How to Pray During a Crisis

Recently I had a disturbing message from my daughter.  My youngest of seven grandchildren, precious three-year old tumbled head over toe down 10 deck stairs onto the concrete landing.  At first she was just shaken and crying, but soon after she couldn’t stand.  Her daddy picked her up and she immediately fell asleep in his arms.  A rush to the hospital ensued.  

Prayerful Action

Upon hearing the news and immediately feeling shocked, I quieted myself, closed my eyes and began seeing my namesake smiling, healthy, and happy.  I stayed in an alert mode of concern, but continued to send her love and see her as whole.  I also prepared myself for action as a support person for my daughter two and a half hours away.  After an examination and a CAT scan, she appeared to be fine, suffering a concussion and was sent home to sleep and recover.  My prayers continued that she experience something more from this trauma.  I prayed that she would have an enlightening, a knowing, a deep understanding, more than she has already recognized.  That she know of the magnificence of this physical life and how it is deeply connected on a soul level.  The results of this prayer is yet to be seen, yet it is a worthy prayer.

Another crisis, another prayerful response and outcome 

As my mother passed recently, my prayers were a bit different.  Her heart attack and later bypass surgery were shocking to me as well.  I prayed for her to be at peace no matter what.  I prayed that the surgery be successful and that her life continue to have quality and meaning.  Seemingly my prayers didn’t manifest in the physical, but I had a deep knowing she was at peace as she passed from this physical form.  I also had a knowing that her body served her as long as it could and for her to live well or not at all was a deep desire she held tightly as one would hold a most valuable possession.  

How does that prayer affect you in the moment of crisis?

So the question is not only how does one pray, but how does that prayer affect you in the moment of the crisis, the trauma, the shock?  Yes, at times we may not feel in control of our reactions, our feelings, our outright emotions, however we can program or re-program ourself so we can feel deeply and respond adequately.  This response then will not impair our mental or emotional state, but allows clarity and transcendence beyond the physical touching the eternal. What does that mean?  Where we set our thoughts each day ultimately impacts our feelings when we are shocked or faced with trauma. This is why it is vital, for our overall health and well-being, to train our brain and connect more with our heart.  

How does prayer and connecting with your heart relate?

How does one do this?  Intention, practice and stillness.  This is what has worked for me.  As a passionate person, I feel deeply and proper responses are essential.  Why are they essential?  Because they effect my physical body and they support others.  Proper responses also build a good relationship with ourself and with others.  Living a life well, with no regrets or minimal regrets is quality living, it is peace, it is bliss. 

Letting go of the attachment to any outcome is also integral to that quality and peaceful state.  We may not be able to save a life or change a circumstance, however, how we feel in the midst of the crisis is what good living is all about.  A strong mental, emotional state is balancing to the physical body.  The three walk hand in hand.  

How is our overall health involved?

Does that mean perfection in the physical body ensues?  Hardly, but health is a relative term. It is a not only a state of being, but it is a desired state of being that can be felt even when the physical is not perfect.  Did you get that?   Intention, practice and stillness serve well in the state of imperfection.  We do manifest what we think about and this includes what is running in the background, the thoughts below our awareness (subconscious).  It is intriguing and powerful to realize how much control we have over our own life. 

Our prayer life is a powerful force.  We are not some random experiment just waiting to see what the outcome will be.  All of us have the ability to create.  We are divine beings, each of us. Remember this!  Cling to this truth, set an intention and practice in stillness.  This works and as a result you can live a life with much peace.   

Julia Parsell is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with an emphasis on the intersection of science and the sacred.  She writes from experiences and transformative understandings that have led her to an authentic and peaceful life. She goes by these names:  wife, grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend. As home educator of her three children, she also developed/ran cafes, and maintained various leadership roles within her community.  Her greatest desire is to encourage others to live life fully.  Her passions are family, writing, and trail blazing. She is happily married in Western North Carolina.   Please visit her blog here.