The ART of Prayer

There is such beauty in the thought that if we “LET GO and LET GOD” ~ we can relax with no worry. But is that where our humanness often kicks in and our mind wants to PLAN the outcome?

If you missed the post from last Friday about memories of Dr. David R Hawkins incredible work of wisdom, you can click here.  I often re-read even my own posts because it helps center my mind for new thought.  If in letting go, we somehow still feel we need to do something, can we simply PRAY?

I believe there is a beautiful ART to prayer. It is interesting, I’ve always visualized a totally artistically painted picture of our connections with each other, God, and the spirit world. It’s somehow still sitting in my mind’s eye, but who knows, maybe someday I’ll paint it or find someone who did!

I remember so well when I fell in love with one of Gregg Braden’s book, Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The hidden power of beauty, blessing, wisdom and hurt. I loved his stories and he made sure we understood that perhaps we might want to look at prayer a little differently than we were brought up to think. He made prayer really come alive and feel powerful. He has some incredible stories in this book about how he learned there were very significant ways that made prayer powerful. He learned from the monks of Tibet that FEELING the prayer was the secret ingredient. There was such an inner strength that the monks were demonstrating

I also loved Gregg’s story of the Native American who taught him how they managed to manifest rain during a huge drought. He took Gregg out in the desert, stood still and then said, there, we’re done. No words. Gregg was astonished because it began to rain. . He asked him what he did. “I was feeling with my toes what it would feel like in a squishy mud puddle.”  Love that story. FEELING the prayer.

As I sat in meditation on Sunday morning before I left Michigan, I couldn’t help but remind myself to FEEL my prayer. I sat with my eyes open and then closed allowing the sun streaming through my window to warm my heart. I realized that somehow I was releasing my “agenda” for my prayer that day. I let my thoughts drift away and instead thoughts of FEELING the love and compassion simply flowed through me. It was beautiful and I felt a lightness bringing a huge smile on my face.

I was FEELING the answer to my prayer was already there. I totally LET GO, it was such a beautiful feeling. Would you believe that after that I quit thinking I knew the outcome. I simply sent love… visualizing my thought, but letting it dissipate. I have to tell you, what I was hoping for actually HAPPENED. I was in complete gratitude, but also in awe after a significant phone call. I won’t go into details, but perhaps my experience might spur you on to really give it a TRY!

I have a really sweet friend that brought me a book one day called Handle with Prayer: Harnessing the Power to Make Your Dreams Come Through by Alan Cohen. I have enjoyed Alan Cohen’s writing for many years now. He is such a prolific writer. You might remember his most recent book that I talked of called The Mystical Messiah. ( The story of Jesus’ mystical teachings). This book on PRAYER is older, written back in 1998. But he has some very powerful and similar ideas about prayer. He uses very entertaining stories to illustrate his points about prayer.

Alan talks about how we are usually “hoping” for some kind of change to occur after our prayer. In his words, “The purpose of Prayer is not to change God’s mind, who always knows your wholeness and deservingness. The purpose of prayer is to change your mind so you can see through the eyes of God.” We’ve all heard the concept quite often from spiritual speakers about how if we really want to change our life we have to begin by changing our thoughts.

He has incredibly deep and thoughtful quotes he puts after each chapter full of stories. I know how important my inner life is to prayer.  At the end of the chapter titled Handle With Prayer… he ended with a prayer that I think ALL of us could use in a really beautiful way in our lives.

“Today I find God within me. I put aside the distractions of words, and come home to pure peace. Within my heart stands a temple of quietude where I am nourished and healed. I rise above human conversation and drink deeply of the stream of my inner knowingness. I expand beyond all that I have been taught, and I remember what I know. Within my soul is the wisdom of the universe and I commune with it now. I am one with all that is whole and I claim peace. Thank you, Great Spirit, for guiding me home to myself.” Pg. 80 in Handle with Prayer by Alan Cohen.

So what ARE the most important components of prayer? I share my list with you, but remember, it is your OWN inner experiences with yourself that are most critical. You can write your own list!

Components of ARTFUL Prayer

1. BELIEF that God is within you ALWAYS.
2. NURTURE your inner world to BE the love you are.
3. FEEL your worthiness through self love. You were created in perfection, therefore you ARE.
4. Live the prayer through gratitude.
5. FEEL the deep feelings of how it would be if you already attained your prayer.

Our wish for you? Prayers with meaningful experiences for YOU!