Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

A Goddess in L.A.

Home
New Visions
How I Pray

How I Pray

Last updated on: October 18, 2012 at 5:09 pm by Cynthia Occelli

How I Pray 2012-10-18T17:09:02-07:00 Cynthia Occelli

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Begin at the end

First, I will pray with anyone from any religion. To me there is no hierarchy of righteousness in prayer. Today, I want to share how I came to the way I pray when I’m alone and why it resonates with me.

The following excerpt from Resurrecting Venus highlights the mindset I grew up with and the basis for its collapse:

“The ubiquitous belief that we are separate from our Creator——and He, being a temperamental patriarch, blesses or curses us with the conditions in our lives,—lowers our consciousness and attracts chaos. Backward beliefs like these stem from fear-based interpretations of Divine wisdom. Many still think that God will take care of them when they behave and think as required by His jealous, scorekeeping, nature. If this is true, then it must also be true that the millions of suffering children around the world have done some horrible things to warrant the lives they are forced to endure. Few of us consciously agree with this, yet so many still pray for the Infinite to stop doing certain things and start doing others. Our Creator is doing what It has always done: being a force of infinite, unconditional, all-encompassing love and beauty. God is changeless, and not one of His beloved creations will be lost.”–from Embracing a Friendly Universe, Resurrecting Venus

Once it became clear to me that a God of Love would never seek pain or punishment, I was able to let go of the belief that God was doing things to me and accept that life, in all its ups and downs, was happening for my soul’s growth. I was able to look at every terrible event and see that the ultimate result was an increase in compassion, an understanding of love, and a burning away of everything superfluous. For me, this is the end game, the ultimate definition of successful living.

From here, I learned to pray by beginning at the end–making compassion, love, and authenticity the starting point instead of the destination. This form of affirmative prayer, turns away from the appearance of problems and embraces the highest good instead.

From an energetic and emotional perspective, what we focus on expands. If I see one in distress and I pray that the distress go away, I am giving my energy, attention, and my focus to the distress. This feeds it and magnifies discomfort and fear within me. Where there is fear there is not faith.

When I pray, I first turn my attention to the divine spark within me. I eliminate any sense of separation from the Divine by reminding myself of who breathed life into me. I affirm this connection. I call on the energy of love. I ask that it fill the space inside and around me. I meditate on this until I feel it to be true. I know I’m there when I feel peaceful and safe.

I then turn my attention to the person or subject I’m praying for. If one appears ill, I see them as whole and ask that only what is for their highest good manifest. I see them living in accordance with the Divine design–something that can only be for good. I surrender my will and all doubt and mental questions as to what form one’s highest good might take. I surround the subject of the prayer with love and grace. All things exist in thought before form. I do my part to create a energetic basis –a seedling of possibility– for their complete healing.

When I encounter seemingly insurmountable problems (including legal or business related issues), I release my thoughts about what is likely or logical and saturate the people and issues in forgiveness and love. I affirm that all is well and everything is working together for the good of all concerned. I eliminate the necessity of a winner and a loser and “see” an outcome rife with peace. I have witnessed more than a dozen expensive and contentious conflicts resolve in ways that the professionals around me simply could not fathom.

I pray this way for all things including abundance, love, healing, career success and dream manifestation for myself and others. Where there seems to be no possible positive outcome I remind myself of my human limitations and hold the space for solutions that I cannot envision. I surrender to love and affirm that there is a solution, even if I don’t know what it is; I create space for it.

It’s important to distinguish this approach to prayer from the “law of attraction”–as taught by many popular teachings. Again, I cite my book for clarity:

A few years ago, the movie The Secret swept the world with its promise of material gain through single-pointed mental and emotional determination. It was described as a manifestation process that went something like this: (1) name it; (2) unwaveringly claim it; and (3) watch it appear (with “It” being the object of your desire). I can’t count the number of people I know who sat on their couches claiming cars, homes, and fame. They are more broke now than they were before. They lost precious time and endured much sadness when their wish list didn’t manifest. When asked what they believe went wrong, they blame themselves for not being “faithful” or “focused” enough. It’s tragic. Material items do not have a specific vibrational frequency. Money is a neutral energy. You can spend it on poison or paradise. You must align your consciousness with the wellspring of the abundance you seek, not more “stuff.”– from Embracing a Friendly Universe, Resurrecting Venus

An added benefit of praying from the outcome is it enriches my moment to moment well-being. I’ve become keenly aware of the moments when I feel as though I’ve disconnected from my Source. I’ve learned that I can always choose to return to Love and let It have Its way.

the law of attraction

Previous Post

October 4, 2012

Why I'm Spiritual and Not Religious

Next Post

October 26, 2012 Becoming a Co Creator

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Change Dreams Faith Forgiveness Health & Wellness Inner Peace Inner Transformation Letting Go Love Manifesting Meditation Prayer Spirituality Sweet Dreams Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 November 2012 October 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who wrote many letters (epistles) in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul Peter John Jude