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Prayer is the miracle lottery. Typical prayer is begging. It's getting intensely worked up thinking you can somehow persuade God of what's best or emotionally manipulate Him to interfere outside of His spiritual realm in the afterlife. From fifteen years of faithful, committed experience I've learned the real goal is the objective frame of mind hidden beneath prayer: remain functional through calmness, never let others pressure you by managing your own pace, maintain untouchable patience through objectivity, and practice stress control with awareness techniques (see my about page for more). These are practical abilities that have been sterilized from Christian teaching and Christians are trained to be spicious of.

This is coming from a homeless, estranged trucker who's been betrayed, abandoned by Christians and damaged by their religious system. I've had to develop these skills to cope with loss, anger, depression, anxiety and reconcile my belief in the Creator with what has happened to me. Flexibility, adaptability and improvisation are Ways of the Warrior. It is the objective distance to perceive, truly perceive the big picture and act based on that rather than moving mechanically within the practiced motions of a narrow study.

Based on arguments I've had over the last 6 months here on FR, it's clear we are electing the way of pain by waiting to react to a government engineered socioeconomic collapse rather than preempt it by organizing now. I'm sorry I'm not sorry, but "Jesus loves you," "pray and read your Bible" are not adequate skills to save you from real, violent revolutionaries or to navigate a dystopia. Since no one is willing to stand together, I suggest we take the Kiltsman's advice and train to survive alone in the wild. There is a war coming.

I’ve had to develop these skills to cope with loss, anger, depression, anxiety and reconcile my belief in the Creator with what has happened to me.
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Hey, WAKE UP! Nobody promised you a rose garden! How does what has happened to you stack up with what happened to Joseph? Sold into slavery? Imprisoned after falsely being accused of rape? Or how about Samson? Had your eyes gouged out lately?

If you read One Samuel, you will see that every time David got in trouble was when he did something using the “Ways of the Warrior”, without asking YHWH what to do first.

So it is fine to train and prepare, but only do those preparations that the Holy Spirit tells you are necessary. Also remember, if He tells you to do one thing in a given situation, and that situation comes up again, ASK AGAIN, because He may want to do things differently the second time. This is another thing that David learned.

So, I say again: Read your Bible and Pray!

Just try to remember that you and your loved ones need to try to look at all the media and forms of entertainment as a way to manipulate and distract you from things that are real and important. Entertainment is good , I believe all things are neither good or bad but merely “are” and that it’s what we do or perceive that makes them ‘good or bad”.

There are studies out that show our “free will” is not as free as we think and that a bias is built in as a defense mechanism. So your thoughts on flexibility are neither good or bad but a method in which you can adapt and survive in a changing environment.

The rants and pounding of the chest as to “what I’m gonna do” might not be productive. It neither changes anyone’s opinion (but lets your enemies know yours) or changes the macro-societal changes. The key is survival of you and your family. If it comes down to bad scenarios, well then it’s going to be nasty. I’ve seen civil disorders, my grandfather fought in a civil war as well as a religious/political war and NOBODY gets out unscathed.

BUT... your thoughts I think are correct..being “flexible” allows you to not be programmed into simple algorithms and increases you and your family’s survival.. I think.

take care my friend, good luck.

[ Based on arguments I've had over the last 6 months here on FR, it's clear we are electing the way of pain by waiting to react to a government engineered socioeconomic collapse rather than preempt it by organizing now.

I'm sorry I'm not sorry, but "Jesus loves you," "pray and read your Bible" are not adequate skills to save you from real, violent revolutionaries or to navigate a dystopia. Since no one is willing to stand together, I suggest we take the Kiltsman's advice and train to survive alone in the wild. There is a war coming.]

Agreed, Prayer did nothing to save the Armenian Christians from the Turks who slaughtered them wholesale.

Yes, I came to the realization that we were obviously electing to continue on toward socioeconomic collapse. With that knowledge, I accepted that preparation for that event was the only logical thing to do.

Eventually, fiscal irresponsibility has it’s consequences, and there is no escaping the results in perpetuity - eventually one must “pay the piper”.

JMO, but I think we already passed the point of no return, but I hope that I’m wrong, and everything just gets straightened out. Meantime, continue to prepare and be of service to my local community and friends.