Keep Praying, Stay Strong!

Praying and Staying Hopeful Amid Hardship

Today's episode is all about finding strength in ourselves and then in others when we ourselves grow too tired to carry on. In Exodus, we find Moses standing on a hill with his arms raised in prayer so that the Israelites would triumph over the Amalekites. But as Moses grew tired and lowered his arms, the Amalekites would gain the upper hand. So Aaron and Hur who were both with Moses, found a rock for him to sit on and then they held Moses's arms up for him while he continued to pray to God until the Israelites won the battle. Then, in the Gospel of  Luke, we hear about the widow who continually asks a judge for help against an adversary. For a long time, the judge is either indifferent to the widow or is unwilling to give her what she wants. But she persists and persists. She really pesters the judge until he renders the judgement she is asking for to make her stop asking. Sometimes, this is what we must do with God. In today's episode, Tom addresses the issue of growing so tired of waiting and praying and how God allows this for us to not only prove our faith to Him but to also respond in true gratefulness and true joy when God finally does answer our prayers, even if those answers are different from what we were expecting. Jesus asks if He will find faith on earth when he returns. It's hard to keep the faith sometimes, especially when prayers are going unanswered. But we must keep the faith and pray to God for strength. We must ask others to pray for us and if possible, to pray with us. We must be united in prayer and sometimes, be so persistent so it feels like we are pestering God for an answer. Tom admits he struggles very hard with these situations but he is not giving up now, nor will he ever. He is going to pester God for however long it takes! No matter what difficulties you are facing, never give up. Keep praying and stay strong. Stay close to Jesus and He will guide you through life! The Daily Prayer of Commitment (Please copy and paste this so you can keep it!) Jesus, I repent of my sins. I renounce the evil one and all his works. I surrender my life to you and I truly accept you as the Son of the Living God. I receive you now into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me until I am overflowing and others can see it and hear it. I love you Jesus! Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: The Word Among Us [https://wau.org/] Tropical Escapes At Home on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@tropicalescapesathome] Tropical Escapes At Home Podcast [https://tropicalescapesathome.buzzsprout.com/] Cerulean Bay [https://ceruleanbay.com/]

Do Something For God Even If You Don't Think You Are Good Enough

In the Gospel reading from Luke 10: 1-9, Jesus appoints 72 disciples to travel in pairs to go to all of the towns He intends to visit. He tells them to bring nothing with them as they are sent out like "lambs among the wolves". He tells them to stay wherever they are invited to stay and to eat and drink whatever is served as they go about curing the sick. They are not to move to other homes until it is time to go on to the next town. Luke recounts the very clear instructions that Jesus gave to these disciples and shows us what an excellent writer he was, even better than the other writers of the Gospels. While Luke most likely never met Jesus, that didn't stop him from wanting to write about Jesus in the most clear and accurate manner possible. He didn't let any doubts or shortcomings get in his way. In this episode, Tom from Cerulean Bay shares how this inspired him to create a second podcast dedicated to the Lord. While it is an additional time commitment and it generates no income, Tom felt compelled to use his podcast microphone to help spread the Good News as Catholics are instructed to do at the end of every Mass. Rather than leaving his microphone off after recording his episodes for his primary podcast, Tropical Escapes At Home, Tom gathers his thoughts and inspirations that he gets after reading a scripture passage and the associated daily meditation from "The Word Among Us" and broadcasts them to the whole world, to anyone who will listen. Tom encourages you to do the same: listen for any promptings from the Lord and then act on those in any way you can to do something, no matter how big or small, for the Lord. You don't need to be an expert about it or perfect at it. Just do it the best way you can and give it to the Lord. He will fill you with his love and grace in return as you open the door wider to allow him to actively work in your life!  No matter what difficulties you are facing, do something for Jesus to show Him you love Him. Keep praying and stay strong. Stay close to Jesus and He will guide you through life. Never give up! The Daily Prayer of Commitment (Please copy and paste this so you can keep it!) Jesus, I repent of my sins. I renounce the evil one and all his works. I surrender my life to you and I truly accept you as the Son of the Living God. I receive you now into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me until I am overflowing and others can see it and hear it. I love you Jesus! Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: The Word Among Us [https://wau.org/] Tropical Escapes At Home on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@tropicalescapesathome] Tropical Escapes At Home Podcast [https://tropicalescapesathome.buzzsprout.com/] Cerulean Bay [https://ceruleanbay.com/]

Keep Seeking. Keep Asking. Keep Knocking

In the Gospel reading from Luke 11: 5-13, Jesus tells his disciples about a man who had a friend who showed up one night very late and the man had nothing to offer him to eat. So the man went to a neighbor's house and knocked. When his neighor asked what he wanted, the man asked to borrow 3 loaves of bread. His neighbor said he and his family were already in bed so he was not going to get up to get the bread. The man knocked again and again, and kept asking until the neighbor finally got up to get the bread for the man. Jesus says that because of the man's persistence, he received the bread and that we are to do the same. We are to keep seeking, keep asking, and to keep knocking.  And on top of that, we are to do this as a small child would do with his or her parents. Just as children do not always immediately receive what they are asking from their parents, sometimes we don't always immediately receive what we are asking for from God. Many times, we don't know why that is. And like children, sometimes we don't receive it at all because God knows it is not a good thing for us. So in time, we receive something even better.  It may not be exactly what we are asking for but He does not leave us empty and without relief. In this episode, Tom from Cerulean Bay shares his thoughts about the need to keep knocking when God already knows what we need. It is confusing and questions remain unanswered but Tom is not giving up. There is a reason for this needed persistence and one day, Tom hopes to know why. He knows others are struggling with the same questions. He is praying for you and all his listeners to keep praying and to stay strong. Never give up and stay close to Jesus! The Daily Prayer of Commitment (Please copy and paste this so you can keep it!) Jesus, I repent of my sins. I renounce the evil one and all his works. I surrender my life to you and I truly accept you as the Son of the Living God. I receive you now into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me until I am overflowing and others can see it and hear it. I love you Jesus! Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: The Word Among Us [https://wau.org/] Tropical Escapes At Home on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@tropicalescapesathome] Tropical Escapes At Home Podcast [https://tropicalescapesathome.buzzsprout.com/] Cerulean Bay [https://ceruleanbay.com/]

There Are No Guarantees in Life - Keep Praying And Persevere Anyway

In today's reading from the Book of Ruth, we read that Ruth has left her homeland and everything she knows behind after the death of her husband. Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, chooses to go back to her own homeland and Ruth goes with her to help take care of her even though Ruth knows that she herself will not be accepted there. She decides to go anyway simply to be of service to Naomi and to follow God's will however she can. It is there that Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi, takes them both in. Boaz falls in love with Ruth and she finds acceptance, love, and becomes part of a new family. There were no guarantees that anything good would happen there. But Ruth believed and she persevered, no matter what.  Just when you might be thinking that there is no way God will help in a difficult time, think of Ruth. Do what she did by putting others first out of love and service with a sincere heart, as much as you can, as you pray for God's will to be done in your own life. God will reward you in His own way and time. As you wait, keep persevering with faith for peace and relief. Tom from Cerulean Bay shares how he is struggling too and waiting for God to act. He shares how this struggle is not his alone, that many others throughout this world are dealing with their own struggles. But he knows God will come through. And when He does, Tom will be sharing it here! So keep praying, stay strong! The Daily Prayer of Commitment (Please copy and paste this so you can keep it!) Jesus, I repent of my sins. I renounce the evil one and all his works. I surrender my life to you and I truly accept you as the Son of the Living God. I receive you now into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me until I am overflowing and others can see it and hear it. I love you Jesus! Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: The Word Among Us [https://wau.org/] Tropical Escapes At Home on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@tropicalescapesathome] Tropical Escapes At Home Podcast [https://tropicalescapesathome.buzzsprout.com] Cerulean Bay [https://ceruleanbay.com/]

God Sometimes Provides In The Most Unexpected Ways

Just when you might be thinking that there is no way God can help in a difficult time because all of the ways you can think of to solve a problem have failed, the solution can show up anyway. When the Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland under King Darius of Persia, they wondered how on earth they would ever be able to rebuild what had been destroyed. Darius was a pagan and didn't believe in God as the Israelites did. But Darius found it in his heart to provide all of the monetary assistance the Israelites needed to rebuild their homes and their temple. Darius had no idea he was doing the will of God when he provided the assistance the Israelites needed. Tom from Cerulean Bay shares how God has done this for him (and continues to do) and how God can do this for you too, if you allow him to. He truly does love you and will come through for you. Links mentioned in this episode: The Word Among Us [https://wau.org/] Tropical Escapes At Home [https://www.youtube.com/@tropicalescapesathome] Cerulean Bay [https://ceruleanbay.com/]