Baa Baa Black Sheep
I was watching Gregg Braden's ‘The Science of Miracles' and had a really big a-ha moment. It had to do with the way we — in the western world — are taught to pray.
“The feeling IS the prayer, not anything you say over and over.”
I was raised a Roman Catholic and had a big problem with all the ritualistic recitals during mass. It was as if there was no feeling (and little comprehension) injected into what was being said. I would look at the people intoning the words from their handbooks and they looked like robots to me (or sheep(le) — no wonder they are referred to as ‘the flock' and Jesus is ‘the Shepherd').
The only feeling I ever got going to church was utter boredom. Suffice to say, Roman Catholicism wasn't for me and I parted ways — I'm the black sheep, baby!
All jokes aside, I'm not out to bash anybody's religion — each to their own — I just want to point out the importance of the feeling behind the prayer.
A Different Take
In ‘The Science of Miracles', Gregg Braden says that when we pray in western culture, we are usually asking for something. The very asking or praying for something implies that you do not have it.
With all the Law of Attraction teachings, we are told that we need to feel as if what we want is already ours (I know, it's difficult — tell me about it!). However, I've adopted this new approach — that ‘feel as if it's real‘ thang and it's actually pretty cool!
Gregg Braden recounts a story of a friend of his who wanted to pray for rain in his village. He didn't recite any drawn out invocations — he simply felt the feeling of what it was like to have squishy mud between his toes and the smell of the village after a heavy rainfall.
And the rain came…
The feeling IS the prayer, not anything you say over and over. If repetition gets you to the feeling, then great — but always remember it's the feeling of having what you want and not how many mindless ‘hail Mary's' you do.
Too Simple to Work?
The simplicity of pray is to invoke a feeling. To feel the presence already manifest in your life. It's fun, especially if you can turn it into a game.
I usually set my phone timer for 10 minutes and I go into a deep meditation where I get totally absorbed in a daydream about what I want and how it feels to have it (let your imagination run riot!). You won't believe how quickly those 10 minutes fly by when you're doing this kind of visualization.
No one likes boring ‘ritual' or any kind of rigid task, so make your prayer time blissful — something to look forward to every day.
If you're the type of person who doesn't pray or do any intentional focusing, now is a good time to start! You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain!
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Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.
To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.
Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She has an official art Facebookpage (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates). You can also check out her Facebook band page at Templeton Universe.
Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.
This article (Could We Be Praying All Wrong?) was originally written for and published byConscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.
