The prayer is available to everyone in all time of need…Nevertheless sometimes we forget to use this valuable resource. Many of us don’t know the details about the subject or what is required on a prayer; Maybe some of us don’t understand how it can be efficient and how important it is in our lives. In the light of Spiritist literature we can find many explanations and instructions about prayer. In fact, a prayer is the first step in every meeting, lecture or work in a Spiritist Centre or group.
Worshiping is part of natural law and that’s why it is the result of a sentiment innate in men, we are born with this feeling. It can be found among all peoples, under many different forms.
To understand the current process of worship, we must recognize that it follows human evolution. Since we evolve intellectually and morally, the way we understand God and the way we worship Him and connect with Him also improves. It’s important to note that the word god had a very broad meaning. To early civilization, it was a term which gave incorporeal beings (Spirits) that act as power of nature the name of gods. The God of thunder, the goddess of the sea, the god of the wind, there are many mythologies around the world that used this method.
According to Spiritism, Prayer is an invocation through our thoughts, a way that we enter in communication with the being to whom we direct our thoughts. Prayer is the expression of a feeling that always reaches God when dictated by the heart of the person who prays. We can say that prayer is a projection of thought, from which we establish a fluidic connection and the intensity of this prayer depends on the prayer’s vibration. This intensity and quality of vibration determines its power and extension, because of this fluidic relationship we attract to ourselves the help of the High Spirits to inspire us with good thoughts.
Why thoughts? Because thoughts are the source of almost all of our actions. (First, we think and then we act.) Spiritism brings understanding to the action of prayer by explaining the process of transmission of thought: whether when a spiritual being come to our call or when our thoughts go to him.
An easy way to start to understand the action played by prayer is this: Prayers do not remove
the wrong from us, but turn us away from our bad thoughts which cause us harm. The prayers in no way do not prevent the fulfilling of God’s laws, nor do they suspend the course of the laws of Nature. Our spiritual guides stop us from infringing these laws by guiding our free will. Yet they act by default, in an imperceptible manner, so as not to suppress our freewill.
We find ourselves in the position of someone who asks for good counsel and then puts it into action; but we are always free to follow the advice or not. God desires it to be like this, so that we can have responsibility for our actions, thereby leaving us the merit of the choice between good and evil. This is what we can always be sure of obtaining if we ask fervently, and this is the kind of situation where, above all, the words “Ask and it shall be given” can be applied. Could not the effects of prayer bring immense results? It has been reserved for Spiritism to prove its action through the revelation of the relationship existing between the physical and spiritual worlds. Prayer is recommended by all the Spirits. To quit it is to ignore the benevolence of God; it is to reject His assistance for us and for others the good that we can do. So the responsibility ultimately rests in our hands.
The prayers of a Christian, of a Spiritist, or of whatever cult, must be made as soon as they wake up, this prayer should humble and profound, in an impulse of gratitude for all the many benefits received till that day; for the night just past during which it was permitted, although without knowing, to get close to friends and guides so as to be able to absorb new strength and more perseverance through this contact. You should lift yourself up humbly to the feet of the Lord, so as to offer up your weaknesses, plead for help, indulgence and mercy. This prayer should be profound, because it is your soul that should raise itself up to the Creator. Your prayer should include a request for His blessings for all those things you really need. Therefore it is useless to ask the Lord to shorten your tests and trials, or to give you happiness and riches. Preferably ask for more precious items, such as patience, resignation and faith. Do not say, as many do ‘It is not worth praying because God does not answer my prayers.” In most cases what do you ask Him for?
Being grateful will ultimately bring us peace of mind, happiness and freedom.
Let’s us finish the lecture with Feeling Free, a song by Michael Franti
