Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 1:01am
Pray always?! You kidding?
Column: Writing Down Your Soul
Paul started it.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 he admonished the followers of Jesus, "Pray always." How's that for impossible! Pray always? Surely he was joking, except levity is not exactly Paul's style. No, if he said it in a short declarative sentence, he meant it. So let's look at this. There are only two words. How hard can this be? Start with the first word: Pray. That means a conscious connection with Spirit. OK, got that. How about the next word: Always. In our world that's translated as 24/7.
Well, therein lies a small problem. You can't maintain a conscious communion with God during all your waking hours — never mind while you're asleep. I don't care who you are. And, I assume Paul allowed the early followers a bit of sleep every once in a while. So, how did they, how did he, how does anyone "pray always?"
Paul wasn't the only one to say things that made no sense. Jesus said a few whoppers too: If you tell a mountain to move, it will move. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. And my all-time "who's he kidding" favorite: These things shall you do and greater things shall you do. None of these make a lick of sense, so maybe "pray always" falls into the same category: nice idea but impossible. But before I shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh well, guess he didn't mean it," I'd like to try a little harder to figure it out.
My whole concept of prayer has been dramatically altered by what modern science has uncovered about the physics and biology of thought. Thought is the release or generation of energy, and prayer begins as thought. Hence, prayer is a form of energy. Now, energy is God's language. Has to be.
God is the source — the only source — of creation. And what does it take to create? Why energy, of course. Call it the big bang or call it six days of work. Call it evolution or call it intelligent design. Doesn't matter which picture you hold or which language you use, we can all agree that creation takes energy — and lots of it. And God is the source of all that energy.
So what happens when you think a prayer thought? Energy pulses in your brain. What happens when you think a non-prayer thought like, "I'm hungry," or "We're out of cat food," or "Rats, I forgot to take something out of the freezer for dinner." Energy pulses in your brain. So what's the difference, energy-wise, between a prayer thought and a non-prayer thought? At their bio-neuro-anatomic base, probably nothing. So, there you have it. You are praying all the time. You just didn't know it. Your brain is engaged all the time — even when you're sleeping or maybe especially when you're sleeping. That's when the "you can't think that!" police fade into the background and your most outrageous thoughts and fears race to the fore producing rich, symbolic dreams.
If thoughts are energy and dreams are energy and prayers are energy, how does your inner self know you're talking to God with one thought and yourself or someone else with another? My guess is it can't. Not really. One thought has as much impact or energetic weight as another. "I'm fat and life sucks," has as much (or more) weight as "Dear God, bless me today."
Pray always? You already do. When you realize this, a new question pops up: "Uh oh, if I am praying all the time, how do I shift the energy of my prayers to a level that confirms and attracts good and only good?" You see, it isn't the "always" part of the equation that's tough; it's the quality of the "pray" part that gives us pause.
Let's face it, if you walk around filled with fear, it's the same as if you kneel beside your bed and pray: "Lord, life is hard, life is awful, there isn't enough, I can't take it, and you can't fix it." Not many of us would say those words in conscious prayer to God, but if we're filled with fear, that is exactly what we're saying energetically. And the universe knows it, picks it up, and — here's the worst part — responds in kind.
So how do you shift your 24/7 prayer consciousness? The answer is you don't, not right away and not easily. But over time, when you catch yourself wallowing in fearful thoughts, stop yourself and substitute a thought of love. Remind yourself to breathe out the fear and breathe in trust in God's divine plan. Pull yourself away from the panic and visualize God's light protecting you and those you love.
Make it your new spiritual practice. Whenever you can, think of God's love and support. Visualize it, feel it, name it. One of the richest prayer practices I ever heard is incredibly simple: Whenever you think of it, say "God, God, God" in your mind. That's it. Repeating "God" over and over reminds your energetic self that you are connected to divine energy. It pulls you away from the problem and into Spirit. Which is a much nicer place to be. Repeat "God" a few dozen times a day, every day, for a couple of months and your energy will mellow into something gentle. My guess is that if you start a practice like this, you will never stop. And what a sweet thing that will be.
— — —
Janet Conner, S.E. (Spiritual Explorer), is an expert on the power of practical spirituality to heal your broken heart and transform your world. She is the cartographer of the map of spiritual healing and author of the seven travel guides in the Spiritual Geographyseries. In addition to divine dialogue, she welcomes human conversation at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Janet Conner
— — —
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum is a big tent for all expressions
of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any.
All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are
not necessarily shared by UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 he admonished the followers of Jesus, "Pray always." How's that for impossible! Pray always? Surely he was joking, except levity is not exactly Paul's style. No, if he said it in a short declarative sentence, he meant it. So let's look at this. There are only two words. How hard can this be? Start with the first word: Pray. That means a conscious connection with Spirit. OK, got that. How about the next word: Always. In our world that's translated as 24/7.
Well, therein lies a small problem. You can't maintain a conscious communion with God during all your waking hours — never mind while you're asleep. I don't care who you are. And, I assume Paul allowed the early followers a bit of sleep every once in a while. So, how did they, how did he, how does anyone "pray always?"
Paul wasn't the only one to say things that made no sense. Jesus said a few whoppers too: If you tell a mountain to move, it will move. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. And my all-time "who's he kidding" favorite: These things shall you do and greater things shall you do. None of these make a lick of sense, so maybe "pray always" falls into the same category: nice idea but impossible. But before I shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh well, guess he didn't mean it," I'd like to try a little harder to figure it out.
My whole concept of prayer has been dramatically altered by what modern science has uncovered about the physics and biology of thought. Thought is the release or generation of energy, and prayer begins as thought. Hence, prayer is a form of energy. Now, energy is God's language. Has to be.
God is the source — the only source — of creation. And what does it take to create? Why energy, of course. Call it the big bang or call it six days of work. Call it evolution or call it intelligent design. Doesn't matter which picture you hold or which language you use, we can all agree that creation takes energy — and lots of it. And God is the source of all that energy.
So what happens when you think a prayer thought? Energy pulses in your brain. What happens when you think a non-prayer thought like, "I'm hungry," or "We're out of cat food," or "Rats, I forgot to take something out of the freezer for dinner." Energy pulses in your brain. So what's the difference, energy-wise, between a prayer thought and a non-prayer thought? At their bio-neuro-anatomic base, probably nothing. So, there you have it. You are praying all the time. You just didn't know it. Your brain is engaged all the time — even when you're sleeping or maybe especially when you're sleeping. That's when the "you can't think that!" police fade into the background and your most outrageous thoughts and fears race to the fore producing rich, symbolic dreams.
If thoughts are energy and dreams are energy and prayers are energy, how does your inner self know you're talking to God with one thought and yourself or someone else with another? My guess is it can't. Not really. One thought has as much impact or energetic weight as another. "I'm fat and life sucks," has as much (or more) weight as "Dear God, bless me today."
Pray always? You already do. When you realize this, a new question pops up: "Uh oh, if I am praying all the time, how do I shift the energy of my prayers to a level that confirms and attracts good and only good?" You see, it isn't the "always" part of the equation that's tough; it's the quality of the "pray" part that gives us pause.
Let's face it, if you walk around filled with fear, it's the same as if you kneel beside your bed and pray: "Lord, life is hard, life is awful, there isn't enough, I can't take it, and you can't fix it." Not many of us would say those words in conscious prayer to God, but if we're filled with fear, that is exactly what we're saying energetically. And the universe knows it, picks it up, and — here's the worst part — responds in kind.
So how do you shift your 24/7 prayer consciousness? The answer is you don't, not right away and not easily. But over time, when you catch yourself wallowing in fearful thoughts, stop yourself and substitute a thought of love. Remind yourself to breathe out the fear and breathe in trust in God's divine plan. Pull yourself away from the panic and visualize God's light protecting you and those you love.
Make it your new spiritual practice. Whenever you can, think of God's love and support. Visualize it, feel it, name it. One of the richest prayer practices I ever heard is incredibly simple: Whenever you think of it, say "God, God, God" in your mind. That's it. Repeating "God" over and over reminds your energetic self that you are connected to divine energy. It pulls you away from the problem and into Spirit. Which is a much nicer place to be. Repeat "God" a few dozen times a day, every day, for a couple of months and your energy will mellow into something gentle. My guess is that if you start a practice like this, you will never stop. And what a sweet thing that will be.
— — —
Janet Conner, S.E. (Spiritual Explorer), is an expert on the power of practical spirituality to heal your broken heart and transform your world. She is the cartographer of the map of spiritual healing and author of the seven travel guides in the Spiritual Geographyseries. In addition to divine dialogue, she welcomes human conversation at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Janet Conner
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum is a big tent for all expressions
of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any.
All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are
not necessarily shared by UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum.