Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. - Jeremiah 33:3 KJV When I started talking to God I started talking to God back in 2015. No wait, let me rephrase that (of course I can just retype it, but this is more fun)… I started talking to God when I was a kid. I started listening to God back in 2015. That’s when my one-sided rants got reshaped into actual conversations. That’s when wisdom entered the scenario. No stock images here. See image in my personal, photography portfolio. How I started talking to God Around that time in my life, 2015 that is, I was really struggling with my self image. In my own life I’d done some really stupid things. I was a kin to the little green guy who lives in the corner of the alley; the one who pops out of a garbage can, says something negative, then pops back down in. You know, the grouchy children’s show character? Anyway, I’d let my past and a chronic illness direct a lot of my behavior. At one point I hit a crossroad. I was having trouble seeing myself as valuable in any way, not only over the mistakes I’d made, but for the memories of others who’d flat out told me how worthless I was. I wasn’t pulling out of it. I believed in the forgiveness of others, but not myself. I also believed in this ridiculous theory that people are disposable, only to be discarded when judged so by, of course, other people. My wife, Grace, who tends to always see the good in people; she knows, and knew then, that I am worth something. She knows I have the ability to create art, a much needed avenue for delivering spirit-saving information (this is a good time for a plug, my other site, a portfolio at SlyFocal.com). So when she saw me struggling, she prayed. She asked God to come talk to me, to help me out of the hole that I and others had helped dig. At that time I believed in something more after death, but I did not believe in God. I was open to spiritual communication, but not to a sit-down with someone I had written off years ago. Yet somehow, it still happened. I started getting these “Feelings”, like I was being spoken to and given information. How my communications with God unfolded The information I started receiving caused a major interrupt in my downed state. I’d been trapped, held down by the weight of other’s words and judgements, drowning under a stream of constant reminders of what I wasn’t worth. In my Godless state, I’d been seeking help from many humans who’d been trained through science, not through spirituality. What I mean is, I’d been seeing therapists and the like, those who didn’t work under a spiritual context. They’d helped me tremendously, but never as effectively as God was about to. Somehow, in this darkness I felt hope like no human had ever given me. I’d not asked for divine help and yet, just after Grace’s prayer for me, in came a sudden flow of concern for me, from my heavenly father. That help was so present it was almost touchable. I began living out, practicing the divine instructions that were so detailed it was almost scary. It got even more weird when I would look those instructions up later. I’d come to find that the things I was told to do had already been documented for many years. So I started listening more and more. And every time I did, every time I acted out what I was told to do to improve my own life and the lives of those around me, everything from my perception of myself and my environment, to my behavior… it all improved by both small, continual steps and large leaps. I became more and more addicted to the information. I began talking to God more and more frequently. The snowball effect gained momentum and has not stopped gaining since. I started having lessons that grew from seeds of wisdom, like when I sensed the message: “How can you believe in forgiveness for others when you can’t forgive yourself?”. No stock images here. See image in my personal, photography portfolio. Conclusion. What my life is like now that I’ve been having conversations with God Is it great? I don’t know how to answer that. In some ways, it’s awful. But I keep asking myself "how I can say that?" because, for every bad situation I’ve been in or am in now, I have guidance from a source that overrides all human insanity. I’m sad that people are so generally broken, including me (so no judgement). I want to find the switch that puts us all back into a mode of compassion and education, love and fellowship. But since I can’t, I hang on to what my heavenly father teaches me. It greatly lessens the pain of living a broken life in a broken world. I firmly believe this; that the more we understand something, the less it can hurt us. And when it comes to divine wisdom, all I have to do is let go of the judgement others sling my way, open my mind, ask for an explanation, listen and then accept. In doing that, I can understand just about anything I need to. Of course with that understanding comes comfort and a brighter spiritual future. So when the neighbor next door is playing the annoyance game, or traffic ceases to smoothly take me where I need to go; when physical pain is nagging like a child pulling the parent’s pant leg, or a loved one does something to make me pull my hair out… I ask God why, he answers, and my world lightens. There's more Can we Really Talk to God? (Part 1/3) It’s not exactly kind to snub someone who loves you, and it’s definitely not wise to deny connection to a source of information that goes far beyond the human collective. Can we Really Talk to God? (Resource Article, Part 3/3) This article supplies vetted external articles, videos and bible passages that shed even more light on the main article and companion article. Further information and help with proving God's existence Is God Real? A compilation of articles and videos, presenting everything from solid theory to unshakable evidence.

Is it foolish to talk to God? There’s definitely a stigma when it comes to having a conversation with the big guy. To many people it seems foolish; embarrassing to even mention it. Even I feel the risk in saying these things in public. I cringe sometimes even when I talk to other people about talking to God, as I wait for the upturned eyebrows and the drawn out “Okaaayyyyyyy??? Here’s the thing though, it’s not foolish to try something that works. There’s so much information out there about how God wants to hear from us regularly and how He responds. It is foolish, however, to miss out on such a life changing activity by giving in to the pressures of bad, misused or hidden information. It’s also not exactly kind to snub someone who loves you, and it’s definitely not wise to deny connection to a source of information that goes far beyond the human collective. No stock images here. See image in my personal photography portfolio. God always answers with love It’s happened many times between God and I, on my part that is; fist pounding, brow bending, choice-word-infused lecturing from my persona to his. I’ve had so many questions about who He is and why He does what He does. And for people like me who feel the world running backward, it didn’t help to not have answers. So therefore, In the past, I’ve often spoken to God in ways that would make almost any human fire at least a few choice phrases in return. And how did He answer? With love, always. My previous, occasionally disrespectful way of speaking; it's not a communication style that I or God would recommend. But He does allow room for mistakes, and that’s part of where the love comes in. When spoken to poorly and angrily, as long as it was out of pure ignorance, but accompanied by my general openness to self improvement; God forgave it. In return He answered the way I try with my little girl when she throws a fit. As a patient father He waits until I calm down, then fills my relatively tiny, human computer (brain) with the information I need to avoid the next child-like outburst. And if it does come again, He sets his boundaries and does everything He can for me. He understands that as long as we’re human, we’re children. That’s only one end of the spectrum. There are plenty of times I speak to God with respect and love on my own part, especially later on in my Christian life. I’ve had enough continual lessons from Him to learn that I can stay calm and still get what I need. I've also learned that many of the things I've been angry with Him about were simply things I misunderstood and unfairly held against Him. From those compassionate interactions, to the heated moments, and anything in between; He always answers with love. He’s got a steady, even keel and like his son, He sets an excellent example of behavior. When He responds It’s not just about sending down information. Many times things change in my life after talking to God, always in positive, forward movement. How to talk to God This part is the easiest, once you get past the stigmas and potential judgement. It tends to often be a private thing anyway, so find an unoccupied space or just hunker down inside your own head. Let ‘er rip, or let it whip (depending on your generation of pop cultural lingo). If you already know how to speak, sign, think or communicate in any other way, all you do is say something like, “Hey God…” before you fill in the rest with what’s on your mind. As long as you aim your thoughts upward and address Him first, the connection will be instantly made and the floor will be your’s in His eyes and ears. Be persistent Don’t just talk to God once in a while. Don’t just pray for something once. For one, God loves to hear from any of us, even if we’re convinced otherwise. For another, I can't tell you the reasons, but prayer is often strengthened by consistency. Don't just ask for stuff We don't want to only hear from someone we love when they want something from us. We also want to hear about simple things like when they've had a good moment or when they appreciate us. I think the same goes for God. He wants to be close to us. That means sharing even every-day moments. So don't just call on Him when you need something, but also when you just feel like announcing all kinds of things, like: "Hey God, I had a good day thanks to you." or: "God, that sunset was amazing!" No stock images here. See image in my personal photography portfolio. Be fluid in what you request When asking for what I think I need, I keep in mind it’s not always what needs to happen. Therefore I try to generalize what I ask for to some extent. It keeps me from forming potentially pitfall-infested expectations. Instead of “God, we need a house with a five car garage and a Koi pond.” I’ll say something like “God, put us where you need us, somewhere as safe and as comfortable as possible.” I realize there’s an entire, universal picture of what needs to happen for everyone’s benefit. No human has the ability to manage an earth and sky full of life and strategy. The big guy does, however; and I’m sure it’s a taxing job (see Being a Conduit). So I leave Him room and respect to adjust my requests to suit everyone’s needs. And yet even then, He somehow comes through in some significant way for me and those I pray for. It's also a matter of what I want and how it's not always what I need. I have to remember that I don't always know what's best for me, but God does. I may need a lesson that requires being in situations I wouldn't elect to be in. How to listen to God Unlike the part about talking to God, listening takes a little more practice. That’s the bad news if you’re looking for immediate satisfaction. The good news is that answers do often come instantly. Sometimes they take a while though. For one thing, an instant for God feels like a long time for us. Another part is that I’m sure it sometimes takes work, a bit of time and the arrangement of resources to help us with what we need. So for me when answers to prayers come in my version of an instant, it’s pretty much always when it involves receiving information in the form of wisdom. Wisdom is already abundant and easily available. It’s usually when I need something that’s not yet ready, like a new life change, something that needs to be orchestrated, that’s when I have to be patient and wait for a strategy to unfold. It also takes time if the question requires a lesson. Let me give you a few examples: 1. If I need to understand why God does something questionable (only questionable to me due to my lack of information), usually I ask and get an immediate answer, if it’s something I can easily understand. 2. If I need to know how to overcome something that’s been plaguing me for any length of time, something will show up in my life shortly after I ask. A good example is when I asked God to help me understand why my prayers in helping my daughter were not as effective as my wife’s. Within a short time, just days, I sort of fell into some classes, sermons and experiences that directly addressed that. It took weeks, but when the time was over I had my answers, as well as a new set of tools to help strengthen my prayers. 3. A short while before my little girl was born; before my wife, Grace, became pregnant, I had become angry about a repeated issue caused by someone else. During that moment, I spoke to God about it and was quite upset with Him. I’d not yet understood why we humans were working so hard to tear each other apart. I didn't understand why God was letting these things happen. I’d spent a lot of time in considerable turmoil, both as an adult and a child. I’ve worked incredibly hard to self-improve and clean up my own poor behavior. That night I was upset, I brought those things up to God. I repeated to Him that I wanted Him to show me what all of it was worth. A few days later, I looked at my wife and it hit me: “she’s pregnant”. It was later on when I realized my daughter was part of my answer. She was an undeniable example of what it’s all worth. This writing, the chance to give out what I’ve learned to help others, that’s another part of my answer. And for all of that to happen, we had to be carefully led through poverty, chronic illness and a slew of other major challenges to at least be able to raise a child and fund this work. God had to execute years of serious strategy just to get this far. No stock images here. See image in my personal photography portfolio. What Exactly happens when God speaks back? I don’t hear voices in my ears in the same way I would hear a human speaking to me. It’s a bit hard to put into words what happens when I hear form God. It’s like getting a download of information, then using my own words internally to break it down into human language. I think the words are just some form of habit or comfort. That’s because sometimes I can keep myself from letting words enter the process. When that happens, I just understand the wisdom that’s being infused and immediately start using it without any involvement from human language. When you start listening, I strongly suggest caution about a few things, like: Our own words can sometimes become too much. Try to keep your understanding simple and as wordless as possible, so that you get the download without over-interpreting or skewing the actual data. Basically, just try to relax, listen and take it in. If the info is truly coming from a divine source, it will NEVER include instruction about negatively impacting your own or someone else’s life. Pressure to steal, sabotage, kill (anyone including yourself), or harm anyone in any way will never come from God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Only evil promotes such action, even if the humans engaged with it aren't aware of that. The rest is about the system God built… it involves forgiveness, compassion, education and, as Jesus himself has said, inclusiveness. Anything else is myth and misuse of information, also the subject of another article. Listening to God takes practice Personally, I had to sift, sort, wade and wander through all kinds of messages and moments. It was absolutely worth it and has improved my life by leaps and bounds, but it wasn't terribly easy to overcome the potential “Crazy” label. Even if I didn’t have others judging me, I would often judge myself. In a perfect world, I think we would all have a natural, easy time of communicating with the God. But, hopefully it’s obvious enough, this world is severely broken. Humans, as a whole, spend more time satisfying their own sense of justice and completion than we ever do on preparing ourselves for a place of total fellowship and peace. Our visions of material gain, influence and peer judgement, they cloud our sense of connection to each other, and to a spiritual existence. Therefore, one of the first things I had to practice was letting go of the worry about how I would look while speaking to God, either in the mirror or in the window. No stock images here. See image in my personal photography portfolio. The next thing I had to do was talk to God, then test the results in two ways: If I got immediate information about how to handle a situation, or how to handle myself in new, positive ways; I had to test the information by using it. It almost always turned out that, if I did what I was told, things improved for myself and those who surround me. If I’d made a request for something to change, I had to remain open for results and be patient. It also worked best when I was grateful for results, even if they weren’t exactly the way I would plan them. As with anything, practice means practice. Trying it a few times, then quitting will leave you with nothing but misinformation, judgement and disappointment. Keep going. Keep practicing and do it regularly. It’s likely unrealistic to suggest newcomers do this at least once a day. But what is realistic is the scenario I went through... I started with speaking with God every once in a while, maybe once every week or so. As time went on and I realized this isn’t just crazy talk, I started to see more and more advantages to plugging in and regularly speaking with God, so I gradually added more and more time. When asking God for something, His an answers have always basically been: "Yes", "No" or "Wait". Conclusion Admittedly, at first it was a bit of a struggle to discern between my own inner voice, what society pumps into our lives and what I get from God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is however, one of those situations where building the skill brings reward that far outweighs the work. And there’s even better news. Even at a beginner’s pace, the benefits can immediately roll in. I now talk to God every day, often multiple times each day. That’s not because someone tells me to or because I was scared into it. It’s because, as I got to see more and more results, in turn I got to know God. I found out He really cares about me and the rest of us. God really wants what’s best for me, really wants me to succeed and most importantly, really loves me. I found that I also love Him. He's shown me love through my daughter, my wife and many unfolding situations where He's blessed us. As with any relationship, if you want those special others to stay connected, if you want that connection to strengthen, it’s simple… you talk. Take part in more polls There's more Can we Really Talk to God? (Part 2/3) ...Somehow, in this darkness I felt hope like no human had ever given me. I’d not asked for divine help and yet, just after Grace’s prayer for me, in came a sudden flow of concern for me, from my heavenly father, that was so present it was almost touchable... Can we Really Talk to God? (Resource Article, supporters only, Part 3/3) This article supplies vetted external articles, videos and bible passages that shed even more light on the main article and companion article. Further information and help with proving God's existence The Atheist Package A compilation of articles and videos, presenting everything from solid theory to unshakable evidence. Thanks for reading :) I spend a lot of late nights and challenging moments working hard. All content is done by me... the writing, recording, editing, web design and setup, photography and publishing content. If you find value in it, please consider any of the following: Supporting my work, Passing it on, subscribing for free updates.

These resources support the main article, The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest, and its companion article. They include stories and a video of people who forgave serious and damaging social mistakes, along with bible entries that support the articles. Read the rest here. There's more The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (Part 1/3) The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (Part 2/3)

In the last article on this subject, The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (Part 1/3), I talked about how the deepest relationships often come with the most difficult connections. In this article, I’ll talk a bit more about personal experience and how it affected my views on the subject. No Stock images here. See this image in my personal, photography portfolio. How it got hard for me Socially speaking, I fumble quite a bit. I grew up toward the darker side of life. More specifically, my social experience as a kid was riddled with some pretty ugly moments. And because I developed an early aversion to face to face experience, I ended up spending a great deal of my early days with my nose buried in books. While the other kids were out doing other-kid stuff, I was often parked in a chair at the library, digging through stacks of books for hours. And when I wasn’t there, I was often sitting in the family garage tinkering with machines and electronic devices. While the library is a wonderful place for a child; a quiet, private corner isn’t a great place to learn to make friends or even acquaintances. So being social and being a decent friend has always been an ongoing project. I’ve paid for many failures in that department, but on the brighter side, thanks to God’s system of forgiveness, I’ve also had some success. It got better These days, engaging with a group or an individual is not so bad. I’ve spent a lot of time on the self-improvement gig and it’s made complete flips in much of my relationships. Now keep in mind, as I grew older I was sometimes the one who would damage relationships. But because I grew up on Earth and was embedded early on into some of its worst communities, I’ve also had plenty of relationships with others who also struggled to connect. They caused their own problems. I’m not whining, I’m getting to the point. How this relates to my relationship with God God doesn’t need to read up on psychology or social interaction. He doesn’t struggle like many of us do to make connections, at least not on His end of the deal. While many of us rebel against the spiritual connection, God has it down. He’s got all the right answers and the perfect timing to go with them. So when I tell you my relationship has been difficult with Him at times, you can safely bet the difficulty was my own fault. First off, I’m stubborn. That’s strike one in a relationship with someone of authority and wisdom. Next quality of mine that got in His way… resistance. God would often tell me what I needed to do at any given time. I would often believe that, because I’m the one living my life, I know more about what goes into it than anyone else, including Him. For the grand finally in my personal display of misinformation, the most damaging aspect of my walk with the big guy… my past and the riddles it produced. I often went against divine instruction because I couldn’t answer some of the most common, burning questions toward spirituality, like, “If there’s a God, why are we allowed to destroy each other?" and "Why are so many things wrong with His planet?” I now have the answer; my best explanation put into my podcast called Sorting the Crop. So, needless to type, the bond I had with my heavenly father was a very hard start. No Stock images here. See this image in my personal, photography portfolio. How my relationship with God continues How did I get from rebellious child to, as I say to my daughter, “Good Listener!”? A truckload, scratch that… a trainload of trial and error, decades of doing stupid-human tricks, passing out bad information and poor behavior. I’m often a Doubting Thomas, having to see things and live them before I believe them. As I get older, that trait lessens, much more so when listening to divine messages. A better relationship with God was a lengthy build, constructing a mind that listens and absorbs wisdom. Of course I still slip as the learning curve comes toward an end, but now, 90% of the time when I’m told something, I listen and do it. What’s the relationship like now? Between God and myself, it’s awesome! (and I almost never use exclamation marks) I still rebel with the little things sometimes, but those moments are few, far between and quickly dying. It’s not just awesome because He’s great to talk to. It’s awesome because, when I listen and act accordingly, things work out better in my life than they ever have. I don’t just have a sounding board. I don’t just have some average level of guidance. I have a spiritual Father, someone who answers everything with love, even my worst stupidities. I have a family member who understands and forgives everything I’ve ever done wrong. No human can do that because no human can fully understand why people do what they do. There’s something else. God has the bird’s eye view of the battlefield we’re on. When I listen, I’m plugged in to that view. Because God’s eyes can reach an infinite distance further than mine, He can see what I often cannot, what my next move should be. It keeps me out of a lot of potential trouble, in better relationships and much more informed on the things I can’t possibly learn by myself. How this relates to my relationships with people I have trouble forgiving others for certain behaviors. Someone bumps me on the shoulder, no problem. But if I’ve spoken to someone over and over about a behavior that irritates me? Different story. It’s hard, like, “blowing a pebble a mile up a hill with a straw” hard. I’m far from perfect at it, but as it becomes more common for me, everything gets better. I more easily get past the hardships between myself and others. It’s good for us and good for the fact that I don’t have to fake forgiveness. No Stock images here. See this image in my personal, photography portfolio. In conclusion It was a difficult road for me, learning to trust what comes down from a higher source. It was even harder to dedicate my self and my work to someone I can’t see with my own eyes. The idea of this article is to show the payoff of connecting to others through social hardship. It works with God, but it also works with our brothers and sisters. It’s not just about one relationship. It’s about strengthening our entire global family. There's more The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (Part 1/3) The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (resources, supporters only - Part 3/3)

There's a very useful and (to me) unusual aspect of my relationship with God. It has to do with how long it takes for the lessons He gives me to flourish. In my previous, professional life and in my personal life, the people who were the toughest to connect with, they were the ones who I eventually built the deepest relationships with. The best relationships that last, they often come with the most challenging uphill battles. Why do strong relationships grow from hardship within them? Every relationship, be it a with a coworker, friend, family member, child, etc; it has different levels of interaction. Naturally, the more interactive with someone we are, meaning, the more we get into deep conversations and affections, the more we uncover true bonds with them. Naturally; the more bonds, the more chance of fallout. I think as we get more comfortable with each other, there is more chance of things coming out that challenge the relationship. When we find reasons to hang on with each other through hardship, we find ways to duck, bob and weave around that hardship. We find those ways together, and the next time the problem creeps in, we’re more prepared to handle each other’s reactions. That creates teamwork, teamwork creates companionship; and on the level of the soul, it serves better communication and common ground. What this has to do with God Everything. My relationship with Him, in many ways, it’s like any bond with any other close person in my life. I’ve hit plenty of moments when I’m angry with Him, mostly like a child who can’t understand why I got in trouble for painting the cat, but still... angry. And because I can often be a stupid human, I know He’s been angry with me. But because God has always answered me with love and wisdom, even when I’ve painted his cat (just that once), I chose His system to strive for. So I get angry at Him, He gets angry at me, He tells me to calm down and listen, then pours a slew of wisdom into my life. When I accept, my brain and heart swell. Then God and I move on together, closer than we were a short moment before. No stock images here. See this image in my photography portfolio. What this has to do with me In the past, and sometimes in the present, I’ve made it difficult for God to pull me toward Him. I’ve rebelled, pulled away, justified poor behavior and turned down important, divine lessons. There were long periods for me when I took on the role of the critic, often to the point of complete non-belief. But what God did for me was to be a true father, to stand behind me and push even when I would barely budge. This world is often mean and unforgiving, but I’m a child and children learn by example. So by His example, more recently, I’ve learned to stick with others as long as possible, even as their worst unfolds. God taught me that great relationships often start by reaching a hand down into the turmoil, while waiting for someone I care about to grab it. That’s what He did for me. The best way I can say “thank you” is to do it for as many of my brothers and sisters as possible. Reaching back This one was about noticing God’s hand, pushed through the clouds that once prevented me from seeing what was above. This was one of my biggest leaps of faith, grabbing and trusting the hand that reached down, until I could confirm this was the right thing to do. That was a hard one, especially since I had no recognizable signs of instant gratification. What we can do with all of this information Use it. For one, know that God gets us, no matter how ridiculous our behavior can be. He acts out of love, in spite of all of our judgement and arrogance toward each other. Whatever each of us may have learned about God’s potential lack of forgiveness and concern for us, as individuals, it comes from human sources and it’s as wrong as wrong gets. People often believe that other people are disposable, but God always gives us another chance if we want it. Of course there are the myths about how God wants us to hurt others who’ve hurt others (Think about that cycle for a moment). Truth is, what He wants to see is walls breaking, toppled over like dominoes. "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." - Matthew 18:21-22 KJV I’ve seen many of those moments when forgiveness comes and relationships turn from hostile to open. It’s better than fireworks, bigger than a parade, more fulfilling than new car in the drive. The connections that come within those relationships are lasting, even through distance, lack of contact and the stretch of time. No stock images here. See this image in my photography portfolio. The Wrap up Standing in the midst of a turmoil infested relationship, it sometimes feels like driving up a steep hill with all tires flat. But with patience, understanding toward the actions and thoughts of others, and practice, we can turn those moments into gifts. Such romances, friendships, families and teams have the potential to become the strongest of all. When it comes to you and God; having questions, fallouts and disbelief; that can end with the most significant relationship you may ever have. He answers just about everything with love, be it anger, sadness, rebellion or even positive action. That’s rare. That’s something I don’t want to be without in any world, especially this one. There’s more… There's more The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (Part 2/3) The Hardest Relationships are the Strongest (resources, supporters only - Part 3/3) Thanks for reading :) I spend a lot of late nights and challenging moments working hard. All content is done by me... the writing, recording, editing, web design and setup, photography and publishing content. If you find value in it, please consider any of the following: Supporting my work, Passing it on, subscribing for free updates.

This article packs resources that back the main and companion articles Sing From the Center of the Prison (Part 1/3). Each link has been vetted by Getting to God. The rest of this article used to be for supporters only, but can now be accessed for free to everyone. Click here to read the entire article.

The main article Sing From the Center of the Prison (Part 1/3), was born from a two-part, divine lesson in my own life. The first part started when I spoke to God about prayers my wife and I would say over our child. I'd wanted to know why my wife's prayers were more effective than mine. No stock images are used. You can find this image in my personal photography portfolio. My answer took about two months to unfold. Out of almost all of the self-improvement work I’ve done, this was one of the only big lessons I had left and one of the most elusive for me. ​ As usual, I got an answer that was clear and concise. The reason Grace's prayers were more effective was because she had fewer contaminants in her life. In other words, I had anger over things that were happening to us while Grace was letting that anger go. I also had a few bad habits that Grace didn't have. Her spiritual power was stronger because she was keeping her persona more clean. The solution starts ​ It just so happens that about that time I came across some free classes, once a week for a month. It was a bit like going to church. The lessons had somehow directly related to what I'd just started working on, getting rid of bad habits and letting anger go. ​ One specific point is how to handle unexpected stress. It was about how to curb the itch to hurl things during angry moments, like insults... chairs maybe. I'd not been chucking objects, but I have been ignorantly skilled at saying things I shouldn't. So of course it got a bit weird that the four classes I took just happened to be directly related to what I was working on. They happened to come just after I needed to know what kept my spirit weak. I'd been having specific trouble with one issue. I’m talking (vaguely) about a recurring moment when I was being tested and tested again. Something was happening to us that kept pushing my patience into triage. It was uncanny how this type of unusual moment kept recurring more and more as this lesson went on. ​ One Saturday, another of those moments came. It didn't go well. Our outside negative influences spiked. Inside, a mishap that caused a frustrating setback for us and others around us. Grace and I argued for a while as I retracted my better side. We ended up silent for some time, feeling bad over things that weren't our fault. We were so much at odds that the cold streak lasted until the next day. The following Sunday... ​ That vague situation I typed about above, it grew to an almost unmanageable state. This happened in large part because of things beyond our control, things that often feel like a personal prison. On top of what had happened the day before, now came the stress of being late to church. It was all so much that I kept saying we shouldn’t even go. My wife, Grace; she pushed me into making my way to church. She repeatedly heard; “He needs to hear the message.” Things got downright weird ​ That message during Sunday service, it was about getting through tough situations without shutting doors to positive solutions. The pastor threw in the story about Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:16). It ended under the idea that we need to shine and give thanks for what is right in our lives, even through our worst moments. ​ After that, our personal situation continued to mix with the messages we were getting from God, classes and church. It was like having a team of people helping me lock down a tent in a loud, oppressive wind storm. Then, as I approached a state of solidarity and calm, a day later, my family and I left for a small road trip. Soon began more small, unexpected battles, but this time was different. This time I had a truckload of information about how to duck, bob and weave my way through it. Where we went As we rolled toward that first destination, Mammoth Cave, I was tested by many technical and automotive mishaps. Next came our stay in a place that was not well cared for. Frankly it was dirty, dark, decorated in the 80's and the beds made great sleep deprivation devices. Next test, while in the cave on a tour we couldn’t leave; surrounded by people trying to hear the tour guide; our daughter got hungry, tired and turned into an often loud, flailing, yelling mess. On that trip we hit a few other quick stops that brought more tests. We were pushed out of many comfort zones and had much more opposition to work around than what was planned. ​ Unexpectedly, I made it. We came through with this crazy, unrecognized way of passing through challenges without breaking the family foundation. We kept our regular conversations with God (prayers). We stayed grateful and continued to support each other. Where there should have been argument, laughter swept in. In place of negativity came logic and calm thought. In our own way, we sang from the center of the prison. And, as usual, God came through with reward. He blessed us with unexpected moments, time after time; some when people went out of their way to show us surprising amounts of kindness. How the trip ended ​ The last leg brought a surprise I’ll never forget, a trip to our previous city of residence. We made a stop at our old church where we heard a message that caused a few double takes. ​ Let me back up just a bit. During the week before the visit to our old church, I had just been exploring one certain, specific aspect of self control. My wife (Grace) and I had just spoken about how I’d been getting a specific spiritual message. That message was about how negativity was stopping me from connecting to positive things. We'd just talked about how I had been attempting to work in the positive and suspected that energy was never around when I was feeling negative. ​ Click to see image in writer's personal photography portfolio. So now back to the sermon at our old church. The series was about the fact that the spiritual realm exists, as do ghosts, demons, angels, etc. It was also about how to communicate with God. The specific subject for that night? It was about keeping the Holy Spirit within us, that divine spirit of wisdom. ​ The pastor spoke about how we could squelch The Holy Spirit with negativity. He talked about how we need to stave off anger and poor mood, nasty words and ugly attitudes. The Wrap up ​ I'll sum up how the article came about... ​ I'd asked for God's help in making my prayers and my work with positivity more effective. Every single sermon and class I attended for the following 6-8 weeks was directly relevant to what I'd asked for. During those weeks I was constantly being given the opportunity to work on this lesson. The lesson ended in success. In the two weeks between the time the trip was over and the time of writing the articles, I've made about a 95% improvement in how I handle tough situations and negative, outside influence. ​ Now, instead of hunkering down and stewing in what goes wrong, I do my best and work hard to keep up what's right... I sing from the center of each prison. My outlook is different and my times are filled more with joy and positive energy, instead of letting the nastiness that often knocks at our abstract doors. I'm not perfect at it, but It's just another example of how learning to listen to God has changed my life. ​ See the main article Sing From the Center of the Prison (Part 1/3) ​ See the resources Sing From the Center of the Prison (Resource Article - Part 3/3) Thanks for reading :) I spend a lot of late nights and challenging moments working hard. All content is done by me... the writing, recording, editing, web design and setup, photography and publishing content. If you find value in it, please consider any of the following: Supporting my work, Passing it on, subscribing for free updates.

This article came out of a recent divine lesson in my own life. What was the lesson about? My life has been filled with negative experiences. I’ve had a lot of friends and family die in a short period. My health has come and gone repeatedly. The list goes on and on, continually. I don’t say that for sympathy, but rather as a benchmark. It’s so you know, when I say we can find joy and purpose in a world full of waking nightmares, you’ll know I’ve seen my share of hardship, my share of difficult self improvement and have still come out believing in the power of the Holy Trinity. Why the title of this article? What do I mean by “sing from the center of the prison”? Let’s start with a story from the Bible, from Acts 16:16 (KJV). The Apostles Paul and Silas had been preaching in a city where a woman, possessed, had been following them. She was trying to put destructive influence in place of the valuable information that Paul and Silas were giving out. Paul at one point had had enough of this woman’s slander. That’s when he stopped his travel, turned toward her, drove out her demons and freed her from the possession. The woman was a slave, and because she was no longer possessed she had lost her ability to dazzle a crowd with predictions, fortune telling, etc. In turn, her owners lost the ability to take in a lot of money by showcasing her witchcraft and trickery. Those owners went angrily to the local law enforcement. They’d convinced them, along with a crowd of people, to have Paul and Silas stripped, beaten down and imprisoned, not just anywhere, but in the center of the facility. I'm trying to imagine this, being so publicly humiliated, lost in the depths of a crowd who had pounded them with anger and hate. Then being locked up in the darkest, nastiest part of a prison. I’m sure singing would be far from the things I’d instinctively want coming out of my mouth. Rolling a few heads would likely be in the front line of my thoughts. And yet somehow that’s not how Silas and Paul handled it. Later on that night, while bound and likely bruised, cut and sore, Paul and Silas shattered the boundaries of what would normally be done. They started singing hymns, praying and (my assumption is) crafting words that praised the God, words that many of us might be verbally crushing at that point. At about midnight a violent earthquake ensued shaking the doors and shackles loose. When the jailer had seen the open doors he drew his sword with the intention of killing himself, probably assuming he would have serious consequences for letting the prisoners go. At that point, Paul caught him and stopped him from his closely pending suicide. He told the jailer that they were all still in the prison. Shortly after that, the jailer came to his knees in front of Paul and Silas, shaking, asking, “what must I do to be saved?”. The three main points I get from this story People are redeemable. That’s the subject of another article, so I’ll move on. Those of us who make work out of bringing information about the spirit are not alone in having opposition, slander being only one example. The part that was most specific to the lesson in my life at that time… we have to sing from center of the prison. Is that an abstract idea, that we're all in prison? Yet another subject for another article. But for now it's safe to say we all, or eventually will all, feel like we're trapped in terrible situations sometimes; personal prisons. No one really has to do anything but hunker down, stay angry and let life take it’s course (and in that scenario, I do mean “take”). Thing is, there’s another choice when life has us feeling locked down. We can shine. No stock photos here. Click to see image in writer's photography portfolio. There are two ways to look at how this can be done Both ways are important. Each has it’s own prime moment for use: 1. Build a calm persona that stays with us throughout every-day life. I've built a highly relevant section of my website called Finding Peace. 2. Do it by force. I mean exactly what just came off of my keyboard… force yourself to sing when things are at their worst. If you don’t sing, pray. If you don’t pray, start praying. If none of that works, find a piece within yourself, something you do well that creates a positive air. Take that song, that prayer, that skill and push! Push it past the anger, sadness and negativity you feel buried beneath. Shine like you’d shine if everything was at it’s best or better. What the… why? Here’s one example of the way I see this technique: Imagine being wrapped in a thick, dark cloth. Just outside of that shroud is a bright, perfect, 72 degree, beautiful day. Inside it’s a nasty, hot, sweaty, stinky mess (and just maybe you ate a lot of beans earlier). All I have is one thing, a knife. I can lay in there, petrified by the bad feelings of why I’m there. Or I can take that knife, pierce the layers and start cutting until that ugly shroud is on the ground beside me with my skin free to soak up that beautiful air. The song I sing from the center of each little prison is like the knife sitting in my hand when I’m inside that barrier. That song, those prayers, those words about who I am and who God is to me, even a few hallelujahs; they’re usually what make the first holes in any dark cover over my life, any negative issue that surrounds me. It’s not easy I believe most of us are wired for the ease of negativity. It’s not that we’re inadequate. It’s that the most well known ways to deal with a ridiculously backward, stress inducing world are things that are bad for us. Addictions are rampant. Too many downturned faces are everywhere. We've lost a lot of our grip on what community should be, all for the gain of influence, popularity and material things. I'm not trying to insult anyone. I’m trying to say I understand how difficult it is to sing from the center of the prison. And yet, one simple fact remains: When we choose to linger in the feelings we get from negativity, we don’t thrive. But when we choose to force our way into a better mindset, we and our lives instantly brighten. It’s not always quick, but it’s always more promising, especially for our spiritual future. The benefits of singing from the center of the prison The most obvious, short list I can think of: 1. Stronger, healthier, more productive relationships. My wife and I are a good example of this. We’ve almost fallen completely apart many times. One big reason is that I've often struggled to let go of things that upset me. I've struggles to forgive her for unpolished behaviors. Slough on an unusual heap of trouble from the outside world and you end up with an almost impossible run. So how do I "sing" from the inner most part of that trouble? I force myself to say things to her on a regular basis about what she does right. She knows I think she's an amazing Mom. She knows I appreciate her support in what I'm doing in my work, even if I'm frustrated with her. We show affection for each other, in front of our child. This gives the child a sense of what works right in a relationship. In the end, all of this will help keep the shroud of darkness off of our relationship; more importantly, off of my daughter's example of what a relationship should be. It doesn't have to be a romantic relationship. You can shine from within any friendship, family dynamic or even work relationship. 2. A happier you. This is a hard one to explain for me. All I can say is that it works. Throughout the hardship and immense opposition we've faced in our lives, I've recently stopped dwelling on the negatives of those things. I've started focusing more on the positives we have. Sometimes, even if I don't feel grateful because things are going so badly, I still stop and say a quick prayer to thank God for the help and blessings we have. I've even literally started singing hymns and songs about hope, God, Christ and the like. It never fails to make me feel better. And even if you don't believe in anything spiritually, this is good practice, just to be grateful for what is going right. 3. More spiritual energy. This one is so in depth, I've written another article to cover it, Gathering the Holy Spirit. In short I'll just say, that nice, tingling feeling we sometimes get when things are going well... that's usually positive spiritual energy. for me it's only ever around when I'm steeped in a positive outlook. To conclude No stock images here. Click to see photo in writer's personal photography portfolio. I have such a scientific mind. I like to have data, proof and information before I jump into anything. Before I tried this philosophy, to actively praise God in the midst of a downturned mood or even a terrible situation, I had on it nothing but a sermon and some promised freedom from life's pressures. However, a lot of things changed after I learned to sing from the center of the prison. Life became lighter and more enjoyable. My pet peeves became less annoying. I've been more calm and accepting of unusual moments. So, when my emotional side tells me to forget it, to bear down and throw forgiveness and a brighter outlook out the window, I force myself to sing, pray and give thanks for a life that could always be worse. Two more things: Sing From the Center of the Prison (Part 2/3 - Our Experience) The article and philosophy were born from a two-part, divine lesson in my own life. The first part started when I spoke to God about prayers my partner and I would say over our child. I'd wanted to know why my partner's prayers were more effective than mine....Then it got downright weird... Sing from the center of the prison (Companion Article), was originally only available to supporters, but was released to the public on 8/15/18. To get early access to all other companion articles, and to get much more content, click here to support our risk. Sing From the Center of the Prison, Resources This article packs multiple resources including links to the actual sermon and classes that helped lead me through this lesson. It is permanently for supporters only. To access this and many other resources, click here to support our risk. Thanks for reading :) I spend a lot of late nights and challenging moments working hard. All content is done by me... the writing, recording, editing, web design and setup, photography and publishing content. If you find value in it, please consider any of the following: Supporting my work, Passing it on, subscribing for free updates.