What does ‘prayer’ suggest to you? I used to think of it as a silly ritual which involved kneeling, closing the eyes and clasping the hands together while a cleric read a prescribed text parrot-fashion. The congregation mostly listened passively, sometimes giving fixed ‘responses’ from a prayer book.
Affirmative prayer is different. It requires no special ceremony, is easily practised and has remarkable effects. Through prayer, we change our way of thinking, affirm positive beliefs and reject limitations, so raising our consciousness and becoming more confident and purposeful. Prayer must be a daily priority for all spiritual seekers because insight, wisdom and peace are to be found in silent contemplation. The more you pray, the more effective it is. Prayers offered with sincerity never go unanswered.
199 All Traditions Teach Silence, Stillness And Solitude
Every respectable spiritual tradition teaches the benefits of silence, stillness and solitude because this is how we strengthen our link with Creative
Intelligence. Learning, reasoning and intellect are all very fine, but only through silent contemplation can Spirit do its work.
Affirmative prayer is, in effect, concentrated positive thinking – and we know how powerful both concentration and positive thinking can be. It works directly on our consciousness, making us aware of limiting thought patterns and changing them. It lays down the right causes so the right effects manifest as life conditions. Through prayer, spiritual ideas become second nature.
200 Prayer Is Not A Ritual Performed Only By Professionals
To pray, you don’t need to visit places of worship, and you don’t need anyone, such as a priest, to pray on your behalf. Priests have no special powers that you do not.
Nor do you need to kneel, close your eyes and clasp your hands, and set words are certainly not necessary.
Find your own way to pray. You can pray anytime, anywhere, and in your own words.
201 A One-Minute Activity
Prayer can be a one-minute activity. At any time, you can pause, mentally switch off from your surroundings and pray. Affirm the presence of Creative Intelligence, then return to your activities.
We all benefit from taking a few moments to centre ourselves among the hurly-burly of daily life.
202 Prayer Changes The Person Who Prays
When you pray, don’t ask for changes in your circumstances, but in yourself. This is what prayer is for. It brings about changes in the character of every cell in our bodies and in our energy field. When we change, of course, the world changes, in two ways:
203 Praying Beggars
Prayer is not about pleading for miracles or flattering a supernatural being into taking pity on us. This does not work. CI does not intervene
directly in earthly affairs, although, of course, it continually directs the unfolding of the universe by implementing Spiritual Laws.
Prayer is not for acquiring things or having our problems solved by an outside force, but for hastening our spiritual growth. We receive answers to prayers not in the form of miraculous interventions, but ideas. When you receive an answer or an idea, it’s important to do something with it, even if you’re not entirely sure what. Try something – anything that might work. Keep your wits about you and you will be guided towards actions that bring the right results.
204 What Do You Make Of This?
This advertisement recently appeared under ‘Personal Announcements’ in my local newspaper. What do you make of it, bearing in mind my comments on praying beggars?
205 Prayer Works
Prayer opens up the flow of spiritual energy and creativity. It has been shown to be effective in many studies, and the explanation is not difficult to find. It aligns our thoughts with the highest vibrations of the universe.
Alan Cohen echoes my own experience of prayer: ‘Whenever I have needed guidance,’ he writes, ‘I have never failed to receive it. For any question I have asked in earnest and sincerity, an answer has come. It is not always an answer that I want to hear, or that I expect to hear, or that I understand, and it does not always come immediately, but it is always one that works.’
The next few pages suggest ways of making your prayers most effective.