The first type of prayer involves a simple asking for what you want, and there is nowhere in spiritual teaching that forbids this. It is the gift of free will. A simple asking prayer is: Help me!
A prayer used for millennia, and one that is extraordinarily effective, is repeating the words Jesus Christ, over and over. This repetition prayer has brought results to so many people in so many areas of life, in so many emergencies, that an entire book could be written about it alone.
Asking for help from God is talking to God. Help me God, is asking prayer. Prayers for forgiveness are asking prayer. Prayers for healing and guidance are asking prayers. Asking prayer is the primal or first prayer. Ask and you shall receive.
I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer
believe that you have received it
and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Learning how to ask is almost as important as the asking process itself. Asking with belief energizes prayer. Applying the conviction of things not seen adds enormous power to prayer. This entire process is very different from mere wishing or hoping. Thus, belief, conviction and faith make effective prayer.
So what do you do when prayer (a common problem) doesn’t seem to be working? When you find your conviction and faith weak, pray with others.
…wherever two or more are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them … Matthew 18:20
There is a power in this bit of scripture that reflects eternal law. This power has built vast fortunes, founded and preserved great nations, and it has held together peoples through the rise and fall of civilizations. It has brought about numberless and untold healings of every disease. It can reach into the mind and heal and guide and inspire.
What else increases the power of asking prayer? Answer: The practice of loving kindness prayer. Practice of these prayers can lead to inner healing of the soul and lead to deeper more effective prayer generally. They are all very powerful prayers.
Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Psalm 107:43
The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace… (There is more here)
Create in me a pure heart… (more here)
Psalm 51
May I be filled with loving kindness… (an ancient prayer, more here)
When you begin prayer, observe where you are emotionally. Are you angry, upset, filled with guilt? Okay. No problem. Open all of that to Spirit—open it to God. This process is not a poker game where you can out bluff your opponent. God already knows everything you are holding in your hand.
Talk to God. Pour it all out. Remember, this is a benevolent Higher Power that already sees it all, that is, every card you are holding. Opening your stuff to God is the beginning of healing.
Most of it is fear of one sort or another, anyway.
One of the best prayers for releasing fear is the 23rd Psalm (most of the Psalms involve some kind of talking to God). As with all great writing, you could live in this one prayer for months or years and still draw from it spiritual healing.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Other translations of this prayer are here and here and here.
Affirmative prayer is a form of prayer or a metaphysical technique that is focused on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation. For example, a person who is experiencing some form of illness would focus the prayer on the desired state of perfect health and affirm this desired intention “as if already happened” rather than identifying the illness and then asking God for help to eliminate it. [from wiki]
The next level of prayer is uplifting prayer. It is more sophisticated. This kind of prayer builds a deepening relationship to a higher power. It includes the prayer of gratitude and thanks, the prayer of love, prayers of expectant thanks, the prayer of affirmation.
One of the best ways to confront an insoluble problem is to broaden its scope. Move beyond the limits of the problem to something larger. Fear will always block your good and prevent solutions: the best way to confront fear is to expand your consciousness or awareness. Moving into spiritual awe and love describes uplifting prayer.
What Prayer Is: Praying for Others
Praying for others is a fundamental part of prayer.
I am here only to be truly helpful.
I am here to represent Him who sent me.
I will not worry about what to do or what to say because He Who sent me will direct me.
I am content to be wherever he wishes, knowing He goes there with me.
I will be healed as I let him teach me to heal.
Healing Preparation from A Course In Miracles, Page 28, text .
There are two types of prayer discussed here: group prayer & healing prayer.
Group prayer works on the principle that where two or more people are gathered together, and reaching out to a Higher Power, the power of that activity is increased exponentially.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:20
Praying for others often has a remarkable effect on the recipient. For millennia, such prayer has brought countless miracles to individuals. Prayer groups often achieve remarkable healings. These healings work remarkably well on children.
Group prayer raises the effect of prayer exponentially. It is far more powerful than single prayer. Prayer groups should be the sine qua non of any church community. The more prayer groups the more influential church becomes in people’s lives..
To increase the effectiveness of prayer we need to study the practice of successful healers. Healing prayer involves:
A shift in consciousness.
Calming the mind. Reviewing any angers, fears or resentments—then letting them go.
Focusing on love or intense caring: like oneness with God, for example.
What Prayer: The Shift in Consciousness
The shift, change, or rising of consciousness is a requirement for all serious prayer, and it needs to be discussed in some detail. It denotes the change of mind to a higher state; applying biofeedback metrics and other techniques; psychologists have been measuring these changing states for decades.
Since the shift is an important first step in prayer, let us take a little time to describe how one can achieve it.
Technique One —Relaxation
Relaxation of the body. Either sitting or lying down, close your eyes. Tense up each part of the body; hold that tense state for five to seven seconds, then release. You can start with the right foot, then the right leg, then the left foot, left leg, the buttocks, then the right arm, the left arm, the shoulders, neck and face. The order doesn’t matter really: the tensing up and releasing does matter, as it will relax the body.
After tensing and releasing all these parts of the body, go back, scan each part of your body, and tell that part to relax. Take some time with this, focus on relaxing.
Technique Two — the Breath
Breathing. Either sitting or lying on the floor, breathe in slowly and completely as you can, filling the lungs to their total capacity; then hold the breath in for a second or so, then let the breath out. Repeat this ten to twelve times. Later you can increase these complete breaths. In addition to oxygenating the blood, these breaths have a calming effect on the body.
Technique Three — Counting
Counting backward. Simply count backward from 10 to 1, silently in your mind, over and over, for ten minutes or so. This will also be calming.
All of these techniques will assist in helping you to center or let go; they will shift your consciousness.
Certain mental states will inhibit effective prayer. The primary states of mind that block the prayer from moving into a higher state are fear, unforgiveness and judgment.
The opposite of fear is love, and perfect love casts out fear. Another word for unforgiveness is grievance, and grievance blocks your good, always. Judgment never works; it always blocks and restricts—and the worst judgments are those we make on ourselves often unconsciously.
You are given a lot of help in dealing with these issues. No need to tackle them all on once, just one at a time.
Technique One — Imagining
Imagining. Imagining is either visual or feeling; visualizing you are at peace works just as well as feeling you are at peace. For example, imagine yourself in a place of perfect peace, healing and calm. That place could be on the beach on a warm sunny day: lying on your beach towel in the warm sand is a deeply relaxing feeling, and you are drifting in an ocean of peace.
Technique Two — Fear
In dealing with fear, silently repeat the affirmation: Perfect love casts out fear. It is not necessary to reason with fear. Just take the affirmation/prayer and repeat it over and over.
Technique Three — Divine Presence
Affirm: I am one with the Divine Presence, and in your mind reach out to that Presence.
Technique Four — Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving. In the midst of a seemingly
Perfect love casts out fear John 4:18, NASB
When this phrase is used as a prayer, it will remove despair, loss, sadness, regret etc. It is a prayer of love.
Another prayer of love is the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The first line of this prayer repeated over and over, silently or verbally, especially in a conflict with another, will transform despair into hope, darkness into light, sadness into joy.
Another prayer of love, possibly the most powerful, is found in the First Commandment, not of Moses, but of Jesus:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:37 NIV
Loving God in prayer through your heart connects you to god Presence. Simply put, the more you connect to God Presence, the better you are. Your relationships are better, your finances are better, your work is better, your children are better. One thing to remember, when this Presence arrives, and it always will, if you sincerely ask it to, it is rarely going to be what you think it will be. Remember, the will of God for you is perfect happiness.
Prayers of gratitude and thanks fall into this category of uplifting prayer. Giving thanks sincerely will take you into a higher, expanded state of mind. Then the world becomes safe, not fearful; People and their problems are always perceived differently now, often in light. Prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude activate the flow of miracles.
Pray for one another so that you may be healed. James 5:16
Contemplative prayer connects you to your spiritual essence. Other forms of prayer can achieve that also. Contemplative prayer is more direct at getting you into the awareness of God’s Presence. Contemplative prayer never directly involves the attempt to make things happen. This includes controlling, manipulating, scheming, allowing fear to dictate action (all those activities that never worked very well anyway, did they?).
Contemplative prayer involves letting go and letting God
Not my will but Thine be done.
Luke 22:42
Two types of contemplative prayer are 1., letting go; and, 2., entering the silence.
Letting Go or Release. This is also called “surrender”. Yet, “surrender” has rather negative meanings in our culture: Loosing a fight, a way, a life; surrendering to the police, to the enemy at the gate. Then there is the war between God and man that is a part of so many religions, where “surrender” plays a prominent part.
What is meant here is a letting go of ego into spirit. The prayer, Thy will be done is far more powerful, has a far greater influence on the entire life, than does asking for something specific. It is far more effective than a guided meditation.
Why?
It gives the problem or situation being prayed over to a Higher Power. Often our needs centered around control issues interfere with answered prayer. Thy Will be done often leads to the best outcome.
Prayers of letting go affirm that creation is basically good and nurturing. Prayers of letting go allow you to trust creation. In any difficult time, a focused contemplative prayer will generate the best outcome. Learning how to yield to a higher power is not “surrender” into desolation. It is the path to happiness and fulfillment.
The Silence is found in the space between thoughts. Listen to the Silence. Listen for the Voice for God. Listen to the Holy Spirit.
Enter the Silence and rest there. When the mind is quiet, the Silence is.
Let your mind become still, gently. You can do this by following the breath. This process does not involve breathing to achieve a physiological state; it requires that you only observe the rise and fall of the breath. When thoughts come to you, gently return to the observation of the rise and fall of the breath. Gradually the mind becomes still. When thoughts come back again, simply return to the breath. Let your mind become still; stillness leads you into the Silence. When thoughts intrude, say being here now, or just think now. This too will lead you deeper into the Silence. Just be…and listen in the Silence. What comes to you, will come to you. Just being in the Silence is growth, is evolution, is unfoldment. Being in the Silence is healing, being in the Silence is deepening of love, being in the Silence is fulfilling the first commandment of Christ, which leads to everything else; being in the Silence is the fulfillment of the law; being in the Silence brings deep, deep joy; being in the Silence is the key to true Guidance: It shows you where to go.
Being in the Silence is the path to God; being in the Silence is the path to learning to love all mankind. Being in the Silence is being in the light, and you will experience its bright white energy. Being in the Silence is being with your creator; being in the Silence is attuning to the Will of God, which when manifested for you is perfect happiness.
To enter the Silence, follow the breath and listen. To enter the Silence, practice being in the now. When thoughts from the past rise to consciousness, gently bring the mind back to now. When worry about the future barges in, gently bring the consciousness back to now. Be here now; stay in the Now, and your mind will grow still, and you will enter the Silence.
From Psalm 46, Verse 10:
Be still, and know I am God.
Being still, knowing God. This is an ancient formula for entering the Silence. Train your mind to stillness, enter the Silence, begin knowing God.
Sometimes prayer seems to go unanswered. Not many books talk about why prayer is unanswered.
Sometimes persistence is required; other times even that does not work. C.S. Lewis, a deep believer at nine years of age, fervently prayed for months that his dead mother would rise from the dead. Nothing worked. It took him many years to learn that you cannot force your will on God, that it works the other way around, that you have to bring God’s will into your mind and let it live through you.
All the rest is about the blocks to answered prayer.
Some reasons for unanswered prayer.
