He is not the one who hurt you. He may have even intervened in a way that you survived had He not, but that is mere speculation. What I know of Him is He grieved with you, felt your pain, and never left you in the midst of the abuse. What I know of Him is He is still with you. Maybe not the answer you wanted or expected, but the answer I have learned from my relationship with Him and from knwoing God. I pray for your healing, Ali. - Glenn

Hello Ali; This is a sincerely tough question to answer, and as we often find, tough questions end up having tough answers. I will not pretend to have all the answers to all the questions - I struggle with very similar questions in my own life and write about what the Lord shows me in answering my prayers. I am very sorry to hear you were in an abusive situation and understand why you would ask, "Where was God in that?" Where is God when a person abuses another? When a person murders another? When a person tortures another? In my relationship with Jesus, I have learned these questions have an answer in understanding God's heart - God was there grieving with the wounded. Why didn't He stop the abuse? The answer to this tough quesiton is wrapped up in the free-will He gives us all - would He over-power the free will of another, even if that free will has evil or abusive intent? No, He cannot. MORE-->

Hello Charlene;
Per my medical dictionary, we have the following definition for comfort zone: comfort zone (Per Medical Dictionary) The temperature range between 28° and 30°C or 82.5° and 86°F at which the naked body maintains heat balance without shivering or sweating; in the clothed body, the range is between 13° and 21°C or 55.5° and 70°F. As for beyond the physical, the mental state and emotional state both have comfort zones defined in differing ways - one might be the state of rest while the other might be the state of peace. Step out of any of these comfort zones and we become tense. Is this the sort of answer you are seeking, or are you asking a differnent sort of question?

Glenn

Thank you, Karen. You have, in your comments, blessed me. Thank you for the encouragement. - Glenn

Personally, my prayer focus is Jesus. He is the One with whom I am having the conversation.

(Continued from above...) Mary is quick to clarify her position on the matter in Luke 1:46-48, “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

With a good understanding of the Mary-Jesus relationship, I doubt many would pray this prayer thinking Mary was God and then had a God child in Jesus. Instead, we see Mary as the earthly vessel to birth Jesus, who was already in existence in a different form prior to the birth.

Again, as I have emphasized in other articles, what is our focus in the prayer? If our focus is to elevate Mary above God, then the prayer is blasphemous. If our focus is to pray Scripture back to God, then the prayer is centering ourselves to further focus on our truly magnificent relationship with Jesus.

Hi Dutch – I realize some believers look at the Hail Mary prayer as blasphemous or elevating Mary above God. We should be careful in our interpretation of how or what others pray.

When we look at the Hail Mary prayer, the first portion is taken directly from Scripture. Luke 1:28 records the angel’s words to Mary with, “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” (King James version).

The first part of the prayer is, “Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”

The second part is where some might think the prayer elevates Mary as or above God, with, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

(Continued in next comment...)

Sharon – There is absolutely nothing wrong with repetitive prayer. The point of this article was not against a learned prayer, but encouraging a prayer conversation beyond the learned prayer. I am confident the Lord is blessed by us praying His words back to Him. This is a great foundation in our relationship with Him, yet we restrict our relationship with Him if this is where the prayer dialog stops. Sometimes the best prayer is simply, “Oh God, thank you.”

I can see how this article may have given you the impression it was against a learned prayer. Thank you for your points and a chance to clarify.

Thanks, Kristie. It was a pleasure to see everyone, although I wish it was under different circumstances. Thanks for your many blessings.

Good distinction, Lorenzo, although not accurate. Believing God created it all is faith, not religion. Religion is manmade and often crippling to faith.

By definition, some sciences become their own religion in the way they establish unfounded assumptions, rules, and laws, although these are only the extremes like species evolution (no proof, no facts, only assumptions and theory). Survival evolution is proven, however not a basis for species evolution.

Wondering how it all works is a good definition of science. The basis for all of the true sciences can be found and supported in Scripture... this doesn't take religion to find it, it only takes faith.