Prayer

 

As I stated in an earlier post, I believe that people should pray whenever, wherever, and however they are led to do.

My upbringing was not particularly 'churchy' per se. My sister and I were taught Bible stories. And there was one huge Bible in the house.

If we went to church, it was with our grandparents. We'd ride up the road to St. Gen's where my parents, aunts, and uncles once upon a time went to high school.

The stained glass was stunning and a Catholic mass was quite a site to behold for a child. Surrounded by saints and dark, old, polished wood while some man in long shiny robes spoke... and spoke... and spoke until his words disappeared and all I could make out was the cadence and tone of his delivery.

We didn't go often. Prayer answered, thank God! I detested services. 

But the church! The architecture was fascinating. I have enjoyed wandering in and out of Catholic churches when there are no services going on for years. Just sitting in the stillness and talking to God in my head, soaking up the quietude and finding a singular comfort there in the pew.

Since we didn't go to church much, I just learned to pray to God anywhere. I remember praying to God on the toilet a lot as a kid. 

Don't judge; God made us and it was quiet in there.

Point is, no one taught me to pray. My child's mind understood the concept of God that I had been taught and I just started praying anytime I felt like it.

Over the years, I came to talk to God like my BFF. 

I reach out any time or place and let it rip. The good and the bad. The thankful, the problem, the joy, the pain, the gratitude, the disappointment, the angry, the wonderful. 

All of it. With complete honesty of emotion. 

It's God; lies are useless, and I personally would think insulting.

Sometimes I cuss. Sometimes I let God know I am angry with Him. One time, I told God I was done with praying, and Him, and all of it.

I lasted two hours.

He knows I get dramatic with Him sometimes.

I always come back and apologize.

He always forgives me.

I am the way He made me and I don't always get it right (being hugely generous with myself here!) but I pray. A lot.

And I know that I know that I know that God listens.

It doesn't always look the way I expect it to, but my prayers get answered. I've seen it time and again, and I have no doubt about that statement whatsoever.

There are two things I've learned about prayer in my experience.

    1. You have to be specific enough to really get what you're after, and generalized enough to allow God to put it together in His way and in His timing.

    For example: if you tell God you want to hit tonight's lotto with these specific numbers, you may be too much in the details for it to come together. However, if you back out of the details and instead ask to be debt free with millions in the bank; well that's something He can work with to make happen. You may just hit that lotto, then again, you might come up with a business idea that creates that outcome for you more quickly than it should have been possible. 

    And if you say, "Well it's God, he should just do whatever I ask because He's omnipotent and everyone on the internet says I'm a creator!" 

    I reply, "Have you spoken with God or just asked for stuff? If you talk to Him, have you done everything you've been told to do by God before you ask him to blindly just answer your prayer word for word? And isn't that mighty disrespectful anyway? It is God after all. You may need an ego check, just sayin'." 

    Whoopsie!

    But also, realize this: He'll choose the way to make it happen that has the most widespread benefit to you. You must understand: we, from our human viewpoint see things from a ground level vantage point, God, however, sees things from the mountain top. 

    Any tourist with tell you that you see infinitely more of New York City from the top of the Empire State Building than from the middle of Times Square.

    Leave the details to God, He'll handle them far better than you can.

    2. Prayers are valuable, have genuine weight, and, if done correctly should help as many people as possible.

    I think that's part of what's wrong with society today; we pray just for ourselves, or maybe some loved ones or a neighbor. Possibly a quick perusal of the prayer list at church, unless you just leave the prayer list to the designated church intercessors.

    Make your prayers more powerful, by making them exponential.

Some examples I use:   

    "Thank You God for returning everyone I love, have ever loved, and will ever love home safely and well from wherever their travels take them this day."

    This may even cover you as far as praying for your enemies, since a lot of our 'enemies' started out as cherished people in our lives. So, this is potentially a nice bonus for your prayer life, and not as emotionally draining as listing people individually.

    "Thank You God for blessing every hand that had anything whatsoever *to do with any food or drink I am offered or consume this day (or *to do with this meal)."

    Take a minute to rabbit hole down this prayer - this covers so many people, it's mind boggling (farmers, ranchers, people in the factory that made your plate, the person that did the inventory at the grocery store and ordered the product you bought, the person that hired the last person I mentioned, etc.)! Powerful indeed!

    With a specific set of people in mind pray, "Thank you God for giving anyone with any kind of earthly authority over us, Your mercy, grace, kindness, generosity, and love towards us." or "Thank you God for actively healing every area of our lives."

Regardless; whatever you pray, however you pray, whenever, wherever you pray, and lastly whomever you pray to... Just pray. 

Pray because we are all interconnected. Even science now says so.

Individual threads all interwoven into the tapestry of our existence. Every thread matters. Every thread. Your thread, my thread, his thread, her thread, their thread, it's thread, previous threads, future threads...

Prayer raises the vibration of the planet which helps EVERY THREAD.

And isn't that really the point?