Do You Have a Prayer?

May 6:
National Day of Prayer


© 2010 by Joyce Mason

We live increasingly in a world that is more secular than religious. Many people—myself included—embrace a spirituality that encompasses ideas from many traditions, rather than the sole tenets of a specific faith.

This made me wonder if—and how—modern people pray. Whatever your belief in higher power (I’ll call Him/Her/It “God,” asking you to translate to your own belief system:

God doesn’t need us to pray to Him. We are the ones who need the prayers.

Or at least that’s how I see it.

While the National Day of Prayer in the US is a Christian observance, noticing it on my calendar sparked these questions. I’m very curious what prayer looks like across faiths, or lack of any one in particular, in the 21st Century.

My own relationship with God is a lot like Tevye’s in Fiddler on the Roof—personal, tangible, conversational. Or as Mick says in the movie Crocodile Dundee, “Me ‘n’ God be mates.” We’re in constant communication, and I feel a part of the Spirit in which we’re all joined. Still, I need those prayers.

Prayer in Tough Times

In the women’s circles I facilitate and/or participate in, most prayers are for people having a hard time—illness, financial struggle, unraveling relationships, to name just a few examples. It’s surprising how the prayers almost all come down to this. Do we only reach out for divine connection when we struggle? People seem to have an easier time doing this for others than themselves, although the women in my groups are getting far better over time at asking for what they need.

Then there are the prayers—more like follow-up queries—that continue after trouble. “Why did you take my baby from me?” In my case, the baby refers to a cat that was so much a part of me, two and a half years later, I still feel like someone amputated one of my limbs. You can substitute wife, mother, father … and I suspect many of us have made this divine entreaty. It’s a plea to understand loss that is so deep, it’s just not fathomable.

Prayers of Thanksgiving

This is my favorite kind of prayer. It says, “Hello, God, it’s me, (fill in your name)—and I’m grateful for all you give me for no other reason than your abundant generosity.” This is why I love Thanksgiving, the holiday. People finally thank God and offer up prayers for the right reason—gratitude.

Regular worship services often cover this ground well. But if you’re not a churchgoer, it’s easy to skip the preliminaries of thankfulness and use prayer as a gimme or help-me. It’s a bit childlike, where we are constantly asking for our needs to be met and our elders have to remind us to say please and thank you.

I don’t mean to imply we shouldn’t ask for help when we’re hurting, worried or mourning. However, on balance, I would be quite irritated as a Divine Parent if the only reason someone bothered to contact me was to hit me up for money and influence. I think it would be more appropriate to start every prayer with gratitude for what we have before we ask for more—or beg for changes in the cosmic plan. (It’s remarkable how many of us seem to think God doesn’t know what s/he’s doing.)

God the Father/Mother—Creative Fire

Maybe that’s one of the problems with the way we pray—God the Parent. This is a long-held view of the divine force, and it’s hard to undo because it’s a concept we can so easily understand as humans. Many of us had less-than-ideal parenting, so the idea that there’s some Perfect Parent in the Sky is truly appealing.

But what if God is even bigger than that? My favorite creation story comes from the channeled Michael Teachings. It rings true to me as the largest, most comprehensive, and metaphorical explanation of how life works in the earth-to-sky interface. This philosophy describes God as the Creative Fire or the Tao. The Tao decided it wanted company to share and enjoy its creations. It cast out sparks of itself (us), who are sent to earth without their knowing they are part of the One. Our mission is to use our creativity to come back to the One. (If you want to explore this more, see the Michael Teaching link or my holiday post based on this material, name Turn on the Lights!)

The Divine Escape Clause

My first spiritual teacher, the late Betty Bethards, taught me early on that we really shouldn’t tell God how to do it. We don’t have the “view from the mountain,” the big picture that comes with omniscience. She suggested we always add at the end of any prayer:

This or something better.

This speaks to the idea that there may be an even better outcome than the one we are asking for—that our idea of what’s best for us may be limited, even quite the opposite of what will bring joy. It could be full of pitfalls we haven’t thought of. (“Be careful what you pray for,” as the warning goes.) The Divine Escape Clause also reminds us not to tell God how to do it. The being or force with all the creativity in the universe in his “hands” probably can handle the situation without our suggestions! And most likely, in a way that’s more elegant than we ever imagined. One of my favorite quotes in Illusions by Richard Bach says it best:

The original sin is to limit the Is. Don’t.

Prayer Techniques

I love prayers from many traditions, and where they come from isn’t as important to me as resonating to the sentiment.

In one of my groups, we pray by lighting candles and saying the name of the person for whom the prayer is offered three times. My Catholic core adores the candles as part of my original tradition, and I know the power of three, starting with the Trinity. The metaphor that each of us is a light in the world is strengthened by a symbol of light. Our prayers and the light of the candle brighten the light of the individual in need.

This is a simple and lovely way to pray. We have a plate full of votive candles and often end of lighting them all—and occasionally going into extra innings and additional candles. After the individual prayers are complete, we begin praying in larger concentric circles of caring. For example, we might pray for California’s ailing economy or the world economy; for peace in the Middle East; for the protection of all children; or for the best outcome for all in an upcoming election.

When we feel complete with our prayers, each of us grabs a crystal to focus the healing energy we have evoked. We envision a globe in the center of the table where the candles are lit. Our other vision is a vortex of energy, carrying the prayers upward to rain their blessing on the world and all the people in it.

My Favorite Prayers

Prayers are poems to God or the love that joins us all. While I often prefer “conversations,” there are many prayers that move me so much; I will say them as long as I have lips to move. No two prayers have ever touched me as much as The Prayer of St. Francis, also known as The Peace Prayer, and the 23rd Psalm. Here are my top five of many favorites:

1. Prayer of St. Francis – “Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace …”

2. The 23rd Psalm, especially the feminine version by Bobby McFerrin, dedicated to his mother. There is something incredibly comforting about this classic prayer. It calms fear with the gentle reminder that Love is our shepherd.

3. Deep Peace, a Gaelic Blessing – My favorite is a performance is in this You Tube video by John Rutter and choir at a memorial for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting massacre. It is so touching; it gave me chills.

4. Judy Chicago’s Prayer – “And then …

5. How wonderful, O Lord are the works of your hands! A traditional Jewish prayer.


Prayer Collections

As a person who does spiritually eclectic celebrations, prayer collections are some of my favorite books. The one that truly changed me is Prayers for Planetary Pilgrims by Fr. Edward Hay. In this book, my Catholic roots meet my cosmic perspective. Fr. Hay has prayers for every human condition, emotion, season and celebration imaginable. It’s a don’t miss!

Two of other well-worn prayer references and preferences:

Prayers for Healing: 365 Blessings, Poems & Meditations from Around the World, edited by Maggie Oman. They are presented in a prayer-a-day format.

A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles, edited by M.J. Ryan. This book is a treasure with its harvest scene cover and prayers divided into the four seasons—prayers that are wonderful not just as grace before meals but any time of the day or night.

Lastly, I have found more great prayers via Google than you can imagine, including several poetic renditions of the original Aramaic version of The Lords Prayer, another favorite.

Living Life as a Prayer

My true goal is to live life as a prayer—in integrity with my beliefs and with love and gratitude for the light in which we’re all joined.

To pray is a verb.

You can pray while singing, dancing, vacuuming or making love. Doing good works is prayer in action. Whenever Spirit is a partner in any activity, it can be offered up as a living prayer. I used to attend a local metaphysical church called the Temple of Living Prayer. That’s what I want to be—a walking, talking prayer vessel. That kind of holiness/wholeness isn’t goody two-shoes; it’s simply having “the spirit” in you and acting from it. That’s why this blog is dedicated to spirited living.

To be fully alive is prayer itself, as is being the “instrument of peace” that St. Francis modeled is the essence of living prayer. There are many forms of the verb to pray.

What are yours?

Pray tell.
~~~

Photo Credit: Offering Candles © Travellingtwo | Dreamstime.com

Turn on the Lights!

In the beginning was Creativity.

It expressed itself as Light.

It wasn’t just any light; it was the biggest bonfire in the universe. It shone so brightly, it was eternal. It could never be put out.

But being the Light in the Dark was lonely. Shining was fun, but it would be more fun to reflect the light off others and to share it.

So Creativity divided and cast off sparks of Itself.

But Creativity also spawned Intrigue. The sparks could not know they came from the bonfire. They had amnesia. The game would be to rediscover—using their own creativity—they were part of the Original Light … and, ultimately, to return to the Light.

Along the way, these individual sparks would almost touch the truth. They’d join with other sparks and create a brushfire. It was exhilarating!

As they lived their lives, made mistakes, and righted themselves on their course through experience, the sparks would—now and then—have a get a glimmer of a bonfire. These were times when they would join lights and create the biggest fire they had ever seen so far. They were times like births, deaths, weddings—anytime love is reflected in large quantities for them to feel a part of.

Ultimately, the good players got that everyone is a spark of the Great Altogether—of Creativity Itself.

Once the light dawned, their time on Earth was nearly as bright as it would be on the day they would return to the Biggest Bonfire in the Universe—to Creativity—and Love—Itself.

Here we are in the Season of Light. I hope I have just told a Creation Story that can appeal to anyone, regardless of belief.

In one way or another, all major religions celebrate light as we approach the darkest day of the year on Winter Solstice—December 21st. Some do it out loud; others more quietly.

The earth religions honor the Sun god at the Solstice and pray for his safe return, knowing all life evolves around light.

In a play on words too good to pass up, Christianity celebrates the birth of another Son … the one who told us, “You are the light of the world.” Certainly, he was a light, but notice, he made a point of telling us we are also the light.

Jews celebrate Chanukah—a miracle of light—of lanterns that kept burning and saved the day when they should have run out, a kind of loaves and fishes story with the element fire …

Lastly, Muslims celebrate Hajj, the annual trip to Mecca all adults of sound mind must do at least once in their lifetime. The ritual promotes the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood by showing everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah. Sounds, to me, like an affirmation of the One Light.

So, you have to wonder why so many people on the planet still don’t get it.

Don’t let that get you down—the wars over differences in religion, opinion, or other ridiculous things we fight about as human beings.

This holiday season, do the one and only thing you can really do about it. Just go out there and let your light shine. Turn on your lights! Fire spreads in a divine domino effect …

… and remember every time you see a light, to be a light …

Ultimately, the good players will get that everyone is a spark of the Great Altogether—of Creativity Itself.


Once the light dawns, your time on Earth will be nearly as bright as it will be on the day you return to the Biggest Bonfire in the Universe—to Creativity—and Love—Itself.

Author's note: Some of the basic concepts in this essay come from channeled material called The Michael Teachings. If these ideas intrigue you, please visit this link or one of the many sites devoted to this spiritual slant on the universe that has always made so much sense to me. I was introduced to these teachings by Stephen J. Cocconi, who also has a fascinating site on the Teachings.