Prayer - Why? When? How?

Why Pray At All?

Many people believe that God is always present and in all places - so why would we need to pray?  If God and the spirit guides already see and know everything, why would we repeat it back to them?  The objective of prayer is not to call God's attention to us, it is to bring ourselves (our minds and our thoughts) closer to him. What would happen if you stayed in a pool of pure water for a long period of time, but you never opened your mouth to drink any of it? You would die of thirst.  The same thing happens with prayer. It's our way of “opening our mouth,” spiritually speaking, and becoming receptive.

 

Prayer is one of the greatest resources that we have to confront our issues and conquer obstacles that previously seemed unbeatable.  Imagine a man alone, climbing a mountain - hot, hungry, tired, and weary. He stops temporarily to rest under a tree. This tree is a blessing for him in many ways.  The shade cools him, he's able to rest his weary body, and his mind has time for introspection. The fruit from the tree relieves his hunger. Soon after, with renewed energy, he is ready to resume his climb up the mountain.  Just as the tree helped the mountain-climber, taking time to pray has the same benefit for us. Prayer gives us renewed energy and strength, it helps us to remain strong in our faith, as when we are confident that we will overcome our trials, we become conscious that we will always have a spiritual mentor at our side.

 

Is A Prayer Routine Important?

When we pray for help, we are always heard. A request for help might be answered by asking us to concentrate and listen to the suggestions that our spiritual friends give us to solve the little problems that arise. We might ask for help to remain calm in a moment when our real urge is to react with aggression, or to understand rather than judge another person. By turning our thoughts to  prayer, we are better able to turn away from negative tendencies and energies that may lead to us feeling alone, and trapped in the darkness of desperation.

When we pray on a daily basis, in good times and bad, we establish a strong link with God and the spiritual realm.  When difficult times arise, we already have a structure of support that sounds loudly and clearly in our heart. The faith that we develop through a prayer routine gives us strength, courage, and the energy we need to overcome our problems (trivial or serious). 

How Can Prayer Help?

Our prayers are answered with the aid of our spiritual mentors.  They are always at our side, giving us strength and support.  Their suggestions are communicated to us using mental intuition during the day.  if we are not in a tranquil state of prayer, we may not clearly hear the messages.  At night, the spirits may take us on learning excursions while we are asleep.  So wouldn't it be easier if our spiritual mentors could just give us the answers in clear, easy to understand terms?  Because we have free will, the spirits offer us suggestions.  If we were handed the answers, there would be no merit for us - as we were not required to make any choice - so we have not learned or made any progress on our own.

 

In Allan Kardec's book, The Gospel Explained by the Spiritist Doctrine, he relates a story in which a man

traveling in the desert has lost his way and eventually faints from exhaustion and thirst. He prays to God for help, but no one arrives to give him water. Instead, the good spirits inspire him to lift his tired body and travel a little further down a nearby path.  The path leads him to a clear, cool stream of water.  Kardec’s lesson was that a person of faith would thank God and the spirit guides for the guidance and strength received. A person without faith would vainly pat themselves on the back for the great idea they had or attribute their fortune to chance.

 

What Should We Ask?

We can ask for whatever we want, as God and the spirit guides already know why we are praying.  So how far does this "help" from prayer and the good spirits extend?  Kardec asked this question in The Spirits Book: "As we pray for ourselves, can we prevent our trials from taking place or change their nature?"  The spirits responded by first reminding us that prayer always helps by giving us strength and a positive outlook, that many of our sorrows are actually self-inflicted, and that we need to endure some trials, as they are part of a larger plan.  When we reincarnate, we do not remember the events of our past lives, and rather than being handed the solution to our suffering, we must use our free will to overcome our temptations and trials.  We need to accept our struggles with a bravery and faith that will allow us to grow and progress.

 

We should not always be asking for something when we pray. The other two elements of prayer are appreciation (gratitude or thanks) and praise.  When things going well, we start taking it all for granted - until tragedy strikes and we experience something that jolts us into realizing how quickly our lives can change.  We can pray and be thankful for the sound of a loved one's voice, the warmth of the sun, or the chance to reach out and help a neighbor in need.  We should not wait for something to happen to remind us of how fortunate we are. Praying with both praise and appreciation for what we already have is one way to help us to maintain a mind set that strengthens our affinity with the good spirits. 

    Who Should We Pray For?

It would be selfish for one to think only of ourselves during a time of prayer. Spiritism teaches us that as human beings evolve, they pray more for others than we do for ourselves. In Kardec's The Spirits' Book, we read that when we pray for others, we will attract compassionate spirits who share our intentions and will come to the rescue of those for whom we are praying.

We naturally pray for our friends and loved ones.  We ask for their protection and hope they are offered guidance, especially when we see them suffering, as well as at their time of disincarnation (death of the body) and their return to the spirit world.  This is a natural extension of our love for them.  It's also important that we pray for those for whom we do not have such affection and for those who we do not know at all. Any prayer of support or forgiveness helps us understand the process of making amends.  Pray to keep those feelings of anger and rancor out of our hearts, and pray to bring positive energies to our offenders or those we may have offended. 

There are also many spirits who need our help, including some who suffer their own self-inflicted torment.  These spirits may not have awakened to the good, so they continue to act out of their moral weaknesses. They need our prayers to inspire them to see the error of their ways and the happiness that could one day be theirs once they begin the processes of repentance and making amends.  There are also many discarnate spirits who do not admit the death of their mortal bodies and who believe themselves to be alive, in the same way they were on Earth. We can pray that the good spirits will go to their aid, guiding them to places of recuperation and schooling in the spirit realm, so that they may come to the realization that they are still alive, but they no longer have an Earthly life.  When we pray for a family member or friend who has transitioned, we need to be careful of asking for resolution to any earthy matters they left behind.  In many circumstances, a recently departed spirit may yet not be in a position to hear our prayers, but the spirit guides will relay our messages when the conditions improve.

A prayer should come from the heart.  It does not need flowery words; it should flow naturally as a true expression of our sentiments.  Kardec wrote, "The spirits have always said, 'The form means nothing, the thought is everything. Say your prayers in a way that is in harmony with your convictions and in the way most inspiring to you, because a good thought is worth more than countless unfeeling and unfelt words.' "  We should avoid the habit of repetition.  It requires no concentration and becomes an easy movement of the lips with beautiful words that our not ours.  The length of the prayer is also unimportant, as the number of words we use is not related to the quality of the prayer.

Resources:

Kardec, Allan. "Ask And It Will Be Given To  You." The Gospel Explained By The Spiritist Doctrine.  Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from 3rd edition in French). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 2000. pgs 255-266 and pgs 267-306.

Peralva, Martins. "Eficácia da Prece" [Efficacy of Prayer]. O Pensamento de Emmanuel [Emmanuel's Thoughts]. Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil: Federação Espírita Brasileira [Brazilian Spiritist Federation].1998 (20th ed). pgs 159-164.

Schubert, Suely Caldas. "A Prece" [Prayer]. Mediunidade: Caminho Para Ser Feliz [Mediumship: The Path to Happiness]. Votuporanga- SP, Brazil. Casa Editora Espírita "Pierre-Paul Didier". 1999. pgs 92-97.

De Angelis, Joanna (Spirit Author), Franco, Divado (Medium). "Da Lei de Oraçã" [On The Law of Prayer].  Leis Morais Da Vida [Moral Laws of Life]. 3. ed Salvador-BA, Brazil. Livraria Espírita Alvorada. 1986.