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October-December, 2015

The One About Prayer

by Rev. Stephan Mead, O.M.C.

Has anyone in any spiritual path been advised not to pray? Prayer seems to be one of the first solutions offered to every articulated problem, real or imagined. In A Course in Miracles we are reminded of this about prayer: “The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is indeed true.” (T-9.II.3.1)

Believing the course was written to help us wake up to Reality, this business of prayer might be pretty important, especially to those of us with problems. Also in Text, Chapter 9, “Everyone who has ever tried to use prayer to ask for something has experienced what appears to be failure.” (T-9.II.I.1) Everyone! That includes me too. If my mind wasn’t already split, trying to make sense of these two passages would have done it! I am to rely on the truth that, “all prayer is answered,” AND my experience shows me that what I “pray” for, I pretty much fail to get? Haven’t I just increased my problems?

I thought a lot about this the past few days, and finally asked the Holy Spirit for some help. (Was that a prayer?)  Anyway, help came quickly. The question, “What if what I call a prayer, isn’t prayer at all?” I (literally) sat back, quieted my mind and pondered the question, “How do I pray?” I discovered that first, I declare that I am separate and different from God. There is a “me,” the one who has problems and is praying; then there is “God,” the guy with the power to grant or deny my prayer. And, hopefully “He,” this entity separate from me, is in the prayer granting mood.

What happened to all the “oneness” I say I believe in?  How can there be a “He” and “me” if we are all one? These thoughts were very calming; it started to make sense that perhaps the real problem I was having about prayer wasn’t God’s fault — or my fault for being so bad that I didn’t deserve what I prayed for. Maybe in the area of prayer, like every other area of my life, a “change in perspective” was in order. Perhaps there was something to learn from my deeply held belief in the “there’s me” and the “there’s God” idea. I was going to run all this new insight by the Holy Spirit, but I just realized I also believe there is “me” and there is the “Holy Spirit” and He’s also an entity separate and apart from me.

If I wanted to attempt humor, I could say that this whole subject of prayer being used to solve problems has only increased them for me, but I don’t feel that way. The experience feels more like an invitation to be guided to a different understanding of prayer. To think of Holy Spirit and God and oneness in a new way takes great effort from me, but curiously the effort is paying off in a more calm and peaceful state of mind. I pray that will continue!

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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