Re: Why Don't More People Pray More?

Firstly, welcome! You're welcome to bring any aspects of psycho-spiritual healing topics here - anytime. And the rest of the time, I hope there's always something on the page that balances the serious stuff with silliness.

Ya know, I think a lot about this and I'm honored you've asked what I think.
Makes me wanna cry, actually.

I believe strongly in prayer and visualization. I think the subject of prayer gets sticky for people because they've become akin to the idea that prayer belongs to Christianity and that it must follow a pattern, someone else's words, repeated and that there's dedication to it that's necessary.

Prayer, in my opinion, is a desire to concentrate your energy into intention for something. That is a powerful avenue for us to follow as human beings. Funny, we do that when we drive (focus our intention into what we're doing), when we cut veggies (gotta watch those fingers), when we even fold clothes. We must be present for these things. Religion, has perhaps skewed people's inherent feeling of welcome-ness to prayer.

Yogi Bhajan says, 'The best prayer between you and God is when there is none.'

This doesn't mean that prayer isn't important. It means it is a practice, all day long, with every inhale and exhale of your being - to be in connection with Source, Spirit, Great Creator, God - it means that you live in deference and gratitude. Herein lies a life of limitless beauty and joy.

When we open up to the larger, more abstract way of looking at a term like 'prayer', it's helpful to take notice of the intention that word was built on. Somewhere, 'we' (some group of dudes around a table sipping beer) decided 'this' means 'this word' and we 'shall call it this'. And they all pounded their fist on the table and it was 'so'.

Prayer is a WORD, but the intention, the energy, the magic it was built on is 'concentrated energy toward peace, deference, desire, love and joy'. It's a place where you can feel vulnerable because deep down inside, you know there's nothing you can't lay down or discuss with your Creator. What a beautiful thing.

No one can tell anyone how to pray. Each being (seriously, piggies, birds, trees, humans) has it's own perfect relationship with God and as the Buddhists say -

"There are as many ways to enlightenment as there are sentient beings on this planet."

I really do feel that my husband is correct. He believes that words are where humans are screwing up.
We are limited by what we know as the contemporary meaning of a word. Angelic beings communicate with vibration, light, frequency - they're not limited by words.

So - I think that people are thrown off by the word 'prayer'. If someone said to 'you' (or your friend, anyone for that matter), "here is a sacred space for you. These next few minutes belong solely to you but they are to be used to quiet your mind, feel deserving and welcome, visualize what you need, and emit your innermost desire to The Universe. The Universe is your advocate and it will respond in kind. This world wants nothing more than for you to be fulfilled. The Universe and God are listening. What do you wish to say?"

Wow - did you feel your heart chakra expand just then and you felt accepted and free? That very nano-second you were just in, that space - that's prayer. Give your friend that idea and see if that doesn't change something.

We need to stop being afraid to connect with God. Heck, for that matter, we need to stop being afraid to connect with Ourselves. Same difference. God never goes anywhere. The path inward is a much shorter distance than spending your whole life seeking God outside yourself. It is always there. Visualization is also prayer. When you visualize a loved one getting healthy, or the baby in your belly being birthed a whole, healthy being - are you not in prayer while in the act of visualizing?

The point is, we can choose to pray all day long, in everything we're doing. That's the biggest difference between us and Boddhisattvas and Prophets. They know this already. Let every moment you live be joyous and full of intent and ANYTHING is possible. The whole Kingdom of God is all around you and then nothing can detract you from your focus and from experiencing joy.