Sunday Stills -- Religion

Yep, today's Sunday Stills theme is RELIGION. Pretty appropriate for a Sunday Stills theme, don't you think?

Now, the problem with it is that I don't consider myself to have "religion" -- I have a relationship with the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth. His Son died to save me from my sins, the Holy Spirit convicts me of wrong I have done, and the three, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are all fully one God and yet three...which is indeed a mystery, but as one pastor once said, what kind of God would He be if we could understand Him?? Obviously He would be inferior to us, if our understanding could comprehend His being -- and therefore I am sooooo GLAD that He is beyond (way, way beyond!) my comprehension!

Anyway, part of this relationship includes frequent contact and discussion -- just like any relationship. The way that we talk with God is called prayer. Now, of course there is no one right way to do prayer, it is not required that you bow your head, close your eyes, kneel down, or even lie on your face like they did in the Old Testament. However, it really does help cut out the distractions if you bow your head and close your eyes, and folding the hands helps to keep your hands still (thereby also cutting down on distractions). Therefore, that is usually my preferred method of praying -- bowed head, closed eyes, folded hands.

The following two photographs are of myself (don't you love self-portraits? I'm getting better at them, still not very good though) and of my friend Mindy:

P.S. I want to put a disclaimer on this, as I know that several people will probably be viewing it. I am in no way, absolutely not, saying that you do not have to obey the other ordinances that God put in place for us, such as reading the Bible, attending a fellowship of other believers, etc. The two photographs of people praying (one of which is of myself) are simply the representation of my first thought when I think of my relationship with God -- talking to Him. I'm not saying that you can simply pray all the time and don't need to do other things in your life that He wants us to do. I'm simply saying that the first thought in my mind as a post on the subject of religion was prayer -- communication with our Lord. Today, I prayed when I was doing my personal devotions (reading in the Bible and talking to the Lord); I prayed before I ate, to give thanks for the food and for other blessings; I prayed while I was in church, both in worship, in thanksgiving, as well as making requests; and I prayed several other times -- all in different surroundings, in different positions of prayer, etc. The point I'm trying to make is not that I am a holy person (because I'm holy only in that I'm a sinner, saved by the grace of God, by Jesus' blood!!), but that communication with my Creator is an essential part of my spiritual life -- as are obeying Him in other areas of my life, like in reading my Bible and in fellowshipping with other believers. So please, please don't mistake me for meaning that you can say a prayer and be done with all your 'religious duty' -- you still need to obey God in other aspects of your life. I just wanted to clarify that, make sure we're all on the same page here. Happy Sunday to you all! :)