By John Ashbrook
There is nothing so magnificent and powerful as a simple, sincere prayer that confirms one’s total faith in and complete surrender to the Divine benevolence of something much greater and more profound than one’s own limited view and understanding of the grand scope of life’s intricate plan for the salvation and freedom of all souls.
Throughout the universe, God’s grace, assistance, and light exist for anyone who would simply ask for them. The proper way to request this Divine assistance is through prayer. Prayer is an essential tool in the development of one’s spiritual life. The power of consistent, proper prayer dissolves the separating walls of fear and erroneous beliefs that stand between the lower self and God’s purifying grace.
There are three primary spiritual aspects of effective prayer – consistency, focus, and letting go. When all three of these primary elements are present in a sincere effort to not only gain Divine assistance in forming a better life but also as part of an individual’s personal development work, then prayer will yield amazing results, totally fulfilling and worthy of celebration. It is of utmost importance to develop a discipline of consistent prayer.
Making prayer a daily routine may not be easy at first for several reasons. There may be resistance in the psyche to asking for help from an unseen source, or a non-believing, non-trusting attitude, or there may simply be resistance to a new discipline of any kind. A patient but firm attitude must be cultivated in order to overcome this resistance. If you miss your daily prayer for any reason, do not get down on yourself; simply make a relaxed but concerted effort to resume your prayer exercise the next day.
Do not look for immediate results; have faith and patience, and continue to develop your personal prayers as a daily routine. Some may do better if they pray at a certain time each day. Others will do better if they pray at a certain time each day. Others will do better if they pray at a time each day when they feel the most relaxed and at ease with themselves. Eventually, with a sincere desire to make prayer a consistent part of your life, a routine will be established that you will feel comfortable with.
When you have made prayer a consistent practice in your life, it is time to begin learning to focus or concentrate your thoughts as you pray. Without the ability to concentrate, it is extremely difficult to achieve anything in life. There are many systems in existence for the development of concentration, but quite frankly, none is better than the exercise of praying itself. You learn to concentrate when you pray as you form your thoughts and then state them in your request for Divine assistance. For instance, you pray for a loved one first by the mental aspect of just thinking about them, and then into this mental thought form, you introduce your feelings and the true depth of your soul’s wish for them. As you practice this, you will discover that there are many layers or levels of spiritual focus. You will realize the mental aspect of just thinking about who or what you pray for is not so difficult, but the process of unifying and focusing your deepest feelings requires real time and effort to accomplish. Of course, as you learn to pray, your thoughts will wander at times, and you will have some difficulty focusing your attention; this is normal. Be patient, and do not become disheartened. You will overcome these difficulties in time. If you find your attention swaying, just simply start over, trying not to be upset with yourself; relax and remember that you are training yourself to concentrate.
Now, once you have established a consistent routine of daily prayer and you are continuing to develop your powers of focus and concentration, it is time to tackle the most challenging aspect of effective prayer – letting go. The results that you pray for can never be forced. Instead, they must come from a natural organic process of Divine balance, universal law, truth, sincere intentions, and relaxed actions. As you pray for the unity of all souls, peace, joy, and prosperity for your loved ones, yourself, and yes, even your enemies, the concentration of your benevolent thoughts forms sort of an energy capsule. This energy capsule contains every detail of the deepest wishes expressed in your prayers. This capsule must be received in the spirit world in order for your prayers to be answered. You must have the faith to let go of all the expressed desires contained in your prayers so that this capsule of spiritual energy is free to leave your energy field and travel to its Divine destination, where it is accounted for and made part of an intricate universal plan beyond our limited comprehension.
After you pray:
- Simply let go and surrender control to a greater power.
- Go about carrying out your daily responsibilities.
- Do your part to honor your prayers.
This is best accomplished by making an honest effort not to indulge your own shortcomings and the fears that provoke them. In this way, you begin to dissolve negative energy layers that can block the positive healing influences that you have called for in your prayers. As this process of consistent, focused prayer and letting go progresses, its purifying nature brings you to the full conscious realization that you are truly part of and one with all that is and, as such, can either further or hinder the advancement of Divine truth and the peace and love that must follow it. This understanding will foster a sense of personal responsibility to further your own spiritual development and actively participate in God’s plan of salvation for all souls.
