A Heartfelt Word From Kateb

Dear Reader 📚

There comes a time in every soul’s journey when the fork in the road is not marked by signs, but by silence. It’s in those moments that our own desires, our own understanding, and our own emotions are often the loudest voices in the room. But if we are honest, those voices are often impatient, clouded, and tied to outcomes we’ve already decided in our hearts. That is not guidance  that is self-direction in disguise.

When the heart is unsettled and the mind unsure, the wisest thing we can do is step back, quiet our will, and seek the One whose knowledge sees beyond every corner of time. That’s what it means to truly seek guidance from the Creator. The  prayer for Guidance is a sacred doorway  not to force the Creator into confirming our plans, but to surrender our plans entirely, trusting His perfect vision.

Before praying, I make my intention clear: I am not here to get my way. I am here to be shown the way. I come with open hands, not clenched fists. My prayer is not a bargaining table  it is a release. “O Creator, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge, and I seek Your ability by Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power, and I have none. You know, and I know not. You are the Knower of unseen things.”

Then I pray, and I go about my day. I trust that answers may not come wrapped in immediacy. They may arrive in the quiet shift of my heart, in a dream that settles me, or in the subtle way circumstances align. And sometimes, the answer comes not as a change in the path, but a change in me.

I’ve learned something the hard way  do not go to the Creator with your mind already made up. That’s not seeking; that’s presenting. If your heart is already locked, His wisdom cannot enter.

The prayer for Guidanceis not about identifying what is bad  it’s about recognizing what is best. And often, what is best may not look easiest or most appealing at first. Our emotions, like clouds, can block the sun of clarity. But when the winds of trust blow through, the sky opens.

A Deep Message:

If you pray for the Creator to lead, you must also be willing to follow, even when His path bends away from your own.

Acronym for G.U.I.D.E.:

• Give up control.

• Unlock your heart.

• Invite divine wisdom.

• Delay your own judgment.

• Embrace the revealed path.

 Parable:

A young man stood before two rivers. One was wide, calm, and glittered under the sun. The other was narrow, rocky, and half-hidden in shadow. He wanted to cross, but he could not see what lay beyond either bank. In his heart, he wanted the glittering river   it looked safe. But before stepping in, he prayed: “O Creator, show me the river that leads to my true home.”

That night, in a dream, he saw himself on the shining river, but it grew shallow and ended in a dry desert. He woke, confused, but trusted the vision. He took the narrow river instead. At first it was hard   the rocks hurt his feet, and the current pushed him back   but as he pressed on, the river widened, the banks bloomed with fruit, and he found a land more beautiful than he had imagined.

The lesson: The path you desire may not be the one that delivers you, but the path the Creator chooses will never fail you.

So I choose to pray, wait, and trust. Because I’d rather walk a difficult road with the Creator’s hand than run down an easy one alone.

Kateb Nuri-Alim Shunnar

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