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People who know me know that I pray a lot. With many of my friends, I pray every time we talk. In fact, I pray with anyone who will let me! So it's only natural that I often get asked about prayer.
 So, what is prayer? Well, that’s a big question! One with answers enough to fill volumes. What I’m interested in here, however, is prayer as it relates to my field, lightwork. We know that prayer is effective. If you don’t believe it, there is an ever-growing body of scientific research now available to show the data on this. But, what most of us want to know, is how do we enact effective prayer?
Some people think of prayer as the petitioning of some god or deity who, out love or other benevolence, answers. Research, however, reveals that “prayers” sent out in the form of healing intentions for the higher good are equally as effective as religious prayers. This leads us to conclude that the results of prayer are not so much due to God(s) directly intervening with specific action as it is a means of our accessing our own godlike abilities, or godliness. Now -- hold on minute before you stone me -- this is not heresy. Far from it! If you’re a devout Christian, consider this: did God ever say that S/He was directly responsible for the outcome of prayer? Or are we told instead, as Jesus says in the New Testament, that if we have faith as a mustard seed we will say to the mountain “move” and it will be so? “Move” is a order, not a request. We are told to command that which we would have done, not beg for it. And in what, exactly, are we to have “faith?” Are we supposed to have faith in God to move the mountain? That question is answered elsewhere in scripture. “When you ask something, believe that you receive it, and it shall be done.” Jesus instructed us to believe, not in God to do the thing requested, but in the manifestation, the result. As the Bible later says, “Faith is the belief in things hoped for, the assurance [affirmation] of things not [yet] seen.” Is God/dess left out of the picture then? Not at all.
Divine Consciousness set everything in motion -- perpetual motion as it were – which has continued to work through all the ages. Do we need to pray for the sun – without which all things would die – to come up every day? Do we pray for our  heart to beat, our food to digest; our cells to oxygenate? Of course not. All things necessary for life have been put into action and continue to work according to Divine Order. And we – as well as our lives – intersect with and are permeated by that great Divine Matrix which comprises All. Do not doubt that you are part of God for even a moment. In the same way that Divine Intelligence created all things to work in a perfectly coordinated way, likewise have we been orchestrated to access and create all that we need according to that Plan. We have been taught to pray, not because we need God’s blessing --which is with us always -- but because we needed a means by which to focus our faith – our assurance – on that which we wish to manifest. Hence we arrive at a definition of prayer accessible to Christian, Muslims, Hindus, shamans, lightworkers, and atheists alike.
Prayer is the distribution into the world, via focused thought- or feeling-wave forms" through the energetic Matrix, of benevolent intent for any person, being, place, situation, etc.
Belief in God is not a requirement. Yet, if you personally know or believe in a Higher Power, as do I, then you can resolve the dilemma of prayer by accepting that you are created in the image of that Being and hold some of His/her Power within you. We are meant, not only to reflect the Brilliance of Source, but to participate in the full Glory of the One. We are a PART of the Great Central Sun. It is within our very cells. The ability to have your prayers answered was put into effect at your creation, built into you as surely as the cycles of the sun and moon and the changing of the seasons was built into nature. The engine’s already built and perfect. This is our God-liness, or God-like-ness. We need only turn a key in the ignition for it to start right up. And that Key is prayer. Prayer is God’s way of reminding us we have the Divine Power within us to do good. Primary Creator desires we understand and use that Power, through our own Intent. God built the system perfectly and it works!
I’ve heard some people actually say they don’t want to “bother God” with their trivial needs and concerns and desires; that God has “better things to do.” Such thoughts, though humble, stem from a lack of understanding of what God is, how prayer works and how much we are truly loved. God is All Things, in Every Thing. God is our breath, our life,  our heart beat. We cannot escape the throbbing, thriving, eternal, Interlligent Pulse of Life, even if we try. God desires us to have all things we need and desire and has built the potential into the system for us to experience those things. Through this means millions – billions – can access God at once, and we don’t have to wait around for Him/Her to “be bothered” to answer. The whole thing’s on Autopilot. If you are devout, then you can understand this as God’s way of providing for everyone forevermore. Through our own free will, we are partakers of Infinite Divine Love. To me, that’s an even better definition of prayer
Prayer is the act of acknowledging, receiving, and sending Infinite Divine Love through the participation in Divine Order facilitated by your own free will, or intent. Faith is utilizing your own free will to agree to access that which is already prepared for you since before time began.
I want to make clear that this is not intended to be a theological treatise, or a complete exposition on prayer. Nor is it my intent to invalidate any form of prayer known to humankind. Some prayer has as its intent the goal to simply “draw near” to God, to touch upon and experience that Infinite and Supremely Loving Consciousness. Therefore, if done with intent, everything from toning to twirling to hiking in the woods can become prayer. So please, do not take offense. I share this article so that we can all expand our awareness and effectiveness of prayer.
You can pray anywhere, anytime. Just quiet your mind, open your heart, and feel the Love. It’s important that we receive. The more we want to give and serve, the more we need to learn to receive. Then, when you feel it, send it out to others. It can be as easy as that. If you ask for specific things for yourself and others, send  out that intent, then believe it is done and forget it. If you want to hold a frequency, hold your intent for the Highest Good for that person, situation, etc. Research shows that the more we are willing to release our ideas of what should happen and intend, instead, for the greatest outcome for the highest good, the more dramatic and effective the outcome of prayer. And the intended recipient of the blessing does not need to know of the prayer for it to be effective.
So why pray aloud, or with others? Two reasons. One is for the powerful effect of combined intent. To put it in terms of physics, this establishes a stronger standing wave, each person’s intent reinforcing the field. The second reason is because your love and intent can inspire, encourage, and strengthen the will and intent of others. This gift, which keeps on giving, is sometimes the answer to prayer itself.
So, the next time you think of prayer as a “chore” and can’t whip up enthusiasm, or find yourself thinking you're unworthy, try reframing it in this way. On your drive to work, while you’re cooking dinner; as you perform your various tasks, just intend things. Intend Good Things. For yourself and others.
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
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