What do you think of when you hear the word “prayer”? Usually, prayer is something that most of us associate with religion.
I know that when I hear the word “prayer” it instantly takes me back to the dogmatic teachings of my childhood.
I remember sitting in the pew for years upon years listening to the empty, dull, and formulaic repetitions of the preachers. Sitting there silently, the lack of zest, depth, and authentic feeling underneath these “holy invocations” made my skin crawl.
I couldn’t understand why talking to God was so openly pious, but inwardly hollow.
For others, prayer is linked with a chintzy, cute, and immature form of spirituality.
I’m talking about that muffin-baking, holier-than-thou, goodly-housewife-born-again-Christian kinda vibe.
You might also associate prayer with people like Ned Flanders from The Simpsons and his progeny, or those squeaky clean Jehovah Witnesses that knock on your door every now and then.
And still, for some people who don’t come from a Western context, prayer might be associated with Salat (Muslim ritualistic prayer), or even the traditional honor of gods and goddesses.
Whatever background you come from, it’s likely that you need to unpack, reimagine, and rejuvenate your thoughts and beliefs about prayer.
Without being open to changing your definition of prayer, you’ll continue to perceive it through the lens of your religious, cultural, or societal conditioning – and usually, those associations ain’t that great!
I want to invite you to see prayer in a different light, untainted by its somber past. I want to invite you to find the magic in it once more.
Rediscovering the power of prayer has been a humbling yet empowering journey for me. I’d love for you to rediscover its beauty again too.
Table of contents
Prayer and Spiritual Awakening
Before we go any further, I want to start out by saying that prayer doesn’t need to be just a side hustle when it comes to undergoing major life shifts.
Prayer is an ancient practice that deserves a central place in your life.
Whether you’re undergoing a dark night of the soul, existential crisis, or spiritual awakening, prayer is always there for you.
By helping you to let go, practice humility, and get out of your own way, prayer teaches you to align with the core qualities of growth and spiritual healing.
Pretty amazing for such a simple and unassuming path I’d say!
Why the Power of Prayer is so Undervalued
Of all the spiritual gifts and paths out there, prayer is probably one of the most — if not THE MOST — undervalued.
In fact, I will go so far as to say that prayer is rarely even written about in the self-help field. (And I read through a lot of self-help material out there.)
I mean, how many times have you read, heard about, or seen (non-dogmatic-religious people) proclaim the power of prayer? Probably not much.
Prayer is a black sheep in the spiritual community.
If it’s not associated with bible-bashing and religious extremism, it’s associated with childish new age spirituality.
So you see, prayer always seems to get a bad rap.
But I think one of the main aversions that we have to prayer is our egotism. After all, we are the “do-it-yourself” society.
We currently value self-sufficiency, strength, and power over all else.
For this reason, prayer can be perceived as somewhat “weak” and self-effacing to the modern mind.
Common misconceptions about prayer include:
- The idea that it makes you a failure (because you have to ask for help)
- The belief that you’re not worthy of help in the first place
- The belief that God/Divine/Source is a spiteful, ruthless, and fearsome force, which makes prayer dangerous
- And of course, the multitude of damaging associations with prayer and its murky past
In reality, prayer is often the last thing we resort to when in a crisis. Only after we’ve dried out our last resources do we think of praying.
The truth is that our lives would change drastically if prayer was the FIRST thing we turned to in a time of need, or even in a moment of gratitude. After all, prayer is a direct bridge to the Divine.
Prayer is also not a “passive” thing, as is so commonly believed.
I held this very belief for a long time. I always thought that saying a few words didn’t really change anything.
In fact, the very act of prayer itself seemed pointless to me, particularly after I left fundamentalist religion. Because of that, I shut myself off to prayer for a long time.
But this mistaken belief about the power of prayer could not be further from the truth. Prayer is actually one of the most active spiritual tools out there.
As author Dostoyevsky once wrote,
Be not forgetful of prayer … prayer is an education.
In other words, not only does prayer open us up to higher guidance, it actually helps us to be receptive to the lessons we most need to learn.
Gifts of Prayer
Prayer has gifted me with so much love and gratitude that I make it my goal to say at least one prayer each day. I have found it to be such an energetic, influential force of change that I can’t do without it!
Here are some gifts of prayer you’ll receive if you incorporate this practice regularly into your life. Some of these benefits are even scientifically backed:
- Increases receptivity and openness to life
- Improves self-confidence
- Enhances feelings of safety and security
- Improves relationships with others
- More mindfulness
- More synchronicity
- More unexpected gifts
- More gratitude
- More forgiveness and self-forgiveness
- More connection with the Divine
- Reduces stress, depression, and anxiety
- Increases feelings of inner wholeness
- Increases trust in self and life
- Induces transcendental experiences of Oneness
As you can see, the power of prayer is immense. It can transform nearly every dimension of your life.
How to Practice the Power of Prayer
The inner voice is something which cannot be described in words. But sometimes we have a positive feeling that something in us prompts us to do a certain thing. The time when I learnt to recognise this voice was, I may say, the time when I started praying regularly.
― Mahatma Gandhi
Here’s how to reimagine and rediscover the magic and power of prayer:
1. Be willing to surrender your previous ideas about prayer
As I mentioned above, you might need to go on a “detox” of your perceptions towards prayer. This ‘cleansing’ process might include deeply examining how you feel about prayer, asking where those beliefs came from, and contemplating how to approach prayer differently.
For me, rekindling my love affair with prayer involved sitting down and thinking about the many mistaken beliefs I carried. Journaling and meditation were great allies in this process.
You’ll know when you have a healthier relationship with prayer when the very thought of praying no longer makes you internally cringe.
2. Choose another name for “God”
You don’t need to be religious to pray and you certainly don’t need to believe in the “bearded-old-white-guy-in-the-sky” (because come on, that’s an outdated and essentially racist and sexist way of thinking about God!)
For prayer to be powerful, you need to think about what the highest possible good looks and feels like to you.
Choose a name to replace the word “God” that feels comfortable and meaningful to you. Examples include Source, Consciousness, Love, Beloved, Divine, Goddess, Shiva, Allah, etc.
3. Pray for what you need, but also what you’re thankful for
God isn’t a pimp. He/She/It doesn’t give you things because you are His/Hers/Its servant. This is what the majority of religious thought would have us believe.
Surrender the idea that God is anything other than a universal source of complete unconditional love.
Let go of the idea that God is there to punish, control or condemn you.
Tune into what God/Divine actually means to you on a deep, heart-felt, soul level.
The true “sin” here is not in denying the existence of God, the true “sin” is believing that God is even capable of hurting you in the first place.
When you’re praying to God, you’re praying to that boundless, egoless source of love that is your True Nature.
This divine source of purity and peace wants the very best for you.
(If you’ve had a mystical experience before, you’ll know this.)
Prayer is a way of communing with this Divine source. Prayer is essentially a way of allowing the Beloved to fulfill its ultimate desire: for you to be happy, whole, and at peace.
Thanking God/Love/Divine will also increase your gratitude for life tenfold.
The more you find to be thankful for, the happier you’ll feel, and the happier you feel, the more you’re thankful for. It’s a beautiful cycle!
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
4. Allow your prayer to come from the heart
This is perhaps the most important piece of advice: pray from the heart.
If you don’t, if you repeat by rote old verses, if you say the same thing over and over again, your prayers will feel dead. Your connection to the Divine will perish (at least consciously).
Instead, when you pray, pray from the soul. You don’t need to speak out loud. In fact, my most heartfelt prayers are said silently. (Feel free to experiment with both out-loud and silent approaches – figure out what works for you!)
Making up prayers as you go is also a much more authentic way to pray.
However, if you find a prayer written by someone else that speaks to your heart, by all means, use it! There are no set-in-stone rules here.
God/Divinity doesn’t care what you say, but how you say it, aka. emotional sincerity is what counts.
Here is a sample prayer:
Dear Beloved, all things in my life are sourced from you. Every blessing I have is because of you. My breath is yours, my mind is yours, my heart is yours, my body is yours, my soul is yours, my spirit is yours. I am yours, and you are mine. Let me embody you in my daily life. Let my life become an expression of your radiance and purity. Help me to surrender what no longer serves me. Help me to know what questions to ask and places to look when I am stuck. I give my trust to you unconditionally. I love you. Amen/so may it be.
At heart, I am a mystic. So all of my prayers are mystical and have an ecstatic quality.
You might have another type of heart: the heart of a musician, artist, architect, or philosopher.
Let your prayers embody whatever comes the most naturally to you.
Shadow Work Journal:
Go on a journey through the deepest and darkest corners of your psyche. Embrace your inner demons, uncover your hidden gifts, and reach the next level of your spiritual growth. This is deep and powerful work!
Reflect on the Power of Prayer
For you to continue praying, it’s crucial that you reflect on the power of prayer in your life.
How has it helped you in times of need or want, even subtly? How has it filled you with more goodness? What changes has prayer brought to your life?
The more you reflect on prayer, the more you’ll realize what an immense force of good it is in your life.
I strongly recommend keeping a journal to help you reflect upon and learn from this grace-filled experience. (Here’s a free guide on how to journal to support you.)
So tell me, what is your relationship with prayer? Has it been tainted by your religious or cultural context? And if you regularly pray, how has the power of prayer transformed your life?
This is a great piece of
peace…congratulations for your inspiring and illuminating words you keep sharing. Anytime after I finish praying…I feel calm and feel accepted… it’s like sharing your compliments or worries to a trusted source that no human can use it against you.. prayer like you said it’s not just a spiritual tool but also a scientific way of feeling calm…
Thank you every much for sharing and activating our prayer life…
” it’s like sharing your compliments or worries to a trusted source that no human can use it against you” – yes, so well said! We all need that sense of non-judgmental witnessing and compassion. Thank you for being here Joana!
Thanks Aletheia, like you I love to pray. I find prayer, uplifting, illuminating, humbling, profound and (in your word) energetic. I cannot live without praying each and every day of my life – its gratitude. So much of “life” on this planet to be thankful for; and so much to ask forgiveness for, just look around, but we are all here, on this planet, together. And that, deserves prayer. Love “the work” of Service you both provide.
Beautiful, thank you Grace (and lovely name too)!
Wow, this was such an eye opening read!!!! Thanks for sharing this! I haven’t been praying, exactly for the reasons mentioned above. But this opened my eyes to remember the “magic” that flowed from prayers in the past. And that prayer isn’t about being religious, but about the connection with God. And that it can be an authentic connection free of dogmatic, religious rules and regulations. This was so freeing to read. Thank you!!!
Very, very, very good written
Thank you :)
I pray daily but currently, I just say the “Our Father in Heavens…” prayer that was taught to us by Jesus Christ with as much feeling as I can muster. For some reason, I didn’t really feel comfortable with making up my own prayer. But I got the impulse now to experiment with more spontaneous prayer, I will probably transform my morning gratitude journaling into a morning gratitude prayer, that’s the first idea that came to mind now. And will see where I go from there.
I love that you have a gratitude journal – and incorporating prayer into that seems to be the perfect fit!
Hello , I love this Article on Prayer { Religious Spirit } Something I Find Very Much Real.!! Born in mid 70’s and Too this very Day , So much has ( Happened , Happening , ) CHANGE – AND MORE CHANGES , especially in The Spiritual Aspect of how – The World, Churches , Social Media , Society , ETC:.. I myself Was caught up in Confusion , Addiction , Etc.. Really Hard to Explain , But Just about my whole life – I’ve been in and out Rehabilitation Centers ( Christian Centers to help with Recovery ) Non-profit So you could imagine There were so many and with that being said , I was subject to ALOT of different Religious teaching and What is right and Wrong , So much It has left me , So Confused, Lost, Questioning Whether Or not I’m Doin this wright or wrong ( I say , living by Law or Condemnation ) In which makes life very Difficult to live.!! I now as an adult Question Myself, my motives , am I right or wrong , Sensitive , Lost , Confused , A Lot of people say that ( IM MY OWN WORST ENEMY ) I agree – I believe in a Higher Power , I’m just Really lost in this now.!! Reading your Article really hit Home ( Who Am I Praying? , How do I see Him/It? , Do I have a Relationship with my Higher Power? , Do I Truly Love This Higher Power? , ETC .. As you can See I’m Lost and Questioning myself and Every in my Life.!! I feel like There’s A Negative Dark Force or Cloud that Follows me – Keeping me in Chains of Despair and FEAR and nothing I can do , pray , Etc will Help bring me out or Free of this Invisible Prison.!!!!
Hi Christopher, My heart goes out to you. I am a psychotherapist who specializes in trauma. When I read your description of your confusion and the “dark cloud “that follows you, I think trauma. I would heartily encourage you to find a trauma informed therapist to work with. I think it will transform your life and help you find the clarity you desire and deserve. A therapist who understands what happens in the nervous system due to trauma would be most helpful. If you’re open to it I encourage you to look for a somatic therapist and/ or a therapist who practices internal family systems (IFS). Best of luck to you. May you experience healing.
Prayer is the universal way for all this world to reach out to the intangible, invisible, and to most but a few the inner space, the Spirit Soul and its ultimate coreGod/Source/Super Soul or Universal Essence. The core being super refined and to most of us beyond our present comprehension. As we are limited to only perceive God/Source via the mind and in some sense feel this presence from the inner selves. Namaste!
Within this sphere called the World or Gaia, we perceive the four main pillars of Religion, plus those not mainstream. Like those who follow Wicca, Druids, Celts, or ancient practices from Lemuria and Atlantis, or the Black Arts and Magic.
The earliest being I believe is the Animist cults. The degree and use of incantations, meditations, vocalizations, mantras, and many other verbal and visual displays all harness the focus /intention and powers of energy and place. All focus on a particular approach to perceiving the power of inner space and how that empowers the users to create and reach their own style/rites of place and intention. Of seeing either the Dark Hearted side or the Light Side of Soul Source and peace. As these approaches are gainfully used and in many cases misused and abused, they build platforms upon which become their particular frequency of form style and veneration.
Prayer incantations can build a pattern of behavior that extends out from the individual as a method form and connection to place, and to the Divine. It satisfies the nagging call to all of us from the Core to restore and replenish us, to refine our rough spots and reform and heal our insides and rebuild pathways of our own choice. Establishing our inner world needs and building an unbroken bond or line which defines where we have come from upon this journey and where Spiritually we go to from this point onwards from this World.
Prayer early in Animist form was a focus on inner connection to the Spirit of the natural world. Where elemental forces were conjured up/raised up via sounds of drum beat and vocalization to help induce better seasonal crop harvest, greater safety from predation via wild animals dark spirits, or rival cultures. It gave a certain resonance and reassurance of group collective thought and Spiritual practice. It also connected them to the known World and their particular identity, concepts, and shape of how that World would appear and be presented via music sounds, artworks, decoration, and language. Some back in the distant past in Atlantis and Lemuria not only discovered their own style and inner World of Spirit but connected it extremely well to advanced understanding of the Cosmos and had some technological means and methods that were immense. Way beyond our scope and comprehension of things today.
So the many forms of prayer/incantations can boost being mindful and focused in meditation and deliver use to finer levels as we journey through this World /Gaia and into the higher dimensions of subtler form and light.
Thank you for sharing this John ♡
Thanks for reading my shared message…It keeps the grey matter in good nick and the Spirit tuned into Sol&Luna.
The power of prayer is not understood to be undervalued, it just needs a re-establishment tweek or two in people’s lives as necessary value to aid the human development system.
Its diversity on all levels past and present makes it so confusing. And I feel it’s never immature and self effacing to begin. All forms of prayer are personal and valid choices of which pathway to take as a journey through life. Sometimes it works in our favour and other times not so favourable.
Weekly Reflection
*Exercise when you feel the need. * At the beginning and end of the day take a load off, take a moment to reflect, simmer down the bad thoughts and tough love situations. Relax and reduce stress, do some clearance, meditate or give your partner a facial (exfoliation) then some nice night cream.*Set Spiritual goals before setting and making daily plans for the day.
Social Gatherings
Express thoughts and feelings to others in a positive way without divulging too much to them, and boring them half to death.
Nor giving your lengthy version of how many negative views you can load off at one shot and still survive flying verbal missiles across the room, or ducking the incoming real ones.
Entertainment
Play your favorite self-help healing tape disc or pod to aid rest, clearance and recovery before the next onslaught the following week.
Emoti con
If you feel sad, lonely, abandoned, or angry. Meditate and allow these crappy feelings to flow and gently arise in your consciousness, then clear them out of your Dark Side and feel the clear light of a fresh day. Boot them out up the backside!
Prayer gifts
I often use prayer as a prelim or as an initial entrance to inner workings and also for major clearance before meditation.
As you say it is a very powerful tool as it acts like a key to open the door to focus more clearly on inner things and to help find assistance, ask forgiveness for (fears, anger, or guilt) from past actions, and to sometimes radiate loving-kindness to one and all at hand. It’s like an old friend, one never forgets to see always when things are rough and tumble, and no good end seems in sight, the friend appears as if by magic to help us to see the other side and differences in things. By doing this form of giving we realize we are never alone in strife as others use their personal and individual powers of prayer to transport and replenish us now and always. It’s a Blessing Indeed!
Conclusion
We are part of the Divine, as God is in us and through us. We are the rough filaments or roots of an immense never-ending growth pattern forming, dying, and then replenishing over and over again. Or perfection of the Divine reimagining its self over and over again in the finite world.
I use a mix of meditation, a Buddhist prayer, and a Māori waiata (song) about being washed clean/freed by the elements whenever I can’t sleep. If I find myself mindlessly saying the words I repeat them so I take on the meaning. I can lie there for an hour or two not sleeping or I can sit up for quarter to half an hour doing this and then happily fall asleep. It doesn’t really matter what tradition your prayers come from. It’s just a different cultural interpretation of the same thing; of calming your thoughts, clearing your mind, clearing disturbed or angry thoughts and focusing on love, compassion, forgiveness, acceptance.
Beautiful, I’d love to know what specific Buddhist/Māori songs you use – that sounds intriguing!
I don’t have any stories about “the power of prayer”. I’ve pretty much lost all faith in any prayer, including prayers in the form of gratitude, presence, etc, etc… That doesn’t mean I don’t pray when I feel moved to…just that its always been a meaningless gesture without any value whatsoever.
“We cannot count on God to arrange what happens in our lives in ways that will make us feel good.”
“Its hard enough to develop a personal relationship with an invisible God, one who’s voice I never hear… its harder to feel close to an unresponsive God.”
“When a friend tells you he is so excited about all that God is doing it’s hard to admit you’re irritated over what God is not doing.” ~Larry Crabb ‘Shattered Dreams’
Prayer is powerful. When I was pregnant with my last two children who are almost two years apart, I was homeless, in an abusive relationship, and I never went to the doctors, but I prayed everyday and every chance I got that my babies came out healthy, they did, and intelligent.
This is powerful – and inspiring, wow. ♡
Hi , I love synchronicity , I do believe in the power of prayer , I have seen my prayers answered and unfold , I also was brought up in prayer in the pews and always leaving the church wondering why I didnt feel as happy or uplifting as others and how it was the same ol prayers and service week after week , maybe a tad different but I always felt shame and emptiness like I was not good enough it reminded me of school you had to be …. in order to fit in or join the club , always felt like the under dog , but when I prayed alone and in my journal I do feel a connection to the universe and the divine , here recently I have encountered a new setback , my dad who lives with me is from the old school of church although he doesnt read the bible he tells me I should and he tells me that the Reiki I am learning and looking at oracle cards , or any other healing is wrong and goes against God and Jesus , his outlook is has effected me and my prayer time , I question is there divine God , angels, universe then I get so heart broke that I question this , I get stuck and do nothing , but I do know deep in my heart and soul there is a great spirit who loves us who listens to us wants to communicate with us and even answers us , I know this , then you get these religious thumpers who say its the devil who is answering us , he can be anything you want him to be so that he can suck you in , I want to thank you Luna for your work here , It has help me to keep on with prayer with what I know to be true and a beautiful gift .
with Love always
Janine Borchardt
Hey Janine. Thanks for opening your heart here. Yeah, I can relate with the fear that whatever you do is “the devil hiding and deceiving you” – you’re definitely not alone. Just keep reconnecting with your heart and the love there, and you cannot go wrong (because ‘God is Love’ right?) :-) ♡
my source of strength is prayer i do it silently focusing on source God created us all from himself we live many lives learning more each life and eventually we return to that source even if it takes forever i am looking aforward to going back to my spirit family my aunt that has passed resently is waiting for me there…..people allways ask me were i get so much energy
♡
I am SO sick & tired of reading how “religion sucks” by you Aletheia, that it’s got to the point as soon as I read the first para from Lonerwolf, I can tell if it’s written by you or by Sol (who’s far more mature in his spiritual journey). Stop winging about religion & grow up!
Hey John, no one posts comments with such ‘heat’ unless they have a bunch of unresolved stuff in their own life… I only know this from my own past and inner work, and from working with others. I hope you can find healing and peace somewhere in your own journey.
Another great LonerWolf article, thank you. I really look forward to fresh material and feedback participation from the LonerWolf community
…………………….,
I believe I understand what this commenter is saying re perhaps it’s becoming a bit of a consistent repetitive [ victim ] theme across some articles viz your discombobulation with your born-again Christian upbringing
…likely some of these Christian people of your former denomination are subscribers/ buy your stuff too
…perhaps it’s possible to find compassion for your former misguided/ “misinformed spiritual perpetrators” who were not right for you at that time, reflect on the reassurance that “love-“chi”” has been with you throughout your journey irrespectively always, forgive them, make room for their perspectives and the “level of misinformation” not right for you that they are at, and let it go. The universe is a big place and has made room for all manner of “what contends the heart”; where there is depletion of substance of an enduring quality, time sorts it all out in the end :-)
You are absolutely right! I became a Catholic as an adult. They never spoke of how to pray not even the rosary. I was confused because everyone seemed to know these traditions. Before becoming Catholic, I was spiritual and wanted to study Taoism but I felt too young. In the meantime, a friend told me about the Global Consciousness Project out of Princeton University, noosphere.princeton.edu. At this time, they have 142 EGGs, or measuring devices. These EGGs usually receive 1/0 but when the device gets actual numbers analysis of events taking place is correlated. It usually indicates positive or negative energy put out into the world. On one World Peace Day, the numbers went very high. In other words, tons of positive energy was captured scientifically. That is the power of prayer! At 58, I began to study Taoism along with following your guidance. I learned to pray from the heart. My life is changing. I feel I have more control and am less anxious. I am getting there.
i never really understood the purpose of prayer since i grew up being taught that god knows what’s in your heart. so why pray if my heart is an open book anyways.
it wasn’t until this last year that i learnt different things about prayers. firstly i read from several sources that when you ask the universe for something, that thing will become attracted to you. and i later read that for this to work, you have to apply positive thinking. but i couldn’t figure out how do you ask for something without thinking of the fact that you don’t have it right now.
then i heard of a technique where you meditate/pray and envision that you already have it.
i was stressed at work and was being asked for resolutions that i just had no experience doing. i felt really overwhelmed for several weeks and cornered not able to do my job efficiently and it was affecting me.
one evening after work, i tried this technique. i closed my eyes and emptied my thoughts. instead of focusing on the problem. i envisioned that my stress was gone and how that would feel. the calm that would come over me. i thought about waking up the next morning completely relaxed, logging in to work (i work from home) and that the issues i had been stressing about didn’t exist anymore. that the answers were already known to me and had come together. i opened my eyes and immediately did my to-do list for the next morning.
that night, i slept more soundly than i had for a month.
the next morning, i woke up relaxed, tackled my list through the day, and the issues were being resolved…by me.
imagining that the result had already happened is what made it happen. the universe or divine source heard my positive vibes. positive attracts positive. it is possible through prayer to have good things happen.
i don’t want to associate prayer with religion anymore. i don’t also know what to call what i did other than “praying”.
i hope this helps someone like it helped me.
Thank you for sharing Lyn, this sounded like an empowering experience for you! What you’re talking about sounds similar to law of attraction principles, except instead of focusing on what you don’t have, you focus on what you do have. I love this approach :)
I grew up in a Baptist family, read the KJV Bible cover to cover as a child and knew there was a major problem with it, later researched its origins to find the cause, explored Eastern philosophy/ yoga/ meditation and then finally returned to prayer as a powerful adjunct to meditation. My recent discovery is the source of power that lies at the center of Mother Earth, pure unconditional Love. This can be accessed by total identification in the deep meditational mind states. My conclusion; religion has lobotomised God (the Christ within). Jeshua, in his recent gifts via mediumistic books confirms this. His suggested prayer prior to meditation, given in the book “Christ returns reveals startling truth” starts this way. “Father-Mother Life, you are my life, my constant support, my health, my protection, my perfect fulfillment of every need and my highest inspiration…..”. This prayer is my one condescension to formulaic prayer because it says so much in so few words. The gift of genius – The Christ.
Beautiful, I love how you mention ‘the Christ within’ – and this prayer is powerful. I might try it out myself. Thank you so much for sharing here Robert!
I have heard it said that “Meditation is listening to God; prayer is talking to God.” I like that definition a lot.
Personally, I think of Him/Her/It as “Godde,” since S-He is both God and Goddess in One. The impersonal term “Universe” can also work for those who have become allergic to religion, as the result of their past experiences. (That was, after all, the original meaning of the Latin word universum: “the one-whole-thing-that-is.”)
If you know anything about how a hologram works, it can be very helpful to think of Godde as the “reference” consciousness of the Universe, with all manifest things (including all of us) being the “working” consciousnesses that have split off from It, but are continually reflecting back our own experiences to It.
Like another commenter mentioned, I also grew up going to baptist churches and grew up learning to fear God, which led to me frequently asking for forgiveness for any small sin or thought I had. It was so draining as a child. Later, I realized my parents were also taught something similar. Prayer has always been pretty important to me and I’m thankful that I was raised to pray nightly and connect. That’s a positive to my family being religious. Now, I usually pray in writing or in the car when alone. I like the idea of addressing God in a different way.
Thanks Amanda, I’m glad you’re inspired to address God in a different way. ♡
“Godde”, yes, I LOVE this! (Though maybe it sounds better written than said for those of us allergic to the word?) I’ve never heard of this and it’s a creative adjustment, though. Thanks for sharing your perception of God/dess :-)
Even during the points of my life when I identified as a staunch atheist, I was always drawn to prayer. I have always loved historically holy and sacred buildungs and often felt myself drawn to address the divinity latent in them. It is only now that I have embraced the spiritual side of life that I see love was calling out to me. That said, I have the belief that prayer is somehow secondary to meditation and this is one I shall be exploring. Thank you for this nudge to get back on my path, I see this helping hand and I am grateful for it. Namaste x
Yes, I’d say meditation and prayer go hand-in-hand. One works with the personal/subjective and the other works with the impersonal/absolute. It’s like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. :-P