By Rev. LeRoy E. Zemke
Pastor, Temple of the Living God

Very few people in this world can reason normally. There is terrible tendency to accept all that is said, all that is read, and to accept it without question. Only he who is ready to question, to think for himself will fi nd the truth. To understand the currents of a river, he who wishes to know the truth must enter the water.
--- Nisargadatha

He who prays searches not only his own heart, but plunges deep into the heart of the whole world.
--- Thomas Merton

Prayer : L. (precarius) obtained by entreaty. That aspect of our inner life which is available to us through entreaty, or request. Its also suggests opening to an internal state wherein we implore God, Deity, or Life for some specific purpose, as well as to express a sense of gratitude.

Every major culture and what appears as an organized society that has been discovered, studied and exhaustively researched as to its multi-layered reason for existence in time and place has some evidence of what appears as prayer ritual process at work. The ceremonial artifacts found in caves, under dried river or lake beds, on high arid plateaus, to grave sites around the planet reveal artifacts that are interpreted to be used as prayer objects, or ceremonial pieces used in some form of ritual suggestive of prayer.

Of course, we can only suppose and creatively piece together how objects were used, what rituals were embraced and how such ceremonial artifacts were included in their cultures. Where pictures and writings are left behind, the pictures and words of prayer or other processes to invoke the special aid of gods/goddesses is now a matter of record. The voices of prayer are the cultures, the creeds, the blended cacophony of sounds and tones uttered in faith to a known or unknown god. These are the cries of mothers, fathers everywhere for their own lives, their children and grandchildren, seeking guidance, nurturing, sustenance, support. It is the unified force of prayer across the planet that I believe can bring healing and succor. When we as a culture are ready to accomplish peace, then these elements become part of our life, and prayer certainly is one of the processes that take us there.

In ancient times man sought the help of Gods or Goddesses to assist him in his moments of need. Help was seen as coming from without as in the appearance of a god or angelic messenger, or a specific spiritual master, mentor or angelic being that would offer assistance. Witness the many recorded experiences (Biblical and other sacred stories) that that reveal such assistance. And, yes, these spiritual forces do exist to reveal what we seek to know. As such, in my experience, these forces help us to align ourselves to the answer we are searching out. This becomes one of the avenues or purposes of prayer in our human existence.

Throughout the ages, I suspect every man, woman and child has uttered a request or plea for some kind of Cosmic intervention, help or support. And while the reasons, intentions and stated goals or entreaties vary with each individuals needs at the moment, the goal is to receive some help that lifts us beyond the difficult complexities, confi gurations or and conflicts of the moment.

Across the years of my life as a counselor, teacher and minister, I am ever mindful of the height, width and breadth of the power of prayer, as a specific internally focused energy. What we think about, consciously and with clarity, deeply held within our being, tends to unfold in the arena of our lives. It is one of the many “secrets” of manifestation or the bringing forth into our lives that which we are seeking to demonstrate about our lives.

William R. Parker, author of “Prayer Can Change Your Life” offers the following:
“Prayer is that yearning of the heart to become attuned to the heart and soul of the universe and with all of life. It is as if we were in communion, and at the same moment communicating on a telepathic level where our minds are related to the mind of the cosmos and to the minds of all those about whom we think. As we pray in a focused way, we find that our thoughts become realized, and thus prayer and telepathy are brought together.”

At some inner level of our soul nature, prayer is an alignment to the cosmic forces that interpenetrate each of us. Wherever we are, these unseen profoundly powerful forces are within us, and as such are available to us. The more we are aligned, the sooner the sense of a specific need is fulfilled. When we have this internal alignment, we actually see results right before our eyes. We say a prayer has been answered. And when we offer gratitude, the prayer brings a powerful, ever deepening sense of connectedness to the deepest parts of our selves, thus an ever expanding sense of connectedness to the universe in which we live.

Essentially the work of prayer is the act of getting still, breathing deeply and if possible, quietly. Listening implies something on our human part that’s intentional. When we pray, individually, do we actually listen to the words we use? Are we really present to the request if one is being made? If we are listening, are we truly open to receive the answer?

Prayer, as a conscious act, is becoming still enough to listen, deeply listen. Often when we struggle with specific issues, our rational mind or our intellectual self attempts to over analyze, figure out and come up with an answer. We feel that must do something, anything and we chide ourselves if we are not busy, “at doing.”

When we do get still enough and actually enter the prayer state, we actually let go of all the struggling to fix ourselves or an external situation. When this happens, something profound takes place. The issue begins to lessen in importance or intensity. The way we interpret it, or experience it, causes the issue to fade into the background of our life. And the very concern itself reconfigures itself into a much more manageable or acceptable form ... often totally disappearing from our consciousness as an issue.

Another component of prayer is the yearning to know something of the Divine Mystery and to become conscious of its presence in our lives. We seek answers to age old questions, such as the purpose of an incarnation, why we suffer and why we so often lose our way in the world of flesh and form.

Forms of prayer include a repetitive motion, (mudra, mantra) a series of words, or the sacred names of deities we repeat over and over and over. Depth is missing when we say/ask a prayer for healing and think of what series of chores and duties which awaits us ... moments or hours ahead -- when our mind (or our internal, energetic connection is elsewhere) so a linking to that deep internal source called God is lacking. The Source is always present, but our internal connection to it is not. I tend to believe that’s the major reason why many prayers are never answered, never go beyond our wishes or our egoic needs, wants, desires.

As very, very small children, we learn how to ask our parents or relatives for what we may desire from them. If we shout, scream, stomp our feet, refl ect anger, impatience, make boisterous demands, the results are nil. Eventually we learn to approach mother when she’s relaxed or dad when he’s not distracted by other attentions. We find subtle and thoughtful ways to approach those we perceive to be “in the know” and in the process we develop patience, persistence and focus.

And as we all have learned the answer may be “Ask later. Ask again, or yes, or no.” All of the human level interaction is a kind of training for the relationship we yearn to develop with the larger field, invisible levels and layers of reality from which we rightly perceive our blessing flow.

Across the centuries treatises have been written about the way to pray ... the “how to” process. We learn about attitudes, the need for sincerity, humility, gratitude, acceptance. All are part of an indescribable, magnificent, cosmic tapestry called listening to the voices of prayer, the teachers, the saints, the sages, the masters who access the inner world through prayer’s doorway.

Again from the words of William Parker, “Our thoughts can either send forth blessings or curses into the great stream of life. In the course of a lifetime, we each pour many millions of thoughts, for good or for ill, into the moving current of human history and therefore leave our impressions on the world. Thus, it behooves us all to send forth prayerful thoughts which are for the edification of all since we are interconnected one with the other.

What we think about and pray for today is at work bringing into existence our future. These thoughts and prayers will probably come true in proportion to their intensity and the length of time they are dwelt upon. This may be what Jesus meant when he said, “...What you whisper in secret shall be shouted from the housetops.

This month as we think about the meaning of prayer and seek to become more proficient in our prayer life, may we communicate in a new way with the Creative Spirit of the universe. May our spiritual life be enriched as we, with the disciples of old, raise the request:’
Lord, teach us to pray....” Luke 11:16”