Here’s a beautiful conversation between a Wise One and a seeker of truth.
Let us share this with all who are drawn to the joyful practice of daily prayer.
🕊️ Question from a human🕊️
“I have always wondered and sometimes get confused regarding praying. I do pray often but sometimes I get confused as to whom I am actually praying to or even how to pray. I normally pray for wisdom or guidance. I know we are responsible for our lives and there is no one who’s going to come down and “fix” our problems. I think it must be more a question of showing us the way, the direction to follow. However, sometimes I’m not really sure on the proper way to pray or who to address. I would really appreciate your input on this.”
🕊️ A response from One above 🕊
“I am with you and most happy to respond to this query as there are many, many seekers and light-bearers asking this same question. Most would know more about their soul’s purpose in this lifetime, for they sense how crucial “this one” is. They are committed to serve. You will note that true prayer is entirely different from the “gimme, gimme” type of prayer requesting all types of things – often actual things! – or advantages and advancements for the lower nature.
Many are immature requests for temporary ego gratification or for emotional comfort when things are not going exactly as the one doing the praying wills. The person wants to get his or her own narrow way, often creating all kinds of bad karma and by-passing if not fully denying important life lessons and opportunities for spiritual growth.
Prayers of anguish and despair are another matter, for the “dark night of the soul” passages in life are always registered, those prayers are always heard, always. It has to do with the quality, and even the quantity of heart in the prayer. This is in part why intent is so much discussed today. Intent can be very self-centered and very self-serving.
What is heard is the purity, the sincerity, the heart-feltedness of the prayer, the genuineness of the appeal, which, even though the person may be frightened or very troubled or in pain, involves emotional depth, mental focus and clarity. In other words, presence.
Do you realize how many prayers, desires, even plea bargains go out every day from the billions of inhabitants of this realm? How do you think we cope? Could you possibly imagine? Luckily, there are cosmic laws in place that handle these myriad issues automatically in many instances. The Law of Karma is one, but it is not the brutal eye-for-an-eye distortion or the “As you sow, so shall you reap” variation based on retribution, retaliation or self-righteousness.
The Law of Karma is not a law of punishment. It is the greatest of teachers, an opportunity for the soul to progress. Think about that. Think how every crisis in life, and every opening door as well, is an opportunity for wisdom to develop, for progress to ensue as lessons are learned. You say that you are not always sure about how to pray or who to pray to. The simple answer is, “Pray from your heart, your deepest and highest self, and you will always be heard.” That kind of prayer registers above the noise level, as it were.
I would, however, like to mention another facet of praying, one that is newer perhaps but gaining ground. It is actually a science, the science of invocation, whereby you invoke our presence, you invite us in to collaboration and connection. At the same time, you evoke or call forth in us those qualities and that pull to service that draws us closer by law. There is an opening, an opportunity for co-creation and progress, an opportunity not only for your good or the common good but essentially, in evolutionary terms, for the whole of the race and for all of Mother Earth’s creation to advance.
The question of who to pray to is an interesting one. In one sense I would answer, “It does not really matter. It is the soul quality of the prayer that is important.” If, however, you have a special relationship with a spiritual guide, guru or saint, or even perhaps a deceased loved one you remain strongly bonded with and trust to guide you, then this quality of love and connection, your faith that you have this connection, can help focus your prayer more keenly, can give it legs, as as it were.
I would add one more consideration regarding who or what to pray to and that is the power of collective consciousness, the power in numbers. You may have heard of novenas in the Catholic tradition, where certain saints are prayed to over a period of time for certain causes. They have been singled out for help in that particular area and so have an ear for it. I myself have had much, much prayer laid at my feet by women and mothers these many centuries since Palestine. Then there are the countless souls who have chanted various mantras down the ages. That backdrop becomes massive so that each new one who utters the prayer, who chants the mantra, evokes the amassed power built prayer by prayer by all those who have done the same before. This is especially true about praying out loud.
So, there are many “proper” ways to pray. Some groups and individuals have very set prayers, very set customs and rituals of prayer. These too are much practiced and effective, provided as ever, that the heart quality is there.
I invite each and every one to pray in their own fashion. And I invite you, I ask you, to pray for the world. Pray for Mother Earth and help ease her transition by heightening your own vibration, purity and mental clarity while you are praying. Find the still, small place within where dwells your Divine Spark and pray all day through mindfulness, through being present as you go about your duties and activities.
Lastly, I invite you all to invite us into your lives so that we can provide the guidance you so ardently seek, so that we can come closer and inspire your noblest, surest actions in restoring this beautiful planet, in laying the foundations of Oneness and universal collaboration.”
My love, my peace, surround you,
Mary 🕊️
Purity of heart finds its mark in soulful prayer
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