Livin On A Prayer

When I was a child, I thought as a child, and I prayed as a child. Every night I closed my eyes tightly and said the words my mother taught me:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take."

I didn't have the faintest idea what it meant, or why I was supposed to say it every night before I went to sleep, but I did it religiously, because that's what my mother taught me to do. It never occurred to me to ask her about it; it was just an accepted part of my life.

When I was a little older, I learned a more mature prayer. I said it religiously every single Sunday in church:

"Our Father, who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our debts

As we forgive our debtors,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the power, and the glory,

And the kingdom, forever.

Amen."

I didn't really understand what that meant, either, but I said it religiously.

I've learned a lot of prayers on my life's journey. My interest in spirituality and personal truth exposed to me prayers of all kinds, written and recited by all kinds of people. Each was sincere in it's efforts to honor God, and I've respected every prayer I've ever heard.

There was a period in my life when I stopped praying religious prayers. I was of the opinion, then, that religious prayer (defined as prayers that everybody says by rote all of the time) were meaningless. It took me a while to understand that religious prayer is a sincere expression of religious belief. When we pray in church, we are using prayer as part of the confirmation that we are part of the given group of believers we're attending church with, and that's a good thing. Being in spirit with other thinking, feeling human beings who think and feel the same way we do is one of the best parts of being alive.

As I came to appreciate the difference between religion (which is how we choose to express our spiritual truth) and spirituality (which is our spiritual truth in action) I came to appreciate the difference between religious prayer and personal communication with God. I also came to appreciate that prayer means different things to different people, and fills a different role in everyone's spiritual journey.

It was when I discovered that my world was not the whole world that I truly began to understand what prayer is and why people do it, and began doing it again myself. As I explored other religions and other cultures, I was amazed at the myriads of ways in which Man communicates with the higher power in his life. There's not a religion in the world that doesn't teach us that connecting to God - sometimes through prayer - is what God asks of us.

I've never believed that God is a stickler for doctrine. I don't think He cares how we pray, as long as we pray. I don't think that the way we say things is important to God at all. He is a part of us; He knows what we think and what we feel. Our prayers are just us choosing to share our thoughts and feelings with Him by expressing them in words. Neither our thoughts nor our feelings become real until we express them; it is in talking to God, verbally, that we create our own reality about who He is and the role He plays in our lives.

If we choose 'rote' - if the only prayers we ever pray are religious prayers in someone else's words - then we're not really sharing with God, although we are showing respect through the very act of praying. It's when we feel we know God well enough to start up a conversation that we're on the way to having the spiritual relationship with Him that He intended us to have when He gave us separate life.

The more I talked to God, the better I got to know Him, and the better I got to know Him, the more I wanted to talk to Him. I'm pleased to say that, over the years, we've gotten to know each other really well, and talk to each other all the time. The more I pray, the more confident I am that God is with me, always. Maybe that's why they call it "livin' on a prayer."

Lois Grant-Holland is a Life Path Focus Counselor offering Life Path Focus Sessions, Karmic Astrology Charts, Channeled Guidance, Intuitive Readings and Classes and Workshops to spiritual seekers on all positive paths, and is the site facilitator at The A.N.S.W.E.R. - (The Seeker's Resource Guide to Alternative, New Thought, Spiritual Growth, Wellness and Enlightenment Resources.) You can visit her website at http://www.loisgrantholland.com

---

A Crash Course In Tarot For Newbies #1 - All About the Cards

The Tarot is not just a divinatory tool, but it... Read More

Christian Religious Addiction in Hawaii?

Surveys show that religion and spirituality play a central role... Read More

Romantic Relationships: A Spiritual Perspective

Meeting someone so attractive, so beautiful. Your heart beats like... Read More

A Word Filty Spoken

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in... Read More

Unfinished Business (Part 2)

We know that David did much to stabilize the Kingdom... Read More

Is America Losing Its Religion?

Has America known its finest hour? Are we losing our... Read More

The Universal Connection

I believe in a phenomenon I have been known to... Read More

Language of Dreams

Dreams take us not into ourselves, but out of ourselves.... Read More

The Winds of Change

Humanity is entering a very critical time in its path... Read More

Motivated By All The Wrong Reasons

Sometimes trying to be spiritual holds us back from actually... Read More

Am I W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G.? Are you?

If you spend a hundred bucks and buy the right... Read More

White Sun - Tao of Heaven. Showers of Wisdom ( Part 2 of 3 )

People rarely live up to a hundred years of age... Read More

Do You Need An Answer About Life?

I was originally brought up Catholic, at the insistence of... Read More

Reasons to Fast and Pray

Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the... Read More

Christian Love

Actually, loving does not take any great effort on our... Read More

Enlightenment, Moving to a New Level of Awareness

(Channelled)Roy, what a marvellous job you are doing on your... Read More

Intuition

Did you ever get a feeling or gain notion of... Read More

Sure! Ill be a Millionaire! Discover Wealth and Prosperity with the Angels of Abundance

I was in the bank's vault. The Brink's armored truck... Read More

CEROMANCY: The Fine Art of Candle Reading

Lately, I have been asked a lot of questions in... Read More

Your Guide to the Archangels

An angel can be your best friend. Angels have been... Read More

The World Revolves Around Me

Lately I have become aware of a new truth that... Read More

Introduction to the Five Powers of Spirit

You are a dual being. Part eternal spirit and part... Read More

Reach Out and Touch

The essence of the Christian faith is the good news... Read More

Lost is a Spiritual Problem

Lost, but you don't know where you're going.Lost is a... Read More

An Alternative to A Life of Healing

While I do hope to avoid arguing the merits or... Read More

Trust is Prosperity

A while back the Lord had given me this message... Read More

The Problem with Anger

As Christians, we know we need God in every aspect... Read More

Ego - Why Do We Have One?

Why do we have an Ego?Almost all spiritual guides say... Read More

Are You Building Your Own Cistern?

You're looking at one star in the middle of a... Read More

It Seems We Have All Taken a POW

Just for a moment think of what is stopping you... Read More

Discover Who You Are And Why You Are Here

You are a Creative Worker:God carries on creative work through... Read More

Ten Suggestions For The Overscheduled Child

Ever wonder what happened to the family dinner hour? Or... Read More

Geralds Story - A Tribute to Valor

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that... Read More