7 Steps to Receiving Divine Support
By now, most of us have heard the old sayings that tell us, "the way out is through" or "that we are never given more than we can handle".  As a matter of fact, some of us are so full of inspirational phrases that sometimes we can feel like a walking self-help manual.  Given this wealth of knowledge, it is amazing how hollow these words of wisdom can seem in times of crisis and pain.  Illness, troubled relationships and problems with our careers can leave us feeling cut off and alone.  That's because there is a big difference between knowing something as true in our minds and experiencing that truth in our hearts.  When a difficult situation comes in to our lives, the pain of that situation touches the parts of our selves that are not yet certain of Divine Support.   We feel separated from what we need and are not sure how to respond to what is happening in a balanced way.  In these moments it is not a philosophy that will help us, but rather the direct experience of Divine Care.  

Here are seven steps to receiving Divine Support in the face of challenging circumstances.
1. Prayer
We always begin any work on ourselves with a prayer. The prayers we say are not for the Divine but they are for ourselves because we are the ones who need the benefit of praying.  In our prayer we are opening ourselves to the Highest, most beautiful Reality we can conceive of to receive Care and Guidance.  We are humbly admitting that we are in need of this help and are reminding ourselves that at the core of our problem lies our need for Divine Support.  We are reminding ourselves that behind everything that happens, is the Hand of the Divine giving us what we need to move through it.  This type of prayer orients us in the direction of the Divine and creates a vessel in which we can receive Guidance.  
2. Facing our problems
Next we think about the situation that we are struggling with.  We take some time and go over what is happening in our lives.  Whatever is happening represents the physical manifestation of our troubles or the leaves on the tree. Since there is a difference between what is happening and what bothers us about it, in order to get to the root of our problems we must ask ourselves, "what about this situation is most upsetting?" What are we angry, frustrated, sad, scared, or overwhelmed about?"  Our emotions are like fingers that point directly to our pain.  There is great freedom in speaking what is really upsetting us. 
3. Discovering our beliefs
Once we are aware of what specifically upsets us about our circumstances, we next bring our attention to what we believe this situation means.  No matter what we are upset about we all will have one thing in common:  we are upset about what is happening because we believe our circumstances mean something negative for us. For example a person who is diagnosed with a serious illness may be upset about losing their mobility because they feel helpless, which to them means they are a useless burden on others.  Someone going through a hard time in relationship may be upset because they feel let down and believe it means that there is no one they can rely on. These beliefs set the tone for our experience and must be brought into balance before we can respond in a harmonious way to the events of our lives.  In order to discover our beliefs we ask ourselves the question, "What do I believe this situation means for me that is making me so upset"?
4. Evaluating our beliefs
Once aware of what we believe a difficult situation means to us, we next ask ourselves the question, "does what I believe about this situation feel supportive, or does it feel like a belief that is in need of support?"  Before we can receive Divine support and guidance we must empty the cup of our beliefs.  This is done by admitting to ourselves that what we believe is in need of support and that we are finished basing our lives on this belief.  We are not turning to God fix our problems; we are turning to God to discover that our problems don't break us and to respond to life from harmony.  So many of us are trying to change things in our lives so that we no longer have to suffer but we have not stopped and taken the time to see if our conclusions of suffering are even accurate.  Acting as if our beliefs are true and then attempting to heal them is like trying to scrub a shadow off the floor.  We can scrub and scrub but that shadow is not going anywhere until we shine light on it.
5. A Spiritual Second Opinion
When we are willing to acknowledge that we are in need of guidance and support, a transformation takes place.  The events of life become the catalyst for our growth and a means for deepening our experience of happiness and fulfillment.  We say to the Divine, "what I believe this situation means for me is not fulfilling, I place it in your hands to receive what comes from You instead".  When we do this we are trading our beliefs for the Support and Guidance of the Divine. 
We bring ourselves present and pay attention with every part of our being to what the Divine makes with our beliefs when we place them in Caring Hands.  We listen, but this listening is different than listening with our ears; it is listening with our experience. The response may come in a feeling of calm, a sudden insight, a voice we hear inside or outside, a vision or any other way.  Each of will receive a little differently.  The important thing is that we are present with our beliefs and their need for guidance while being expectant of a response.
6. Clearing the Layers of Beliefs
After we receive from the Divine something still might be troubling us. We may feel better because we received Guidance, but are not totally at peace.  It is important to notice what is bothering us about what we received from the Divine or what remains unresolved.  These are called the yeah buts.  We must acknowledge our yeah buts and not ignore them because now there is something else that is upsetting us and we need to go through the process again.  If we are willing to face what bothers us about what the Divine has showed us or what remains unresolved we will uncover the next layer of our experience that is in need of support.  Memories in the form of pictures might surface and we may feel as if we are two or five or twelve years old again.  We may think of a certain kind of circumstance in which we are not sure how to apply what we received from the Divine or simply feel the pain of living without knowing we were supported for so long.  
Often as we work, many layers of beliefs surface to be healed. These also must be acknowledged and cared for by opening them to Divine Support.  In this way we uncover the beliefs from our past that are still affecting us today.  As we work through the first one we uncover the next and the next until we are completely at peace with what comes to us from the Divine.   Sometimes we may need to turn to the Divine with several beliefs before we reach a sense of harmony.  The beliefs from our past percolate to the surface when the necessary love and support to heal and guide them are available.  It is like picking up a string and following it where it leads, staying open the Divine until we feel at peace inside. We know that we are through what was troubling us when we experience a sense of well being, things start to make sense, and we feel the relief of letting go of what was causing us pain. 
7. Gratitude
The last step is gratitude.  We thank both the Divine for what we received and ourselves for taking the time to receive this Care. People often say to me that if we were conscious of every time we felt uncomfortable and took the time to reflect upon those feelings with the Divine, we would never get anything done.  This process only seems like a good use of our time when we reflect on how much energy is spent having to make up for the things we do based in painful beliefs.  Our experience of a situation must become first on our priority list.  When how we are doing inside becomes more important than what is happening or what needs to be done, our lives come into balance because we begin to do the right thing at the right time.  Doing the right thing at the right time is the essence of being in harmony. 
Each step in this process represents a valuable life lesson.  The prayer represents living a life with the awareness that we are in God's Hands. Owning our emotions and admitting when we are upset strengthens personal honesty and integrity.  Recognizing when something is troubling us and identifying it develops self-awareness. Facing what upsets us develops courage, while acknowledging our beliefs fosters self-love and mercy.  Being willing to admit that we are in need of guidance engenders humility and teaches us to receive support.  Trading the beliefs of our self for the guidance of the Divine helps us to realize spiritual understandings.  And finally going through a painful situation with the support of God shows us that we can show up for all that life has to offer and experience a sense of happiness and well being that is beyond the comings and goings of things and events.