Serenity, Hope, Joy, Peace and Love

Recently, my personal prayer time took a huge turn in direction.   Often times people ask us to pray for them regarding some specific issue and yet we feel uncertain as to know how to pray for that particular issue.  For most of my life, in such an instance, I simply prayed whatever the request was and added something like, "according to your will God", which is fine  but I honestly I wanted to pray deeper than that.  It seemed a bit like an old worn out cliche or an easy way to handle something I had no real connection to.  Yes, I had the right motives etc but it just felt as though I was skimming the surface of what could be prayed.     The other night as I prepared to sleep, which always starts with laying flat on my back, breathing deeply and clearing my mind...I thought about the idea of loving your enemies, I don't think I have any enemies per say, but there are a few folk in this life that just seem to want to make my life unsettled.   I lay there thinking about their lives.  Loneliness and discontentment came to mind at the first thought of them, so I prayed right there that their lives be flooded with hope, joy, peace, love and a deep sense of serenity.  I prayed the words slowly, imagining each one, feeling the concept of each word.     As I meditatively prayed for all those I know in the same manner, choosing to carefully pray for what I knew to be their greatest need of these five things,  I began to feel a profound sense of serenity, deeper than I have ever know.  I feel peaceful quite often, but feeling a sense of serenity, that has a holiness attached to it.  Something profound.  In praying for someone that was ill, I prayed for them to feel joy, and hope first and then the other things.   At that point I knew no matter what their health issues were, they would be able to handle them.   God does not heal everyone, for reasons we do not understand, but He will show them how to feel hope, and joy if they will open their eyes to see it.   These things are not dependant on relationships with others, they can even be found by the hermit living in a cave.  They are the gifts of God that can live in a frail body or a healthy body, in the person looking for love, or the person well loved by many.

In praying for these things, I found myself thinking of one person after another, the list grew long, but my mind never wandered, my desire more pure, when I finished praying, I felt all those things in my heart.  Serenity, hope, joy, peace and love.