How do you pray?

Prayer to me is self-talk, and I felt inspired to write a few words about it to present a different approach to it if you are one of those that feel as if your prayers are not being answered, or if you feel discouraged and fearful about a future event and you’re not sure how to handle it.

How do you pray? How have you been praying? Who do you pray to?

Answering these questions will reveal a lot to you and make you see why prayers don’t seem to work in your life.

– Do you plead to God? (I’m only using that word now because that’s who most people pray to)

– Do you promise that you will serve him for the rest of your life if he helps you with ‘this one thing’?

– Do you tell and inform God about your problems and what needs to be fixed?

– Do you shout for attention, crying out to this God, frustrated that he’s not hearing you?

– Are you trying to appeal to a higher power, squirming like a worm for this authority you see your God to be?

– Are you trying to manipulate this God by building altars and praising him with an “attitude of gratitude” even if you don’t really feel grateful?

You get the point. (We have all done some version of them at some point in our lives). 

This kind of prayer leads nowhere, it doesn’t transform a person, and repetition of (scriptural) prayers said with no feeling at all accomplishes nothing.

It doesn’t change anything.

Superstition is not helpful either, so it doesn’t matter if you pray to the fairies in the woods or some ascended master or whatever else there is that people believe in.

True prayer is when you turn within to your own innate power and wisdom for guidance.

The essence of prayer is about understanding yourself better (and what and who you are), and it opens up our perspective of the Truth of a situation, but only if we are open to be changed (transformation of consciousness).

But the thing is, that most people are open to change but they don’t want to be changed!

They want the situation to change but they themselves want to stay as they are.  

But to effectively use prayer to change any situation, the person has to change when it comes to their thinking and attitude, that’s where transformation takes place, in our minds, in consciousness. 

So praying to deities/Gods, having special altars, invoking angels and so forth only makes the energy that is suppose to be directed inwards to flow outwards to some power you believe is out there in the universe.

Or you try to please this outside power by bending like pretzel for it (trying to purify yourself to make yourself worthy etc) or you write gratitude lists while in your heart you don’t really feel grateful at all. 

People do all kinds of crazy things in order to come closer to “God”, anything but turning within to their own power and wisdom that has all the answers and solutions ready for them if they would only ask.

Praying within yourself, that’s transformative. 

I’m not going to address the material part (praying for ‘stuff’) in this article, but instead focus on how prayer can be transformative for the person and not for what that transformation then will produce, which can be material things as well as peace and joy. 

Nothing wrong at all to ask for things, I think we should all ask for more than we currently do.

With that said, I also think we should ask for ways to serve first (before stuff) because that’s where our true joy lies.

But of course, we all should definitely ask for more prosperity and beautiful things too as I don’t believe lack or limitations should be present in anybody’s life. 

We should all enjoy life to the fullest and money is a great thing to have in order to be able to do that. 

We can’t go withing for guidance too often, and I think that whatever we ask for we should definitely always seek the answers from within first and foremost.

Real progress doesn’t come from having or getting material things (obviously) so lets put that part aside for now.

Effective prayer results in a change of consciousness and that in turn then changes the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Whatever circumstance or situation it might be for you, lets look at a different way to pray if you feel your prayers has been ignored in the past:

– Ask for wisdom. “Help me understand better”.

– Ask for the Truth to be shown you. “Help me see the Truth of this situation so that I can make wise choices”.

– Ask for clarity. “Help me see clearly what’s going on”.

– Ask for new, fresh ideas that can help you move forward.

– Ask for the next step to be shown.

– Ask for insights and inspiration.

– Ask for direction when it comes to taking right and appropriate action.

Most of all, ask to understand yourself better.

Because when it begins to dawn upon you that the power you’re talking to/with is yourself, then the energy of the prayer gets redirected (inwardly) and pure. (It has no beliefs or concepts attached to it).

Then you begin to use prayer in a totally different way; you start to boldly claim and appropriate what you want and need and so forth, because you realize that whatever you seek is already here (in your own consciousness) and all you’re asking for is the wisdom to see and experience what is already yours.

Now you’re starting to use spiritual logic to your prayers.

You don’t explain your ‘why’s’ anymore (“I need this because..” etc) because you see everything that is good in life as something that you obviously should have (because your true identity is “God”) and that it should be in your experience just as the air you breathe.

You don’t explain why you need to have air to breathe, do you? Why do you then feel the need to explain why you need/want money, or wonderful friends, or whatever else? 

You’re just affirming what you already know is rightfully yours.

And you become more bold in asking for whatever you want, you become more clear and definite in your asking, because you know that in the end it’s just life giving to itself and life is always for growth/expansion and enjoyment of itself.

You dare to insist and persist in your prayers until they become real for you in your experience, but you never again feel as if someone is withholding your good from you or hindering you;

No, you insist and keep talking with yourself about the things you desire because you know that that’s how the mind (consciousness) works, it sometimes needs to be really impregnated with the new energy that you are molding and forming into existence.

It already exists (so it’s more like a consciously directed unfolding), but to experience it in your life there needs to be a transformation of mind and that’s what proper prayer does to you.

It transforms us.

You start to pray all the time, in lovely situations (in gratitude) and in challenging situations (for guidance).

And you pray anywhere; in the subway, while driving to work, out in nature, you can be anywhere and prayer is always there, right where you are. It becomes a way of life.

Oftentimes I sit on my couch when I pray or I go out in nature, but I often also pray while I’m swimming, it’s always there; I’m always having this ongoing communion with the wisdom within me.

I’m so grateful that I can swim here everyday:) I feel so blessed.

There is no duality, and you’re only affirming the Truth of life and who you are, and the responsive factor in all this is the feeling behind your prayers. 

When you get duality off the way then there can be no more frustration, tears, or self-pity and victim hood-ness, because you realize that all there is, is, .. You!

And that is incredibly empowering to know.

But that is not enough; it’s not enough to claim and affirm and so on.

The last and most important step in all this is something many people skip.

Now we need to listen!

To get answers we have to listen; prayer is fulfilled by listening, so when asking for understanding or wisdom, clarity etc; now we need to get quiet and listen so we can receive the clarity and inspired ideas that can help us move forward.

I strongly recommend meditation (to get into a meditative state), but you can also ask and listen at the same time while doing everyday things like doing the dishes or washing the car or whatever.

That’s something I do when I’m swimming; I ask and communicate a lot with the wisdom within me while I swim and then I take moments here and there where all I do is to listen. 

Usually I do the inner conversation where I share everything that is on my mind and heart and then I ask Truth to reveal itself to me; “Now speak the Truth to me, I’m listening”.

And then I simply listen. (Listen to the stillness and not your thoughts/thinking, move your awareness beyond them into the stillness within your own consciousness). 

Sometimes when I get an answer that is not very clear, then I ask again and I ask for more clarity, like this:

“Be more clear, I need a direct lead on this, so make sure I really get it. The way I really get it is by the way it feel. I can feel the rightness of it in my heart, that’s how I know. I’m open and receptive to Truth”.

And then I listen again.

And then when a direction comes, or an idea pops up in my mind, then I follow it.

If several options comes up or if you feel confused over some of the guidance you get (sometimes our intuition asks us to do things that makes no sense to the rational mind) then it helps to have said something like “make sure I feel the rightness of the best things for me to do so that I recognize it when it comes”.

(And always say Thank You).

I have found this to be very effective, because it kind of immediately cancels out the other things that come your way if you’re attentive to how they feel to you.

In short;

– Instead of praying for a situation to be changed (if you have been doing that for ages with no progress), ask to be changed (transformed).

– Instead of waiting for a God or some angel to save you or take you out of a situation, become still and ask for deeper understanding, ideas and wisdom that can help you get yourself out of the situation.

And remember that you’re not not really doing it ‘alone’, you always have the power within you that will guide you every step of the way and that provides you with whatever you need whether it’s resources, money, other people, opportunities etc, but you have to trust it and take action when prompted from within.

If you’re feeling really desperate right now, if there’s a pressing situation in your life that you really feel you have to get resolved, then I have some short prayers that you can use right now.

They can help you move into a more calm and peaceful space within yourself right now as you read this where it will be easier to hear the wisdom that wants to make itself known to you.

Fear clutters our ability to hear, so do this right now and see what happens within you.

All that is needed is your sincerity and openness to the possibility that this might be all you need to do and that an answer will come to you almost immediately:

Short prayers:

“Help!” (You might find this post encouraging).

“I choose to have faith” (Don’t let fear rule over your emotions).

“Take me to Truth!” (That’s where you belong, that’s your true identity. Don’t accept illusions).

“Now!” (Now is always the right time to be restored to Truth, there is no need for delay or waiting. Affirm this).

“I give all of it to you, I can’t handle this myself” (Surrender and give your troubles to the wisdom within).

I hope you found at least one of the prayers resonating with you.

The way you feel is an indication of the effectiveness of them.

If peace (or relief) comes over you, then you’re right back home in Truth where you belong and nothing can touch you there.

From there the next step will be given and you will know what to do if there’s anything you need to do.

(Again, the most important step with any kind of prayer is to take time to listen and be still).

Trust the feeling of peace and safety and when something comes your way, pay attention because it might be the next step on your journey forward and upward. 

Here’s a few other articles that you might like:

How To Listen To Your Intuition

Everything is Consciousness

Right Action

Why I Write Two Journals Instead of One

Allow Yourself To Make Mistakes

How To Read The Signs From The Universe

Stillness Is Highly Underrated

Give Yourself Over To Stillness

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