Expanding possibilities

Prayer, according to Wikipedia is "the act of attempting to communicate with a deity or spirit "

hum. Next question - how to actually communicate rather than simply attempt.

Ideally, communicate will be two way. The side that probably needs most attention in most of us is receiving.

"God whose love and joy
Are present everywhere
Can’t come and visit you
Unless you aren’t there." Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)

Prayer then, could either be the act of getting out of the way or what happens when we do.

There and not there

"Let go and let God."

Letting go is sometimes a ‘one off’ but letting go and then picking back up again doesn’t achieve much so, generally, letting go is an ongoing process which either gets easier or deepens over time.

Unless we are enlightened, prayer is probably like this. If we leave God to it and go watch t.v., not much is likely to happen. If we make an alive space for something wiser & more insightful than our rational minds and facilitate the expression of that through us as best we can, something interesting and prayer-like just might occur.

We could call the ‘force’ the divine or spirit or the "I am" or, again, we could call the alive space we create "spirit" or the state of "I am", so, as far as I can tell, the highest prayer of all is when the act and the result, the prayer and the pray-er are not separate.

This is somewhat like the creative process. Dance and movement artist Tanaka Min talks about "some sense of humbleness and [the ability to] belittle oneself. That particular word, “belittle,” [means] I am trying to not merely depend on power or force, but to [be open] and continue searching for dance."

Is prayer answered?

According to Wikipedia again:-

Scientific studies regarding the use of prayer have mostly concentrated on its effect on the healing of sick or injured people. The efficacy of prayer in petition for physical healing to a deity has been evaluated in numerous studies, with contradictory results. There has been some criticism of the way the studies were conducted.

Prayers of petition are going to be the easiest to study because we know what would constitute a positive result, so the lack of consistent results from well conducted studies is disappointing. Most of us want to believe prayer is answered, so, especially if we plan to build a career and help lots of people on the results of our study, it’s gonna be kinda hard to be objective.

Are you manifesting easily or not?

The same is true for all the so-called ’studies’ of Law of Attraction, except that some people’s results seem to me to show that how they are applying and teaching it is not working. One teacher, for example, had a group all of whose intentions for last year have not been realised. This is less effective than doing nothing! Its not that attraction does not or cannot work but, we don’t need to step up what is not working (as she suggested).

Manifesting works easily for some people and not for others. It’s not better techniques we need (if Law of Attraction is a ‘law’, it must be beyond technique), it’s getting to the state in which manifesting happens easily. If you are not manifesting easily, the essential first step towards that is to admit it to yourself. You might then want to to consider clearing the way or freeing up your consciousness so that it is available to the "I am". This both enables effective prayer and is facilitated by it (fortunately, we don’t have to be perfect to make a start although, sometimes, we benefit from some help).

Living prayer

Instead of sending a petition to a deity rather like a letter to Father Christmas, what if we stayed present (and keep ourselves as empty as we can) and allow "I am" to work through us?

All chance of objectivity is now long gone and, when we get out of the way, anything could happen, much of which we have no way of measuring, so we have to be honest with ourselves and about our results, and keep deepening our perceptions, exploration and ability to empty out, stay present and follow.

That’s part of what my work, which includes Matrix Energetics, is. ‘Miracles’ do happen but I in no sense ‘make them happen’ (I wish!).

Sometimes those miracles are instant. Sometimes, there is a process. Both have their benefits, especially if we have an interest in continually expanding possibilities for ourselves and others.

Part of the benefits both offer is the ‘prayer’ or interaction with the "I am" itself. Praying in this way transforms us and is its own reward or answer. Anything further may be a result of our response to that answer, as prayers live within and through us.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 17th, 2009 at 10:25 am and is filed under co-creation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.