Essay on Prayer
Ambrose Alexander Worrall
True prayer does not consist of a repetition of words. Prayer patterns have been set by authorities and are faithfully used by millions of people. Most users of prayer patterns have accepted them without giving deep thought as to their real meaning, their scientific application to life’s problems, and their effect upon the mental and physical aspects of sentient existence.
Before one can understand the nature of prayer it is necessary to approach the subject with an open mind. Preconceived ideas may have to be discarded in the light of reason and a greater enlightenment of the spiritual consciousness. Several principles must first be understood and accepted and logical and reasonable. They are set forth here in simple everyday language.
- All sentient life is of a spiritual nature.
- What we see and feel of this sentient life is usually completely of a physical nature.
- There would be no physical manifestation of life if the spiritual motivating and controlling powers were absent.
- It naturally follows that the physical expression of life is entirely dependent upon the spiritual, for when the spiritual is withdrawn from the physical there ceases to be life and the physical form degenerates into the lower elemental forms of matter.
- The spiritual is the real, the everlasting force, the intelligence, which has clothed itself in physical matter for a temporary period, as part of a Divine Plan.
- The physical is held in recognizable form by the power and intelligence of the spirit. The form is moulded by the continuous action of spiritual forces.
- Changes can be wrought in the physical form by the concentrated, directed action of the spiritual powers.
- By virtue of the fact that the spirit can clothe itself in physical matter, we can assume with reason, that it can also discard physical undesired elements.
- By carrying the reasoning a little further we can assume that the spirit has the power to attract to itself matter in any form, such as gold, silver, furs, houses, health giving elements, disease giving elements, the things that are constructive or destructive, the joys and the sorrows of life, etc.
10. Whatever you seek, that you are most likely to find. “As a man thinketh, so is he.” “Whatever a man soweth so shall he reap.”
A study of the ten items given, and especially the last item (number ten) should give you a basis for a true understanding of prayer.
It is evident, for instance, that a man must THINK, for he IS what he thinks. The thinking is what sets in motion the spiritual forces to bring about the changes in his environment, his body, his companions, his language, his desires, his hopes, his despairs.
EVERY THOUGHT CAN BE CONSIDERED A PRAYER. This you must learn and understand thoroughly.
The normally accepted idea of prayer, the parrot-like repetition of memorized words, the repeating of phrases learned in religious services, are good cleansers of the mind, but in general they lack the dynamic driving force of many an unworthy thought generated under the stress and strain of worldly life. Is this why the “prayers” of millions have been so ineffective?
YES! EVERY THOUGHT IS A PRAYER.
We all lead prayerful lives whether we go to church or not, whether we are believers or unbelievers, our thoughts are our prayers and with them “we fill the world with good results or ill.”
How then shall we pray? It is easier and more understandable to say, HOW SHALL WE THINK?
Let us consider “SPIRIT.” That intangible reality, that seems to continuously evade us as we try to understand it. It is in ALL LIFE. The birds, flowers, trees, animals are animated by “SPIRIT.” They are all parts of a whole, so great, as to be beyond the comprehension of the finite mind. We can assume that the sum total of the expression called life is the Supreme Intelligence, or Divine Power separated into many members of one body, divided apparently, yet undivided as a whole.
In true prayer we become aware that we are part of this “whole.” Not an insignificant part separated “like a child crying in the wilderness” but a powerful element in control of means of communication with all other parts of the “whole.” We are in the position of a department head who has the power to draw supplies or services from some other remote or near part of his organization, by the simple act of setting the proper forces in motion by telephone, requisition or some other accepted method. The method used in the spiritual organization is “PRAYER,” a sending out of a dynamic, positive desire which does not of necessity have to be in words. It can be a visualization in picture form of THE CONDITION DESIRED. We should not concentrate on the elimination of a condition, but on the CREATION of the condition desired.
You should “pray” for the benefit of others. Think of them in a better condition of health, peace or service, create it in your mind, see it in actual existence. THIS IS PRAYER.
A few years of practicing this type of prayer, living it hourly, in all places, under all conditions, will reveal to you its tremendous power. But a word of warning:
If you would have “PEACE” let all your “prayers” (thoughts) be of the nature that will bring “the greatest good to the greatest number.” Rule out selfishness or it will separate you from the essential recognition of the truth that “ALL ARE ONE.”
Ambrose Alexander Worrall.
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