Why do we pray? For
some, it is a habit learned in childhood.
For others of us, it might be a way to
demonstrate faith on a daily basis. Still
others rarely pray except when they are in deep
trouble. (Chances are, you are familiar with the
divine bargain, "Get me out of this trap, and I
promise I'll pray every day, be a good person,
whatever. Just help me!") Yet in the past
year, I have been strongly moved to practice
daily prayer and meditation as a tool to clarify
my intentions. I have been strongly
moved to suggest that clients do the same.
There is so much chaos in today's world that
prayer and meditation can provide an anchor in
this sea of confusion. And daily practice is not
only a way to let our desires be known in a
concrete way, but a means of deeply experiencing
and feeling our connection to Great Spirit.
To define intention, I
would have to include not only our desires, but
our thoughts, words and deeds. For all of
us operate through our intentions, whether we
know it or not. Focusing our intentions on
a daily basis may involve prayer, meditation, or
both. The differentiation that is often
made is that prayer is considered asking
and meditation, receiving guidance from
Source, from the Divine.
Each morning after I have
performed basic chores (including taking a
shower which clears my head from the night
before), I sit down, in view of Nature, and
breathe deeply. In drawing in breath, I
intention drawing in the presence of both Heaven
and Earth, of the Divine Feminine as well as the
Divine Masculine. Looking out my window at
the trees and the sky, I can't help but feel
gratitude for living amongst such beauty.
As I feel this gratitude, I experience my heart
opening and my racing mind relaxing. The
thoughts that begin to surface come slowly, and
I don't deny them: thoughts of people in less
fortunate circumstances, family members who have
lost their way or are facing difficult
challenges, then finally, and not necessarily
sequentially, my own concerns and fears.
After joining Great Spirit in blessing each
person I "see," I sit somewhat as an observer,
not judging but simply allowing myself to feel a
certain "charge" or "pull" from each subsequent
image or feeling. (Remember I have a gift of
intuitive vision, so I personally see images.
Not everyone does, and there is no "right" or
"wrong" way to pray, meditate, or experience
perceptions.) Some images or feelings are
almost like fantasies, fleeting and void of
substance, in the way that they do not feel real
for me, personally. I ask the Divine,
then, for Its blessing. I open my heart in all
sincerity to receive clarification if needed, or
to release these wayward energies which some
might term "psychic debris." Feelings or
images that are heavier or more substantial
remain with me longer, and I close my eyes and
breathe in a grounding color, such as earth-red,
through the top of my head and down through my
body, into the earth (think of house electricity
moving into a grounding rod planted in the
earth). Grounding settles the jangling
energy of fear. Now I can more clearly
differentiate between a fear-driven feeling and
a clear-hearted one. Now I can more
clearly express my intention for a
particular concern, which I silently express to
the Divine. This is the "asking." When one
image no longer registers or when the intensity
of a feeling begins to subside, the next image
or feeling emerges. All the time, I am
experiencing a pulsing throughout my body, a
feeling I have come to know as the presence of
the Divine. (Again, perceptions will differ,
from person to person.) As I continue processing
feelings and images, this pulsing becomes
stronger, and I feel fuller and lighter at the
same time. This lightness increases as I
clear out the denser, fear-based vibrations.
(Repetition increases the speed at which this
can be accomplished.) Then I finish my sitting
time by asking that I be the best person I am
able, and that I may more clearly see any
control dramas I am engaging in. For me,
the process of becoming clearer and allowing
more space for the Divine to reside in me is
very much about surrendering personal control or
egocentric will. I then scan my personal
horizon for anything I have missed and slowly
open my eyes, turning to view Nature through my
window, once again. Sometimes I think it helps
to go outside for a short walk, to "get my feet
back on the ground," but if this is too
time-consuming, I simply visualize myself with
feet planted firmly on the earth.
This is the most powerful
form of prayer I can imagine, and one which
takes me, on average, about fifteen minutes each
morning! And while it seems difficult to
allocate yet another block of time for anything
in our busy lives, such daily practice can bring
us into harmony with Source, providing more ease
and less frazzle throughout the day.
Making time for intentional practice may even
leave us feeling less tired and more energized,
almost like we have recaptured more hours in the
day.
Try it for a week, and see
for yourself!
