I have always been drawn to the idea of prayer, but never quite felt comfortable with the way I was "taught" it as a child. I truly believe that you don't need to have a religion to be able to pray, although it helps to have a faith or belief in the existence of a "higher power". If, however, you are not drawn to prayer, please don't feel you have to do this activity...simply move onto the next one.
I recently did an online course on the practice of Prayer with an inspiring woman called Angela Montano, which profoundly helped in my practice of prayer & prayerfulness. Angela calls this "higher power" Eternal Loving Presence, which I think is perfect! And she says that if you are to practice prayer you need to start with the humility to recognise that you need help....which is just what you've been doing this week! What is lovely is that HELP is an acronym for "Hello, Eternal Loving Presence". So in this very simple meditation we will be opening ourselves to this Eternal Loving Presence, finding a way to say Hello, and to articulate our needs clearly - and with complete faith that we deserve to be heard and helped; that we are worthy of receiving what we need.
We will be focusing on 3 prayers: Prayers for self , prayers for others, and prayers for the world/the planet. The prayers for self are those things that you recognised in the last activity as needs you have that you cannot ask others for help with right now, or that need the help of a higher power. I have included prayers for others and prayers for the planet because that is the pattern I use for prayer; and it feels right to connect to those people and places and things that you hold dear and care deeply about at this time more than ever.
If you are familiar with the practice of prayer you can just go ahead and start the meditation now. If you would like more guidance, or would like to wrtie down some prayers to say during the meditation, I've added a few more instructions below:
Before you do the meditation, look through the list you created on the last activity, and draw from it a list of prayers for yourself....for example:
I ask/I pray/please grant that I am shown a clear way forward with my work (make this as authentic to your own way of speaking as you can)
I ask/I pray/please grant that I find the strength and courage to face................
It is important that you not only believe that you are worthy of receiving what you are asking for, but also that you can SEE yourself receiving it. With this in mind, some people choose to pray as if they have already received what they are asking for, so their prayer becomes a gratitude. For example....
I see myself with a healthy bank balance, and work that makes me happy, and I am so grateful for that.
The examples I have given are fairly generalised; ideally, though, be as specific as you possibly can with what you pray for, for example
Eternal loving Spirit, I ask that I find a friend who is available to walk and talk with me once a week...or even more specifically, every Wednesday.
I invite you also to pray for others. At this time there are many many people who are in even more need than we are, so make time to pray for them too. Do bear in mind that you should not wish something for someone that they would not wish for themselves! It can be easier to send your blessings rather than your prayers if you are not sure what someone needs but you still want to pray for them. If it helps to, you can write down a list of who you want to send blessings to, or specific prayers for others, before you do the meditation.
And finally, you could write down what you wish for and hope for for the planet; the other living creatures, plants, water, air, earth.
The more you practice prayer, the more spontaneously and eloquently you will be able to speak prayers and blessings. And by speaking, I don't mean that you have to say them out loud, although it can feel very powerful to do so....it's fine to "say" them in your head if you feel more comfortable doing that. It's also fine to repeat the same prayers daily....just remember to look out for them being answered and give thanks when they are!!!
If, like me, you were brought up to think that prayer was something you did in church, or had to kneel beside your bed to do, and didn't find that was a habit that worked for you, know that a prayer can be said absolutely anywhere and at any time!! Find what works for you. I find that my prayers bubble up most spontaneously and authentically when I am alone, out in nature; you may find that group prayer works better for you....go with whatever you feel most comfortable with.
Blessings to you on your journey; may it be a deeply fulfilling and nourishing one.