Prayer

by beeckenoflight | Jan 9, 2021 | Uncategorized

Prayer: What do you think of when you think of that word? What does it mean to you? If you pray, what kind of prayers are you putting out there?

In my contemplation and learning, I’ve been changing my theology around what prayer really constitutes. So many of us have been so ingrained, whether through religion or just general spiritual teachings, to pray prayers of supplication; meaning prayers that ask for things. How many times have you created a manifestation board, gluing on all the things you *want* in your life? I’m going to discuss a different idea… but first, what are prayers of supplication and how dare we ask for more when so many people go without? Let’s consider some of these Belief Systems, aka BS.

BS: Asking For More Is Selfish when so many people are suffering.

If you subscribe to the idea that God, or whatever name you use to refer to a higher power, is within ALL THAT IS, then why would you be left out of the invitation to experience everything that exists as a PART of ALL THAT IS?
There is nothing wrong with desiring to have more in your life. We ALL deserve everything that God has put into this existence; ALL that serves our highest good and highest healing. Having nice things is completely ok. I’m just putting that out there, as many people feel that desiring to have more is selfish, sinful, expecting too much… But that’s just not true. We ALL are welcome to ALL the best that life can offer. THAT is why there is so much in existence for our enjoyment! Where we go wrong is in HOW we approach welcoming these things into our lives. Often, it is through a lens of not having enough supply… so we go down the path.

BS: The Path of Lack.
“I don’t have enough money…”
“I am going to eat all these chips because I’m dieting later…”
“There’s just not enough time…”
“I can’t find a job anywhere…”
and so many other thoughts of lack invade our Belief System.

These thoughts are partially what create what we think is our “reality”; and I put reality in quotes because our typical thoughts about what reality is are skewed as well. I will address that at another time. Getting back to our thoughts of lack… typically a feeling of fear of not having enough drives these thoughts, and in turn, we ask that more be supplied. This is what I mean by a prayer of supplication: asking for something to be supplied because it is missing in your life. The problem is, it could be our very prayers that is keeping things away!

Instead,

Pray a prayer of gratitude for already having been provided with all you need to live your highest and best life.

WHAT?

Just do a little experiment with me… ACIM (A Course In Miracles) gives us a different prayer: one that says, “Thank you for helping me understand that this is already part of my existence.” That’s pretty heady stuff, I get that. And when trying this for the first few times, it really does feel like BS. How can something I don’t have already be a part of my existence? Perhaps this is where a little faith comes in, and besides, you aren’t losing anything by moving toward a brighter way of living by uttering words in a different way! Instead of using words of supplication with words like “want”, just try changing that to words of gratitude for allowing you to re-member (re-member: coming back to that forgotten connection we already have with the Divine). A prayer of gratitude for Re-Membering that through your Divine connection, you simply re-connect to what is already yours to being with, that which you’ve been pushing away by thinking it’s not.

Just try it. Try it for your next week and see if there aren’t some shifts in how things seem to be going for you.

Here are some “prayer starters”, in case you are still so stuck in your BS () that you don’t even know where to start…

“Thank you for helping me remember all that serves my Soul’s agenda…”
“Thank you for giving me the understanding that my highest good is already happening…”
“I’m so grateful that All is exactly right…”
Try to step away from what you think the outcome *should be* and open yourself to what your Highest Soul’s Agenda actually IS. Give it some time… “Fake it until you make it…” See what shifts begin to happen in your life. You may just find yourself in a completely different mindset about what prayer can do.

Blessings and So Much ,

Rev. Emma