“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.” ― Kahlil Gibran
Prayer takes many shapes and forms, far beyond what comes to mind for many. There is much more to prayer to peoples around the world than to simply get down on your knees and speak out with your voice. Though this is quite beautiful and powerful in its own right, if we take a look at the way that others pray and make intention, we find that it is truly something of a divine art form. From the South American Despacho, to the Japanese Shinto, stone circles like Stonehenge or Newgrange, Dagara diviners, to the Kalachakra Mandala, Yantras and Mantras, Medicine Wheels of every culture and land, Christian sacraments, to Malas, Rosaries, Medicine Bags and Bundles, to Spirit Ties, and all the ceremonies, rites and rituals, the art of prayer is a deeply ingrained part of our world as we seek communion with something greater.
"It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” - Mahatma Gandhi
When we gather in community on the medicine wheel we have milestones and markers, which allow us to not only see the signs and experience the synchronicities, but to better interpret them, offering us a way to ground, anchor and integrate the knowledge, or to simply have more patience as we build our own faith in the process of unfolding. With these spiritual eyes on the shamanic path we can see the often subtle responses to our prayers that will better allow the omnipotent forces that we have invoked to do their magic. And we can also better hear the instructions of our soul which can guide our actions and decisions. Through the signs and symbols of our lives we can enter into a real conversation with the Great Mystery, and actually experience a two way dialogue as we engage in conscious contact.
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
We came here to create. We are creators, or more aptly put, co-creators. First through the protection of our ego we acted out our lives and created in unconscious ritual. As we learned more about who and what we truly are, we no longer act out only symbolically, but with reverence and respect as we create a new earth reality by taking these same rituals and framing and containing them in the story of our life under the protection of sacred ceremony... consciously and with positive intent.
“Let your intentions be good - embodied in good thoughts, cheerful words, and unselfish deeds - and the world will be to you a bright and happy place in which to work and play and serve” - Grenville Kleiser
In our unawakened state we may have found ourselves relying a great deal on our own steam and forgetting to pray. Or we may have prayed, but only at times of sorrow, angst or fear. Most of us were plenty good at forming an intention, but painfully shy of releasing it to the Universe, which is actually what makes an intention, a prayer. Ultimately we want to integrate prayer and intention and weave a practice of ritual and ceremony into our lives that allows us to dance our prayers, sing our prayers, cook, clean and garden our prayers... create art, or sit in silence and be one with our intentions, certain of the soul's purpose and the desires of our heart, so that the very actions of our life take on new meaning under this high guidance.
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” - Douglas Adams
It's been a challenging journey, as we've experienced the knowledge of good and evil, duality and the polarizations of right and wrong doing. Now, unlike ever before, we have the opportunity to come to the center of our Self, the altar of our soul and pray in ways that make our whole life a sacred ceremony. When we pray we are speaking to the Divine, but when we wrap our prayers in ritual and ceremony, we are speaking directly and intimately to the divinity within our own being. We are speaking to our own soul and acknowledging that God comes through the people, the earth and that we are a great mystery. And as we leave room, the magic of the universe begins to respond back in spite of its mysterious nature, we can communicate meaningfully because we have framed and contained our desires in sacred space and surrendered them in complete faith.
“I am realistic – I expect miracles.” ― Wayne W. Dyer
Make an intention to be listening with humility and awareness to the whispering of your soul. Then give a voice to it...spoken and written. Place it within the safe space of sacred ceremony, enlivened with symbology, imagery, music... dance, drum and sweat your prayers... Annointed with precious oils... Activated with spiritual guides and angels... Taken into the silence of the void of your being. Align the Wills, then surrender fully to your soul, and to the Great Mystery. Watch and wait with calm certainty that the circumstances, the synergy and the guidance for right action will come and ultimately create something through this kind of surrender that far exceeds any meager wish that we can come up with on our own. Engage the Art of Prayer, for this is the true power of awareness, intention and surrender to something greater.
“Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find.” ― Wayne W. Dyer
Sunday Talks with Rev. Renee Bledsoe
September 02 - The Art of Prayer
September 09 - Activating Prayer Code: Ceremony & Ritual
September 16 - Let your Life be a Prayer - Rev. Maribel Figueroa
September 23 - Peace Day Celebration in the Universal Medicine Wheel (Alliance for the Arts)
September 30 - The Role of Heavenly and Earth Angels in the Fulfillment of Desire
Affirmations
I pray and intend my life with humility, awareness and surrender.
I claim my free will through the power of prayer.
I raise the quality of my prayers.
I pray for peace, love and joy for myself and others.
I create a sacred space for my prayers.
I seek to align with the divine will of my GodSelf.
I allow heavenly and earth angels to love and support me.
As an earth angel I am supportive of my fellow travelers and render aid in times of need.
I create a sacred life that inspires the world to wonder.
I invoke the higher powers of the universe to reveal and support my life purpose.
The more I recognize and acknowledge my life purpose, the more power and support comes to me.
I embrace the mystery of my life.
My intentions are for the highest good of all concerned.
I am open to this or something better and welcome the creativity of my higher power.
I pray for guidance in all aspects of my life.
I ask and it is given. I knock and the door is opened.
As I converse with the universe, elements of my own mysterious nature are revealed
In prayer I come to a better understanding of myself.
I inspire and infuse my prayers with sacred ceremony and ritual.
My prayers are made whole within the the sacred container of the medicine wheel.
I meditate, listen, journal and use divination to determine my heart's desires.
I want for nothing, and choose to create my bliss.
My joyful creations add to the beauty of the earth.
I allow myself to receive good into my life.
My entire life is a sacrament and a prayer.
I will to will thy will.
I embrace the art of prayer.
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