Affirmative Prayer
Updated: Apr 23
"Metaphysical Messages"
The last two Sundays I have talked about meditation. Today I will talk about prayer, another important part of communicating with God.
When you pray, you are essentially talking to God and the Universe. Prayer is a very intimate and personal experience with God.
There are some clues given in Bible scripture about prayer, how to pray as well as from Jesus and some of the great Master Teachers like Buddha and Krishna.
Let's look at a few.
From the Bible:
“Everything is possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matt 21:22
Also a word of caution:
"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:3
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Phil 4:6
"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." Matt 6:5
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." Matt 6:5
"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." James 1: 6-7
According to the StudyBuddhism website:
"Buddhist prayer activities, such as the recitation of sutras, the repetition of mantras, as well as visualization of deities, are all about connecting with our own inner capacity to develop constructive emotions such as compassion, enthusiasm, patience, and so on, and to engage in constructive actions of helping others."
From Bhagwad Gita Blog:
"Lord Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."
Below is a beautiful quote about the Prayer:
God looks not at the oratory of your prayers, how elegant they may be; nor at the geometry of your prayers, how long they may be; nor at the arithmetic of your prayers, how many they may; not at logic of your prayers, how methodical they may be; but the sincerity of them He looks at. -T. Brooks"
And on the Krishna website:
Krishna said "All of them – As they surrender unto Me – I reward accordingly."
So what does this all mean Metaphysically?
When praying, check your motives, don't repeat your prayers as if begging God for a favor, do not doubt, don't be anxious and worry, and don't pray to draw attention to yourself for the admiration of how pious you appear to others.
Prayer should be affirmative, sincere, with an open heart and mind, knowing anything is possible with God. Believe that God will answer your prayer and know that God heard you. When praying thank God as if your prayer has already been answered. Feel the gratitude in your heart of receiving the answer already.
Also prayer should be followed with action, patience, service and empathy by helping others.
Prayer is powerful when there is faith and followed by action!
May you have good karma, be blessed and grow in faith, peace and love.
God bless you, have a great week and Namaste.
Rev. S. Castle
