important to know, understand what these feelings are all about.

Don’t deny yourself or judge the experience…just feel.

There is no right or wrong way to want, only your right relationship to it.

True freedom comes when you can fully embrace all that you want with no justifications, excuses, shame, or denial.

Imagination is one of our 12 powers, some feel the greatest. So it’s natural to have it, to use it.

Of course, we know we all can’t have everything we want,

Some people try to fill a hole inside themselves with ‘things’ in their attempt to provide safety, attention, or even escape. Just because one wants something doesn’t mean they can have it, or even take it.

Do you recall the lessons on the 10 commandments? Thou shall not steal. If something is not yours, it’s not meant to be yours…go get your own! Your own car, house, friend, wife or husband….

Hoarding, over spending, behavior that causes pain & suffering to another is no freedom, it is the misunderstanding and misuse of wanting.

Allowing yourself to want what you want, without causing any harm to yourself or another, will create within you a deep feeling of contentment that has nothing to do with having more….you will love what you have.  Gratitude for what you have opens the possibility for receiving more.

You are able to discern what is really important for you. What is really important for you?

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)

Isn’t that wonderful? It says, in essence, “Whatever it is that you want, if you ask for it in Jesus’ name, you’ll get it.” The promise is so straightforward, and there are no qualifiers. No if’s, and’s or but’s. There’s no, “As long as it’s a good idea…or “Just so long as it doesn’t seem greedy…” It doesn’t say any of that. It says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that I will do…”

Let me tell you something, our Creator is not glorified by poverty. God is not glorified by illness. The Divine is not glorified when you feel guilty or unworthy. Spirit is not glorified when you run around playing the victim.

God is glorified when you stand up and acknowledge who you are and claim your birthright.

And who are you? You are a divine being, a child of God the Most High, a person who deserves to have every good thing that life has to offer.

Now, it may be that some of the things are hard for you to accept. They might be the opposite of what you’ve been told all your life, and you might feel that you can’t just transform your thinking instantly, as if by magic. Learning a brand new way of thinking can take some time and concerted effort, so I’d like to introduce a practice that many people find helpful in changing a long-held mindset: affirmations.

And here is a great one: “It brings my Divine great joy to fulfill my every dream and desire.”

Try writing some affirmations for yourself. Make it personal in present tense. And then believe, have faith in your God and in yourself.

Here’s an exercise for you to help you to understand why you didn’t receive what you thought you wanted. Make 2 columns on a piece of paper. AT the top left side write “What I didn’t get that I wanted” and at the top right hand side write “why”.

Be honest with yourself and see what you come up with, you may be surprised what you discover.

After you have discovered and understood the whys of not getting what you thought you wanted, make another list, this time listing “What I did get that I wanted” and “Why.”

In each instance, can you see the Universe at work? Did you discover self-sabotaging patterns? Could you see how some things were not meant to be & be ok with that?

An interesting exercise….let me know how you make out.

“It doesn’t matter how much you want. What really matters is how much you want it. The extent and complexity of the problem does not matter was much as does the willingness to solve it.”