Researched by Felix Fojas
When to Pray
Prayer, like breathing, should be a controlled process in every well-ordered life. We should endeavour to make of our lives, one continuous prayer. Our endless spiritual contact with the source of our spiritual strength and guidance.
Hence, each may, before we enter into the work of that day, we should set aside a space and devote it to our meeting with God. We should retire to the privacy of our room and then there ask Him for His aid. We can ask Him to show us the way. Since it is this work that we are doing, it is right that we should ask Him to show how it should be done.
If we ask, with faith and sincerity, the way will open for us. Then at night, after our work is done, we should again return to the privacy of our room and there make our request to Him. Tell Him how we have, during the day. done His work, and ask that we may be re-created so that we might continue in service to God and our fellowmen. God measures not your devotion by the length of time that you give
to your prayers, but by the fact that you come to Him with humility and ask.
Where to Pray
We have read in the words of the Master that we are to close ourselves into our room, alone, with nobody or nothing to distract our attention. It is easier to turn ourselves entirely over to the duty of prayer.
Sit quietly, make yourself comfortable. Do not strain. Keep the room slightly darkened. Too much light might prove a distraction.
Get everything out of your mind. Try to make it a perfect blank. This is called developing your receptiveness. After you have developed yourself to a stage where you can clear all matter from your mind for a length of time, you are ready to go into silence. So we come to the answer to the question" "Where to pray?" it is--Pray wherever you can make your contact with your God, which should be at all times, anywhere and everywhere, when you know how.
How to Pray
When you ask God to do something for you, you must believe that it is already an accomplished fact. By a accepting the accomplishment of your work, affirmatively, you are helping God make it a reality. Think that He is actually doing the things that you have asked Him to do. Pray with the thoughts that the things you want are already yours since time began. This thinking with God, will make your prayers realities. That is the message that God has for you. They are the answers to your prayers.
What to ask for
The first important thing to do is make certain just what it is that we want. Someone once said that there were only two tragedies in life. One was not getting what we want, the other, getting it.
Sometimes we wish, hope, strive and even pray for things that will do us more harm than good. We have not thought sufficiently on the subject of our desire.
So the first injunction is, "Know what to pray for."
The second injunction is, "Pray only for the good."
The second important thing to remember is what we should not pray something that is going to harm another. And that goes for no matter who the somebody else happens to be. There are no enemies in our life. We are our own first and last enemy. We must learn to conquer ourselves.
The third injunction is to pray for something that fits into our life. Something that should belong to us. Pray for the things that are yours.
The fourth injunction is, "Raise your voice in prayer for those who know you and those who call you friend."
We must be ready to give thanks as we are to ask a favor. For God measures our capacity for blessings by our ability to appreciate those things that we have. We must learn to be thankful for small favors.
There should be no shame in facing God and telling Him that we erred. That's why we are human beings. We must at all times be ready to forgive those who have trespassed against us. We should ask God to forgive them. Remember how he said, in the midst of travail: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." This should be our motto in prayer.
For that moment when we can understandably forgive others, that moment, we have made our most intimate contact with the Lord and Master.
Above all, we must be open and above board with our God. Never try to make excuses for anything that you've done. God knows your intention before you yourself have thought of it.
Hence we learn the answers to our question: "What to pray for?" It is--PRAY FOR THE VISION TO SEE GOD'S WORKS.
Live Your Prayers
We live our lives so that at every turn and at any moment of the day or night, God might look into it and find the faith and belief that always glows in the hearts of those who love Him. Our lives must be one continuous prayer, singing to heaven the Glory of God.
As a reminder in moments of forgetfulness, we can carry with us the some talisman or amulet. This will be a constant physical reminder that we are His children, and that He is constantly with us and that we are never alone. We should wear this talisman or amulet on our person, so that we are constantly aware of its presence.
The Use of Candles in Successful Prayer
What better way is there to pray, than in the privacy of one's room one should and by the light of candles bring to the glory of God.
Candles are a symbol of faith and should be manifest before God and man and burn brightly in the performance of good works. Therefore let your light shine before all men and let them see your faith and your good intentions.
Candles carry a symbolism of their own. They spread the light of love. They brighten up the darkness. They give our prayers a certain definiteness.
There are a great many people who believe that they should burn appropriate colored candles with each of their prayers. For your guidance, I repeat the following colors and the properties that are ascribed to them:
White : for Purity
Red : for Love
Pink : for Success
Yellow : for Spirituality
Orange : for Attention
Black : for Evil or Remembrance
Blue : for Health
Brown : for Happiness
Green : for Money
Purple : for High Power
Gold : for Good Fortune and Safety
Another way of using colored candles is as follows:
Black : Evil, Hexing, Crossing, Repelling
Blue : Spiritual and Psychic results
Brown : General or non specific objectives
Green : Luck, Money, Business
Orange : Peace of Mind
Pink : Success, Attraction, Love and Friendship
Purple : Power, Domination, Control
Above all, we must not make the mistake of setting up idols before us. We must not pray to the candles, but to God. We must use the candles as symbols of the light within us.
To light our way. To make the path clear before us. To banish evil and darkness before and around us.
It is these symbols that make our prayers complete. They enable us to make a close confidential and understandable contact with our prayer-beads.
The altars of the world reflect the kind soft light of candles. So let the altar in your heart made visible by the light of a candle show you the way to enlightenment.
(Note: Candles, like incense, bells, and sacred images, attract invisible helpers among which are angels who help us manifest our prayers and positive wishes).
No comments:
Post a Comment