What do you think of when you hear the word โprayerโ? Usually, prayer is something that most of us associate with religion.
I know that when I hear the word โprayerโ 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 โholy invocationsโ made my skin crawl.
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I couldnโt 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.
Iโm 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 donโt 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 โ and usually, those associations ain’t that great!
โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ "Receiving these messages is a beacon of light and hope for me in currently very challenging times. The words of wisdom speak right to my soul, guiding and encouraging me further on my path. I highly recommend Shadow & Light to everyone who seeks to develop and cultivate a relationship with the Inner Self." โ Karin
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.
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.
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 โ if not THE MOST โ 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.
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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 forms of 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 โdo-it-yourselfโ society.
We currently value self-sufficiency, strength, and power over all else.
For this reason,ย prayer can be perceived as somewhat โweakโ 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 youโre 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 spiritual 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 โpassiveโ thing, as is so commonly believed.
I held this very belief for a long time. I always thought that saying a few words didnโt 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 โฆ 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 canโt do without it!
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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:
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.
โ 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 โdetoxโ 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, as was practicing Lectio Divina.
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 โGodโ
You donโt need to be religious to pray and you certainly donโt need to believe in the โbearded-old-white-guy-in-the-skyโ (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 โGodโ 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 youโre thankful for
God isnโt a pimp. He/She/It doesnโt 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 โsinโ here is not in denying the existence of God, the true โsinโ 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.
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. Itโs 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.
โ 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 donโt, 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 donโt 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 โ 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 doesnโt 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.
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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?
Whenever you feel the call, there are 3 ways I can help you:
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Aletheia Luna is a prolific psychospiritual writer, author, educator, and intuitive guide whose work has touched the lives of millions worldwide. As a survivor of fundamentalist religious abuse, her mission is to help others find love, strength, and inner light in even the darkest places. She is the author of hundreds of popular articles, as well as numerous books and journals on the topics of Self-Love, Spiritual Awakening, and more. [Read More]
But, of course, there is another paradox – if god’s creation isn’t poor quality, why is the world in such mess? … A possible answer: in the long energy work I am doing – with ever bigger faith and trust – I have discovered experientially that every thought and every emotion, no matter how dark and ugly it seems, – if there is calmness, patience, and no fear when dealing with that thought/emotion, when embracing it lovingly – it rather quickly transforms back into the enrgy of love and light. … I have discovered experientially that love and light is truly THE energy, the source energy, from which all thought-forms and emotion-forms arise… So, one can say, the basis of tihis life is goodness, and forms are in fact illusionary, dreamlike. Knowing this, experiencing this, brings a lot of faith and peace. And joy. And compassion. … I’m sorry if what I wrote above sounds harsh and judgmental. I’m sorry if I hurt you. <3
Many of the points Aletheia makes are good ones. Prayer is powerful. It does open us to higher guidance. It is often the last thing we think to do when we are in crisis, and rarely think to do when we are blessed. It isnโt passive. True prayer is an act of the will that engages us in conversation with God. And for most of us, our concepts of prayer, like most concepts of faith, need to be cleaned out and brought into line with the truth.
I can understand her feelings about prayer based on her childhood religious experiences. I am sorry for the painful struggling that came from all of that. Due to experiences of my own, I strongly identify with the sense of rote phoniness, dismay, and rejection. I have seen religiousness in a large variety of churches and denom-inations my entire life. I have also seen true, sincere belief and devotion โ many times in those same places. To reject seeing a loving God because of the broken-ness of the people, doctrine, and systems is to focus on those instead of putting the focus on Him. Any time we look to people for salvation we will be looking in vain. But to look into ourselves for those answers is just as pointless. We are as broken as the systems we are rejecting. We can no more resolve our brokenness than we can someone elseโs.
I agree with the statement that: โThe true โsinโ here is not in denying the existence of God, the true โsinโ is believing that God is even capable of hurting you in the first place.โ God has revealed Himself as a good and loving God. But many of the images of God and believers that are referenced here are ridiculous caricatures from media and fringe groups, both of which have a tendency to make it up as they go along to either ridicule true faith or advance their own agendas.
We should not be renaming God. He has said His name is โI Amโ. If we have issues with our percep-tion of Him (for any reason), we should resolve that based on fact as opposed to emotion. As for these statements: โFor prayer to be powerful, you need to think about what the highest possible good looks and feels like to you,โ and โTune into what God/Divine actually means to you on a deep, heart-felt, soul level,โ there is a great deal of danger here. How I perceive God is very likely flawed based on the previously discussed issues, and is irrelevant to the reality of who God IS as He has revealed Himself. There is no reason to โimagineโ who God is, He has told us. We have been cautioned to NOT remake God in our image. We are told that His ways are not our ways, and that we only see dimly now. The promise is that if we believe, we will see face to face. Our response to His love for us is to trust that He is the loving God He told us that He is. Prayer is a two-way conversation for true believers as we listen for His response to us. The power in prayer is taking God at His word and trusting Him to do and be exactly what He said. The problem comes when what we expect God to do and be is not what He told us He is, but rather based on our expectations, desires, and experiences.
โGod/Divinity doesnโt care what you say, but how you say it, aka. emotional sincerity is what counts.โ It is true that God wants honesty from us. He knows our hearts, so a snow job is only fooling us. How-ever, God does care what we say. A few minutes of thoughtful consideration should make this obvious. In any conversation, what we say matters. How much more important when talking to the Creator of the Universe? God does want open, honest communication with us, and wants us to freely share the joys and burdens in our lives. But to say that what we say isnโt important is to trivialize prayer and its power in our lives.
โPrayer is essentially a way of allowing the Beloved to fulfill its ultimate desire: for you to be happy, whole, and at peace.โ Godโs ultimate desire for you is to have a close, personal relationship with Him. A relationship that is open and honest, and at the same time respectful of who He is.
Uh, I was reading this and my soul cringed. I believe you are well intentioned, but in fact – and it would be good to keep this in mind – the above isn’t god speaking, it’s Lisa speaking – it’s Lisa explaining what Lisa believes and what Lisa feels and it’s Lisa stating her perspective and her worldview. And that part is fine… What isn’t fine at all (you are probably not aware of that) – and it has a name: violating another person’s boundaries (I had a whole heap of that in my narc family!) – is Lisa becoming the personal advocate of god, that is, Lisa’s ego using god (the Biblical notion of god aka. “the only truth there is”) as a shield to … actually dominate. Might is right, no? … My intention is not to hurt you, just to point that out. As someone said, if there is only one god (true source), then the biggest sin is when people play god with each other… My favourite saying is, “God loves diversity.” It can be seen everywhere in her ;-) creation – plants, clouds, animals, people’s faces etc etc etc … Thank goodness, god really loves diversity! <3 … & If god created us – why wouldn't we trust our truest feelings? It's an astonishing paradox to – on one hand proclaim god perfect, and on the other, proclaim EVERYTHING s/he created flawed. It's completely illogical! As we all know, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and Mozart aren't great artists because their works are poor quality.
But, of course, there is another paradox – if god’s creation isn’t poor quality, why is the world in such mess? … A possible answer: in the long energy work I am doing – with ever bigger faith and trust – I have discovered experientially that every thought and every emotion, no matter how dark and ugly it seems, – if there is calmness, patience, and no fear when dealing with that thought/emotion, when embracing it lovingly – it rather quickly transforms back into the enrgy of love and light. … I have discovered experientially that love and light is truly THE energy, the source energy, from which all thought-forms and emotion-forms arise… So, one can say, the basis of tihis life is goodness, and forms are in fact illusionary, dreamlike. Knowing this, experiencing this, brings a lot of faith and peace. And joy. And compassion. … I’m sorry if what I wrote above sounds harsh and judgmental. I’m sorry if I hurt you. <3
The last – so, but WHY does that energy of love and light change into sth dark and ugly in the first place? Well, I heard that only the bravest souls choose to incarnate on Earth. :-) A child comes to this world as love and light. But a child is a little “sponge” for everything around her/him – it’s amazing how quickly a child learns, but s/he also absorbs all the fear and pain around her/him (and show me an adult without those!). And the ego-program begins developing about the age of 6 months – the big spliting word “you”, and then “yours”. So, part of the child’s consciousness (energy) begins to identify with that fragile little words (a little heap of letters, actually), fragile thoughts – “I”, “me”, “mine” – that forever need feeding and defending. And thus, bigger and bigger portions of child’s consciousness (life energy!) will become invested into trying to see that “I” as good and right – and as the “I” doesn’t exist in the first place (it’s just a letter, just a thought, plus an endless stream of thoughts and little stories backed up by emotions created to fortify that imaginary “I”) it’s an exhausting, never-ending struggle… And the results can be seen everywhere – the calmness of nature, the relaxation of animals, the easy joy of children, and the adults – the older they are – ever more invested into their dark, fearful imaginary worlds, ever more weary and drained… Not because of the life itself – for example, you are in a park, and in a sudden moment of awarness, you wake up from the chaos of thoughts inside you and look around… trees are peaceful, the sun is shining, or there is that deep winter stillness, a bird is flying across the sky… everything is okay… so, wtf? You’ve been drowning in a glass of water. :-)
Holy shit, this is how it goes! :-) … You say or do anything – anything – (and who says or does it is the true you, the soul) … and seconds later doubtful, negative, or self-defensive, thoughts/emotions arise, with that “I” pretending to be you, “Did I say the right thing? … I’m again doing it late… etc etc etc”, or sth more kind, if you’re practicing postive thinking … but the fact remains – the true you says or does anything, and seconds later, there is that mental commentary pretending to be you… As Osho says well, “The truth is already here. Only lie has to be dropped.” … Or as Jesus says well, and repeatedly, “Don’t judge. Don’t judge. Don’t judge.” … But, how to get to that peace? Through the practices Luna and Sol are writing about… through the practice of evergrowing self-acceptance, self-understanding, self-love, self-compassion, self-forgiveness… through evergrowing patience, trust and courage, and through discernement, discernement and discernement as the holy trinity of the spiritual journey… Love is the answer. Love that we are :-)
Joanasays
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…
” itโs like sharing your compliments or worries to a trusted source that no human can use it against you” โ 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.
Wow, this was such an eye opening read!!!! Thanks for sharing this! I havenโt been praying, exactly for the reasons mentioned above. But this opened my eyes to remember the โmagicโ that flowed from prayers in the past. And that prayer isnโt 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!!!
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.
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 โdark cloud โthat 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 youโre 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.
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 Mฤori 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.
$3
But, of course, there is another paradox – if god’s creation isn’t poor quality, why is the world in such mess? … A possible answer: in the long energy work I am doing – with ever bigger faith and trust – I have discovered experientially that every thought and every emotion, no matter how dark and ugly it seems, – if there is calmness, patience, and no fear when dealing with that thought/emotion, when embracing it lovingly – it rather quickly transforms back into the enrgy of love and light. … I have discovered experientially that love and light is truly THE energy, the source energy, from which all thought-forms and emotion-forms arise… So, one can say, the basis of tihis life is goodness, and forms are in fact illusionary, dreamlike. Knowing this, experiencing this, brings a lot of faith and peace. And joy. And compassion. … I’m sorry if what I wrote above sounds harsh and judgmental. I’m sorry if I hurt you. <3
Where to startโฆ..
Many of the points Aletheia makes are good ones. Prayer is powerful. It does open us to higher guidance. It is often the last thing we think to do when we are in crisis, and rarely think to do when we are blessed. It isnโt passive. True prayer is an act of the will that engages us in conversation with God. And for most of us, our concepts of prayer, like most concepts of faith, need to be cleaned out and brought into line with the truth.
I can understand her feelings about prayer based on her childhood religious experiences. I am sorry for the painful struggling that came from all of that. Due to experiences of my own, I strongly identify with the sense of rote phoniness, dismay, and rejection. I have seen religiousness in a large variety of churches and denom-inations my entire life. I have also seen true, sincere belief and devotion โ many times in those same places. To reject seeing a loving God because of the broken-ness of the people, doctrine, and systems is to focus on those instead of putting the focus on Him. Any time we look to people for salvation we will be looking in vain. But to look into ourselves for those answers is just as pointless. We are as broken as the systems we are rejecting. We can no more resolve our brokenness than we can someone elseโs.
I agree with the statement that: โThe true โsinโ here is not in denying the existence of God, the true โsinโ is believing that God is even capable of hurting you in the first place.โ God has revealed Himself as a good and loving God. But many of the images of God and believers that are referenced here are ridiculous caricatures from media and fringe groups, both of which have a tendency to make it up as they go along to either ridicule true faith or advance their own agendas.
We should not be renaming God. He has said His name is โI Amโ. If we have issues with our percep-tion of Him (for any reason), we should resolve that based on fact as opposed to emotion. As for these statements: โFor prayer to be powerful, you need to think about what the highest possible good looks and feels like to you,โ and โTune into what God/Divine actually means to you on a deep, heart-felt, soul level,โ there is a great deal of danger here. How I perceive God is very likely flawed based on the previously discussed issues, and is irrelevant to the reality of who God IS as He has revealed Himself. There is no reason to โimagineโ who God is, He has told us. We have been cautioned to NOT remake God in our image. We are told that His ways are not our ways, and that we only see dimly now. The promise is that if we believe, we will see face to face. Our response to His love for us is to trust that He is the loving God He told us that He is. Prayer is a two-way conversation for true believers as we listen for His response to us. The power in prayer is taking God at His word and trusting Him to do and be exactly what He said. The problem comes when what we expect God to do and be is not what He told us He is, but rather based on our expectations, desires, and experiences.
โGod/Divinity doesnโt care what you say, but how you say it, aka. emotional sincerity is what counts.โ It is true that God wants honesty from us. He knows our hearts, so a snow job is only fooling us. How-ever, God does care what we say. A few minutes of thoughtful consideration should make this obvious. In any conversation, what we say matters. How much more important when talking to the Creator of the Universe? God does want open, honest communication with us, and wants us to freely share the joys and burdens in our lives. But to say that what we say isnโt important is to trivialize prayer and its power in our lives.
โPrayer is essentially a way of allowing the Beloved to fulfill its ultimate desire: for you to be happy, whole, and at peace.โ Godโs ultimate desire for you is to have a close, personal relationship with Him. A relationship that is open and honest, and at the same time respectful of who He is.
Uh, I was reading this and my soul cringed. I believe you are well intentioned, but in fact – and it would be good to keep this in mind – the above isn’t god speaking, it’s Lisa speaking – it’s Lisa explaining what Lisa believes and what Lisa feels and it’s Lisa stating her perspective and her worldview. And that part is fine… What isn’t fine at all (you are probably not aware of that) – and it has a name: violating another person’s boundaries (I had a whole heap of that in my narc family!) – is Lisa becoming the personal advocate of god, that is, Lisa’s ego using god (the Biblical notion of god aka. “the only truth there is”) as a shield to … actually dominate. Might is right, no? … My intention is not to hurt you, just to point that out. As someone said, if there is only one god (true source), then the biggest sin is when people play god with each other… My favourite saying is, “God loves diversity.” It can be seen everywhere in her ;-) creation – plants, clouds, animals, people’s faces etc etc etc … Thank goodness, god really loves diversity! <3 … & If god created us – why wouldn't we trust our truest feelings? It's an astonishing paradox to – on one hand proclaim god perfect, and on the other, proclaim EVERYTHING s/he created flawed. It's completely illogical! As we all know, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and Mozart aren't great artists because their works are poor quality.
But, of course, there is another paradox – if god’s creation isn’t poor quality, why is the world in such mess? … A possible answer: in the long energy work I am doing – with ever bigger faith and trust – I have discovered experientially that every thought and every emotion, no matter how dark and ugly it seems, – if there is calmness, patience, and no fear when dealing with that thought/emotion, when embracing it lovingly – it rather quickly transforms back into the enrgy of love and light. … I have discovered experientially that love and light is truly THE energy, the source energy, from which all thought-forms and emotion-forms arise… So, one can say, the basis of tihis life is goodness, and forms are in fact illusionary, dreamlike. Knowing this, experiencing this, brings a lot of faith and peace. And joy. And compassion. … I’m sorry if what I wrote above sounds harsh and judgmental. I’m sorry if I hurt you. <3
The last – so, but WHY does that energy of love and light change into sth dark and ugly in the first place? Well, I heard that only the bravest souls choose to incarnate on Earth. :-) A child comes to this world as love and light. But a child is a little “sponge” for everything around her/him – it’s amazing how quickly a child learns, but s/he also absorbs all the fear and pain around her/him (and show me an adult without those!). And the ego-program begins developing about the age of 6 months – the big spliting word “you”, and then “yours”. So, part of the child’s consciousness (energy) begins to identify with that fragile little words (a little heap of letters, actually), fragile thoughts – “I”, “me”, “mine” – that forever need feeding and defending. And thus, bigger and bigger portions of child’s consciousness (life energy!) will become invested into trying to see that “I” as good and right – and as the “I” doesn’t exist in the first place (it’s just a letter, just a thought, plus an endless stream of thoughts and little stories backed up by emotions created to fortify that imaginary “I”) it’s an exhausting, never-ending struggle… And the results can be seen everywhere – the calmness of nature, the relaxation of animals, the easy joy of children, and the adults – the older they are – ever more invested into their dark, fearful imaginary worlds, ever more weary and drained… Not because of the life itself – for example, you are in a park, and in a sudden moment of awarness, you wake up from the chaos of thoughts inside you and look around… trees are peaceful, the sun is shining, or there is that deep winter stillness, a bird is flying across the sky… everything is okay… so, wtf? You’ve been drowning in a glass of water. :-)
Holy shit, this is how it goes! :-) … You say or do anything – anything – (and who says or does it is the true you, the soul) … and seconds later doubtful, negative, or self-defensive, thoughts/emotions arise, with that “I” pretending to be you, “Did I say the right thing? … I’m again doing it late… etc etc etc”, or sth more kind, if you’re practicing postive thinking … but the fact remains – the true you says or does anything, and seconds later, there is that mental commentary pretending to be you… As Osho says well, “The truth is already here. Only lie has to be dropped.” … Or as Jesus says well, and repeatedly, “Don’t judge. Don’t judge. Don’t judge.” … But, how to get to that peace? Through the practices Luna and Sol are writing about… through the practice of evergrowing self-acceptance, self-understanding, self-love, self-compassion, self-forgiveness… through evergrowing patience, trust and courage, and through discernement, discernement and discernement as the holy trinity of the spiritual journey… Love is the answer. Love that we are :-)
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…
” itโs like sharing your compliments or worries to a trusted source that no human can use it against you” โ 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 havenโt been praying, exactly for the reasons mentioned above. But this opened my eyes to remember the โmagicโ that flowed from prayers in the past. And that prayer isnโt 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 โ 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 โdark cloud โthat 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 youโre 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 โก
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.
Dear Luna, I’ve been reading a lot of your articles lately. They are most helpful. Thank you! <3 :-)
I use a mix of meditation, a Buddhist prayer, and a Mฤori 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/Mฤori songs you use โ that sounds intriguing!