Chapter 17

THE MECHANISM OF A PRAYER

A prayer can be compared to riding a bus, a car, a train, or a plane. You can ride in one even if you do not know the destination, or whether it will be a safe ride. You do not need to know how it works, how fast it is going, or when and where it will stop in order to take the ride — not even how much it will cost. Remember the story of Gandhi: when he was thrown off the train, he knew he had a first-class ticket and was dressed for the occasion, but nonetheless he was thrown off. Something similar can happen with a prayer: it may simply be thrown away, never heard and never answered. A prayer is a mechanism of communication, similar to a car, train, plane, or pair of skates — a mechanism for transporting oneself. It is a mechanism for accessing the higher realms of reality, the other densities/dimensions; and, like any transport system, it is very useful — and important — to understand its intricate workings in order for it to work in your best interest. What good is a bus if you do not know what a bus stop is? If you did not know, most of the time you would get off in the wrong place, and only occasionally get lucky and get off in the right one. A prayer is the same: you need to know how it works. Often people pray to God in general, saying things that make no sense even to themselves, yet somehow expecting that something out there called God will respond. Needless to say, these prayers, more often than not, are never answered; they were simply made in the wrong format, or asked for something that cannot be granted. Even worse, a prayer may be answered, but at a much later date than expected — such as in the next incarnation.

You have often heard the saying, “Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it.” And indeed, it often happens that people get exactly what they asked for, but are so asleep that they do not even notice — often because they got what they specifically asked for, which was not what they really wanted. But the real question is: do prayers really work? The very short answer is yes — if done in the correct format. But what is the correct format? A good place to search for the answer is, surprisingly, in the occult arts of Magic, Witchcraft, Paganism, and Wicca. These practices often use a form of prayer that goes by the name of ritual: an elaborate form of prayer that, when done properly, uses these tools of communication well, and often with excellent results. A properly done prayer is like a contract: you specify from whom and to whom, and the petitioner makes himself responsible for the outcome.

This method is also known as prayer, though it does not require kneeling or folding one’s hands. When requesting something, you can direct it toward all positive and higher aspects of your own consciousness, including your Higher Self, positive entities who are more evolved than you, and the universe itself. The point of requesting is to make use of the network you are part of, to allow higher aspects of yourself to do things that you yourself cannot do because of your limited evolution. They will help if they deem it a wise thing to do, if it does not hinder your spiritual evolution.

Unlike the process of manifesting, you are not sending your will and energy outward to twist the arm of anyone or anything. You are merely announcing your openness, making an earnest request for help from higher positive sources, who normally respect your freewill and therefore do not intervene unless you give them permission.

Help from higher forces is unlike influence from lower negative forces, who absolutely cannot interfere unless you give them permission, which unfortunately comes in more forms than mere verbal submission. Other forms of permission included your contract with physicality, personal displays of ignorance, and succumbing to subjective negative emotions.

As the saying goes, “God helps those who help themselves”, and “ask and ye shall receive”. Reality must be met halfway, and requests are only granted if one has first done everything one can do. In other words, do all you can do, and if you request, the rest will be taken care of. Like manifestation, requesting is merely an aid to living. Its best application is in helping you get protection from things you cannot personally protect yourself from.Montalk, https://www.montalk.net

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.Søren Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing