Sarah sat in the living room, with tears streaking down her cheeks. She thought to herself; “How can I start over? What am I going to do? How much money do I have in my account? How long will the money last before I get a job?”
She felt trapped, she didn’t know what to do or where to turn. “Starting over is not easy, at my age, I should not have to worry about surviving. By now, I should have you been settled in my career and my private life” she thought.
Looking out the window and watching people passing by, she took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. With her nose pressed against the window envying the people who are lively walking on her street, she decided to call her friend to complain about her life.
“Starting over is so hard for me. I can’t eat, sleep or think.” She said,
“Why?” replied the friend
“I lost my job, the rent here is too expensive, I have my daughter to look after and I don’t want to disrupt her life. I feel loss and insecure. I don’t know how or where to start.”
“Don’t worry” says the friend “I can guide you through this difficult time. I know it’s scary when facing with uncertainty. However, we are faced with uncertainty every day in life.”
“What do you mean?” Replied Sara
“Hmm,” said the friend “When you go to bed at night, do you know for sure that you will see the next day? When you go to work, are you certain your position will be there? When you live your house, are you certain you will go back home?”
“Not exactly, but I always have hope that all these things will be there for me.” replied Sara
“Hope and faith are the best ingredients in life. Knowing God is always there to guide and support you is all you need to move forward. However, the knowledge is not enough. You also have to do things to help yourself as you are getting ready to start the next chapter of your life.”
“That’s nice” replied Sarah “Right now, I need more than hopeful speech what is the best advice you can give me about starting over? What is the first thing that I should be doing in order not to waste time or make the same mistakes?”
The friend replied, “The first thing to do is to call out to Allah (God), pray.”
She shook her head and said, “I pray every day, if I don’t pray I cannot sleep.”
The friend replied “It’s great that you pray. However, when you are praying, do your prayers come from your heart? Mouth? Or head?”
Sarah smiled and replied, “What difference does it make ? Prayer is prayer.”
The friend said, “There are the prayers that we do out of routine without really thinking about it. There are prayers that we do because we’re supposed to, these are called habit prayers. And there are prayers that we do because we are in desperate need of divine intervention. Usually, those are prayers that come from the heart.”
Sara replied, “Since I pray the same prayers every day, I would think my prayers fall under routine prayers.”
“Why do you say that?” Asked her friend.
“Because I do these prayers without thinking or feeling, they come to me naturally to me.”
“Good, I’m glad you understand the difference between the prayers that you do every day. However, when praying you should always try your very best to make it come from your heart because you are talking to Allah (God). “
“What do you suggest I do now then?”
“I think, you should pray the most important prayer that exist, and it is easy to say.”
“What is the most important prayer?” Asked Sarah
“The most important prayer is ‘Allah (God) please help me and guide me’. I believe this is the most important prayer anyone can make because without Allah (God,) nothing can happen. If Allah (God) does not help you, you cannot move forward; without His help and guidance you will be lost. This simple prayer will not only help with your connection and reliance on Allah (God) but, it will also protect you from depression because you will know everything is controlled by Allah (God).”
Sarah said “Thank you, I will try what you say, and I will get back to you.
A month, she called her friend and said, “You can’t believe how my life has changed since I’ve been asking God for help and guidance, I found a new job that pays better I feel fulfilled and happier than I ever felt before.”
“Did the change happen suddenly?” asked her friend.
“No, it took two weeks before I got this job.”
“What did you do exactly?”
“I sent out resumes, I researched and at different job sites, I applied for different positions in diverse fields, I contacted friends, different companies to ask if they know about employment opportunities and I also ask God to help and guide me at least one hundred times during the day. I knew if I continue to be patient, pray and keep on searching God would not let me down.”
“I am glad I was able to help you.”
” Thank you for your help, service, and advice.”
“My pleasure please, don’t hesitate to contact me if you should need my help in the future. “Oh Allah (God) please help and guide me.” Or “Oh my Lord, please help me and guide me.”