What about prayer?

For a long time, when someone has come to me to tell me about a bad situation in their life, I have not known what to say if they ask-- will you pray for me? My problem is not that I don't want to help, but...

The same thing is true in my personal life when I am in a situation where I feel powerless and want someone, as in someone from the 'other' side, to come in and fix it. I come again to that but...

The 'but' is I am uncertain what I think about prayer at this point in my life. I know what I have been told.

In the Bible, Jesus said tell your father what you need. This sounds like it would be a simple statement, no bargains, no frills, and also he added not done in public for the world to hear. Obviously God already knows what we need; so prayer is why exactly? Does prayer have a purpose beyond getting something we think we want? When did it switch from an in-the-closet event, such as Jesus described, to out-in-public and done in a different tone of voice with often thees and thous to add to the piety?

With all the books on how to pray correctly, some seem to regard prayer as learning how to rub a bottle with a jinni inside. If we rub it right, voila all that we want is there for us. I have been in churches and heard people espouse the belief we should pray to God for everything from cars to jobs to healings. I know the stories of miracles that came from prayer, but also of the ones who prayed and the answer came back-- no. That's what many say happened when someone prayed and didn't get the answer for which they hoped. We want to believe God answered, whether it worked out or not, because nobody likes thinking they are without power in a world that is so scary.

Is there anyone who would not want to pray a solution into being for the mess in the Middle East-- if it could even be agreed what that solution would look like? Is there anyone who follows the news at all and doesn't feel pity for the ordinary Lebanese and Israeli citizens caught in a war they didn't do anything to cause?

There are so many frightening things in the world-- nothing new in that. Today, it'd be war, terrorism, global warming, concentrated power, extreme poverty, disease, weather, and even moral questions. Whenever things come up that are bigger than most of us can see solutions to, people suggest prayer as the answer. Or better yet, everybody pray at the same time. Do I believe that works? I have to be honest. No. I am not a believer that we can alter someone else's actions through prayer. I don't think Pat Robertson altered the path of a hurricane to hit someone other than him. I don't think you win a football game because you prayed. It's not that I think God couldn't. It's that I don't think it's how it works, but am no longer sure of what actually is right.

On a personal level, I could use some prayer right now to change myself, but I am not sure I am any more capable of doing that than changing the world. Recently, I've been experiencing a lot of depression, sadness, feelings of worthlessness. (It's summertime! What the heck is depression doing ruining my summer? This is my favorite season and yet that hasn't stopped my tears.) This would be the perfect time for prayer for myself, but don't we have to go through some negative things to get to what we want in life? Is suffering always wrong when possibly it's an indicator we need to change something that isn't working?

(You can tell I'm a Libra, if you know astrology, because no matter what a situation is, I can always see both sides of it. Being born Libra could be considered a curse!)

Anyway, I personally have for years had a hard time praying other than-- Please help or Thank you. Once in awhile I will light a candle that is specific or request something because a friend needs to know that there are others praying for them, but it's rare and I am always uncomfortable doing it as I wonder was that a good idea?

I have made sculptures and paintings showing men or women supplicating God or the spirit world-- hands raised to heaven or bowing low; but if God is inside us, is any of that the right way to reach out when maybe it's reaching in that we need.

So I asked my friend, who wrote the earlier posts-- With your view of life, who would you pray to and how would you do it? Here is his answer:

"Well, we are taught a lot of things and some are pretty close to the mark and most aren’t. However, to answer your question, personally, I would not pray to anyone. I would create a “heartfelt command” of what I wanted to occur and then leave it up to the Universe to create a place for it on its agenda.

"In truth, the way we’re taught to “pray” is more akin to begging and that simply isn’t necessary. That kind of thinking is akin to having a “fear of God” and that is incredibly impossible when you really look at it. You will indeed get all the help you want if you ask for it correctly. You can’t beg for anything, you have to command it from your heart or core being.

"When I do it, I get really quiet (making sure things around me are really quiet too). Next, after my body is finally settled and completely relaxed, I wait until my mind clears itself. After that, I center myself around the command that I want to create or pose. Next I move the energy in my heart around the command and request that the Universe make it happen on its “time table”.

"Then I totally let it go, get up and go do something entirely different and hopefully not think about it again. The thing you requested may not happen in the way you wanted, but it will happen in a way that best suits you, those involved, and the Universe.

"You’ll notice, that no form of incense burning, humming, grunting, feather waving, chanting, etc. is involved. That is just fascia."

Shucks... fascia always makes me feel good at least..