The Art of Prayer Between East and West in the 21st Century.

People are naturally inclined towards spiritual seeking and sense the connection between physical reality and a spiritual realm, which although not visible with the naked eye, can be experienced through intuition and a sixth sense.

The integration of Eastern and Western wisdom's and the recognition of universal laws has become sort after in the 21st century in bringing about universal peace and inner wisdom.

What makes prayer effective? Some time ago, whilst in a stressful life situation, a missionary prayed for me. Within two weeks my problem was resolved. I wondered what makes prayer effective.

i share my insights in prayer, meditation, affirmations, mantras and light visualizations and what makes them effective.

Who/What is God?

God means different things to different people. Language is often a barrier to our mutual understanding as beliefs are based on conditioning and upbringing - so understanding something as universal as the concept of God can be best shared when we are able to capture the essence of it through an energetic vibration rather than language which has a tendency towards subjective interpretation and personal bias.

God is an expression of pure Love. Love is also an Energy. Therefore God is an energetic expression of pure love. The purest Love that you can think about something or someone is the closest we can get to understanding God.

Is this love different from the love in our hearts? It is not different but as humans we express degrees of love whereas God represents pure, perfect love. When you express the love within you - Be it in the form of relationship, work, hobbies, or any aspect of your life - you are expressing your natural nature which is God's energy.

Why We Need to Ask For Help and Guidance.

when you are aligned to your true nature and act in accordance with universal law, everything you desire becomes available to you but we need to ask for what we desire because as humans we have free will. According to universal law spirit guides cannot intervene unless we ask for their help. Asking and having faith that what we ask for will be fulfilled is a conscious act of making a decision between what serves us best and testing our faith that we are prepared to have our decisions overridden if it is not in the best interes of the universe.

Hence the words in the Lords prayer 'Thy will be done'. Like anything else it takes a bit of practice to know what is in our best interest. Ever heard of the saying 'Know thyself'? It is only when you truly know yourself and follow your inner intuitions that you will know what is truly in your best interest.

What is Prayer?

Prayer is a way of channelling and transmitting energy. It can bring healing, peace, inspiration and manifest desires if in the interest of the universe. I say if in the interest of the universe because many times people ask for things and situations that don’t materialize and then become despondent with prayer. Prayer is something that is available to all regardless of creed and not just for people that belong to a church.

Everything in the universe is created through energy. It is the universal life force. The Chinese called this qi (or ch’i) in Japan ki. and The Greeks refer to it as pneuma. When we pray we harness energy through our thoughts.

Real prayer is is an expression of love and not a selfish act of endless requests. Love is the medium or vehicle in which the energy travels to its destination. Regardless of what you call the Divine Source, the love in your heart is infinitely more important than the creed in your mind. Prayer is not for the chosen few; it is for everyone.

How well a prayer works depends on:

• How much energy we invoke and send out.
• How well this energy is conditioned by love.
• The situation or person you are praying for.

The keys to successful prayer are:

Concentration

When we concentrate on our prayer, we are better able to harness the energies of our thoughts, feelings and words thus giving our prayer spiritual force.

Prior Meditation

Before praying it is good idea to meditate because meditation connects us to our inner being, revealing our true selves and soul and therefore improves our ability to concentrate and focus our energies during prayer.

Through meditation we reveal our true identity to Source energy.

Will Power

Will Power is an essential element of prayer. Continuous calm, powerful use of will, shakes the forces of creation and brings a response from the infinite. Even although there may be nothing to conform to your wish, when you persist the desired result will somehow manifest.

A balance should be struck between passive expectation and being totally ego driven.

Devotion.

Prayer imbued with devotion and love – Love in our hearts for God or source energy which responds more to a heart filled with love than a long-winded prayer.

When we pray we should include the following elements in our prayer to make it more effective.

Expressing your Love for God.

Example: 'Our Father who Art in Heaven hollowed be they name'. This shows that we are ready to focus on God and what he can show us and learn from him.

Confession – Asking God to Cleanse Us from Sin - Forgive us our sins’

When you have done something wrong confess it and ask for forgiveness. Be specific - Example “Forgive me for being selfish when I wouldn't share my knowledge with Sammy on how to improve her website’.

When you feel that you have wronged someone or someone has wronged you, you should confront that person and try to resolve the issue, then forgive them or ask for forgiveness.

God is willing to wipe the slate clean when we forgive others for their transgressions against us.

Thanksgiving – Believing and acknowledging Gods Grace.

Thank the Divine presence for something that has been done for you. Be specific as possible. Not just, “Thank you for answering my prayers,” but “Thank you for giving me the job".

Supplication. - Our Specific Prayer Requests.

Request for Others.

Prayer is an energetic transfer from the transmitter to the receiver and has spiritual force when it is done through Love.

Ask God something. Again, make it specific. Example Ask Divine presence to someone you know who is sick or needs financial assistance.

Request for You

This one should always come last, because the other prayers help get our hearts in line with Divine presence. Then you’re in a better place to make your own requests.

We should not treat requests like a shopping list for Santa Claus. No “God, please give me a new computer.” Ask for something that is in the interest of the universe and that aligns to your life purpose. For example getting along with a co-worker or sibling or asking for guidance about a problem that you need to solve.

Last Word on Prayer.

We are all part of the Universal energy system. Prayer is a powerful way to harness spiritual energy through our thoughts. When we learn how to pray with heartfelt intent and focus, we strengthen our spiritual connection and can use prayer to manifest desired change in the interest of the universe.

Meditation is the sense of calming the mind and connecting with our inner being, there are many benefits associated with meditation which includes increased concentration, decreased anxiety and a general feeling of happiness.

It is not difficult to learn how to meditate – It merely requires the ability to keep still and void the mind of any thoughts whist focussing on a mantra or breathe. If a thought comes into the mind, let it go and refocus on your breathe or mantra once again.

If you are a beginner, start with small steps. Perhaps only five minutes. You can gradually increase as you become more proficient. More experienced practitioners recommend twenty minutes twice daily but you decide what suits you best.

• Meditating in the early morning and before bedtime is recommended.
• Meditating before Prayer helps to harness the spiritual energies within and will help make prayer more effective.
• Meditate at the same time every day.
• If you are a beginner start slow then gradually increase with time and proficiency.
• It is a good idea to meditate before we pray as this will allow us to better focus on our prayer and harness the spiritual energy required to make prayer more meaningful and fulfilling.

Here is a good post from Wikihow on how to meditate if you are a beginner.

Meditation has become a popular practice in the West as more people realize all its known benefits. Like anything else it takes practice to become efficient at it. Meditation can be used as a daily practice on its own or prior to prayer.

What is White Light Visualization?

White light is the space within the universe where positive energies are stored and is available for anyone to use through visualization. Visualization goes hand in hand with imagination. Thoughts are things. Every time we think a thought it has an effect on things.

Visualization is key to many spiritual practices – and essential in spiritual development.

White light can be used to protect and cleanse our energy centres. We can also use white light visualization to cleanse any dirty energy we sense in others and to positively impact, heal and lift people.

A good time to visualize white light is before you start your meditations.

A mantra is a way of spiritualizing ourselves and the environment.

A mantra is the chanting of a sound which is believed to resonate with an energetic frequency that is sacred and when chanted repeatedly has transformative abilities and spiritual healing.

For instance, the Hindu mantra OM is the sound of the universe and represents past, present and future. It is a well-known mantra and can be used during meditation – it is however not necessary to know the meaning of a mantra in order for it to work for you, because the sound itself has spiritual power. There are different mantras that bring about different outcomes from joy, good health, peace, inspiration or compassion

An example of an affirmation: 'Every day in every way I am getting better and better'.

• Affirmations must be repeated daily and can be said as part of your daily prayer routine to ensure consistency.
• An affirmation is a statement that must be in the present tense, positive and personal.
• After you make your statement you must expect and believe it will happen. This is in accordance with the law of focus or attraction which states that energy goes where attention flows.
• Repeat it often and act immediately when an instruction comes to mind.
• Relax and Let Go. After repeating, visualizing that you have your desired outcome then you should relax and let go. Don’t try to make things happen too fast or too slow. Concentrate on what you want. When we are ready – things will happen as it is meant to be.
• Resistance and inflexibility are two roadblocks to bringing about positive change.

Prayer when applied with focus and love and done with the insights as provided in this post, establishes a closer connection to our inner being and spirit which allows us to harness our spiritual energies to manifest our desires in accordance with Divine will. Co-incidences, synchronicity, miracles are said to lie behind intentional prayer.

Keywords To Remember When Praying: Love, Intention, Energy, Faith.