Learning to recognize the love that surrounds us
For a long time, I think I understood prayer primarily as something we turn to when we need something: an answer, a resolution, health, healing, or help navigating a difficult situation. We ask, we hope, we surrender our worries, and we wait. But something has been changing in the way I experience my faith. I am beginning to understand prayer less as a request and more as a conversation. A relationship. An opportunity to share my heart, express gratitude, ask questions, seek guidance, and simply be in the presence of the love I believe is always available to us.
Sometimes I speak. Sometimes I listen. Sometimes I sit quietly with no words at all. And sometimes I simply acknowledge the beautiful presence of God in my life. As my trust in God has deepened, and as I have opened my heart more fully to the love of Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the angels, I have begun to see something I hadn't fully recognized before. My prayers are being answered every day. Not always in the ways I expect. Not always in the timing I would choose. And not always through the dramatic moments we might traditionally call miracles. Sometimes an answer comes through a conversation that arrives at just the right time. Sometimes it is a door that quietly opens, a door that closes, a moment of unexpected peace, or the strength to move through something I once thought I couldn't. Sometimes it is simply waking up with a little more hope than I had the day before.
I have begun to wonder how many times I have been lovingly guided, comforted, protected, or given exactly what I needed, only to overlook it because I was looking for something else. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe in Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the angels, and in the beautiful love that surrounds us through the Divine. And I am beginning to understand that this love isn't something I have to earn, chase, or convince heaven to give me. It is something I can open myself to receive. There is a difference between asking God to show us that we are loved and beginning to live with the faith that we already are. When I hold that faith in my heart, my eyes seem to open. I notice more. I am less consumed by what is missing and more aware of what is being given. I begin to recognize grace in ordinary moments. And this recognition has begun to change the way I care for the life I have been given. It has motivated me to honor the resonance within me. To protect it, nourish it, and become more intentional about what I allow into my heart and my everyday life.
I want to surround myself with music that brings me closer to love, peace, and beauty. I want to choose the people in my life who help me see the good in myself, who encourage my light rather than diminish it, and whose presence reminds me of what is possible when we meet one another with kindness. I want to spend time in the places that melt my heart open to the world. In nature, among the horses, in the quiet moments of wonder, and in the presence of those things that remind me how beautiful it is to be alive. These choices are becoming more than preferences. They are part of my spiritual practice.
I am learning that honoring the love within me also means being mindful of what I cultivate around me. The thoughts I entertain, the sounds I listen to, the relationships I nurture, the spaces I inhabit, and the energy I bring into the world all contribute to the life I am creating. I no longer want my relationship with God to be defined only by the moments I need help. I want it to be present in the ordinary moments, too. In the joy, the wonder, the questions, the gratitude, and the simple experience of being alive. And perhaps this is another way our prayers are answered. Not only through what comes to us, but through the gentle guidance that helps us become more receptive to what is loving and true. I don't believe faith means we will never experience hardship, uncertainty, or unanswered questions. It means we don't have to walk through those things believing we are alone. And so, lately, my prayers have been changing. They feel less like a list of things I need and more like an ongoing conversation with the Divine. There is more gratitude, more acknowledgment, more listening, and more willingness to recognize the love that is already present. Thank you for the conversation. Thank you for the unexpected opening. Thank you for the strength. Thank you for the beauty of an ordinary moment. Thank you for the gentle reminder that I am not alone. I want to become more attentive to these moments. I want to recognize the answered prayers I might otherwise overlook. Because perhaps the greatest gift of faith is not simply receiving what we ask for. It is developing the eyes to recognize how deeply we are loved, and allowing that love to guide the way we live. To choose what nourishes us. To protect what is sacred within us. To make room for beauty, connection, and joy. To follow the quiet resonance of love as it leads us closer to one another, to ourselves, and to God. Perhaps this is what it means to live in Divine Love: not simply to ask for an embrace from heaven, but to become open enough to feel it, recognize it, and carry it into everything we do.
And discovering that love has been finding us all along.
