's motd Sunday Feb 28, 2010 - Prayer

[Guest guest]

PRAYING

Sunday, 28 February 2010

I was raised in a home where saying your prayers was mandatory. My mother would come into our rooms each night for us to say our prayers. When she did, Lenny and I would get on our knees, put our hands together and say our good night prayers. We said the prayers we learned in school so they were Catholic prayers, like Hail , The Apostle's Creed and The Lord's Prayer. We also prayed every night for our friends and family. After we were done, Shirley would tuck us into bed.

Over the years when I was a kid, I sometimes walked in on my parents while they were in prayer. They would be on their knees saying prayers I'd never heard before. It was like they were simply having a quiet conversation with God. One night, I sort of sneaked in and heard my dad praying. I got in closer so I could hear just what he was praying. And boy, did I. My father prayed... "Thank you dear Lord for all you have given me. And I only ask one thing of you Lord, I'm simply asking that Dicky's adoption goes through quickly. I know that new family really wants him so much. And for us, this house would be so much better without him here."Whoa! Oh...my dad! He'd spotted my shadow over by the door and was making those words up just so I could hear. (And you wonder where my sense of humor came from!)

After finishing school and leaving home, I continued to pray every night. And by the way, you shouldn't pray every other night. Praying should be one of your daily responsibilities. I also pray in the morning. In fact, the first thing I do after opening my eyes each morning is pray. And the prayer I begin my days with is this one:"Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful day. I promise I'll be kind to everyone in every way. And thank you for giving me this new day to serve you, do your work and enjoy my precious time here on earth. Amen."I said this prayer on The Dr. Oz Show a couple of weeks ago and sent it out to the thousands of people who wanted a copy of it. And today, I wanted to share this prayer with you.I must tell you, prayer has gotten me through a lot in my life. Prayer has brought me much peace and contentment. Some people pray only when they're facing problems in life but, that's not what prayer is all about. Just as you have to eat healthy and exercise everyday, you have to pray everyday, too.Now there are some people, God bless them, who go into their churches and kneel for hours in prayer. They're the people who'll get the front row seats in Heaven. I may not pray for hours but I do pray constantly during the day. What's so wonderful about prayer is that it has no trans-fats, no calories and can never, ever cause you to have indigestion.

Most people don't talk about prayer a lot but I do. When I'm out of town, I always pray with everyone after leading one of my workouts. When I board my flights, before the plane takes off, I say a prayer. And I pray again, upon landing, thanking God for a safe journey through the sky.In my night time prayers, I ask God to bless and keep healthy all of you who come to the website to read my daily message. So, as Dionne Warwick would sing..."Before I put on my makeup...I say a little prayer for you."And please, I ask you all to pray really hard for me.Love,