Powerful Prayers by Larry King

by Cindi Sutter, Founder of The Spirited Table®

It's more than a tad above my pay grade to discuss Larry King's book entitled Powerful Prayersbut here I go.

My idea of a super Thanksgiving is on the horizon. A full week with kids/grandkids is sure to provide the exclamation point to a table full of food, laughter and fun.

If your Thanksgiving is a complex mix of personalities, spiritual paths and experiences, I hope this little corner of expressions of gratitude and blessings and graces, is an oasis full of thoughts with an array of ways to express the thankfulness around your tables. 

Excerpts from the book Powerful Prayers, by Larry King.

Silence is the finest of sounds. - Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk

Lou Holtz, Former coach of the Fighting Irish, winner of one hundred football games in ten seasons at Notre Dame--God's football team--told the Rabbi and me that he uses the acronym ACTS as the playbook for his prayers. 

"My wife and I try to pray together in the morning. We say a prayer out loud expressing our thoughts, then we'll read Psalms from the Bible, or Proverbs, and I have a book with a prayer for every day with different passages from the Bible. I use the word ACTS: Acknowledge God, Confess what has happened - I lay it all on the table, so to speak-Thanksgiving for daily things, and then Supplication, which is whatever your needs and concerns are.

I've done this for quite a few years. I also try to pray during the day, just short prayers, maybe even line or two, just a few words. It's a reminder to me that God is there.

Prayer, to me, is nothing more than talking to God and explaining how you feel and asking for his guidance. But prayer will seem hollow if you haven't a closeness to God. If you don't feel that closeness it's because there is something that is a barrier within you; maybe it's something you've done or a habit in your life which prevents you from having this relationship. God will tell you what to change, but you have to be sincere. Beginners in prayer have to get on their knees and tell God they can't lead their lives without him.

You'll have peace and satisfaction-you can handle the good and the bad-it just makes all the difference in the world in the way you approach life. You can be a Muslim, Jew, whatever. It doesn't matter. "

If you feel distant from God, remember it isn't God that moved. - Anonymous