The Tao of Prayer
by Alan Cohen It is important to know how and when to pray, but it is equally important to know how and when to stop praying. It is not true that the more your pray, the greater your chances of your prayers being answered. As in all arts, sciences, and disciplines, prayer has a point of diminishing return; success is not always a matter of working harder-it is about working smarter. You cannot truly claim to have mastered the art of prayer until you have mastered the art of releasing prayer. You must release your prayers so Spirit can answer them. It may even be said that the whole purpose of prayer is to get to the point at which you turn your intentions over to the universe. Let us review how prayer works. The part of the mind that prays is the part that is in fear, and has forgotten who you are and momentarily overlooked the presence of The Creator. If you had perfect faith and a perfect awareness of the Presence, you would never need to pray; you would (and will) live in a constant condition of love, joy, and appreciation. Prayer forms a bridge between the separated mind and the whole mind. When you have traversed the gap that doesn't exist, you can relax into serenity and release your concern to the hands of Love. The one who prays has already set him or herself apart from the One Who Answers. It is this One to Whom the prayer must be entrusted, for if you knew how to answer your own prayers, you would not be praying in the first place. The process may be likened to mailing a letter to a friend across the country. After you have written what you want to communicate, you drop the letter in a mailbox and trust that it will be delivered. You would not stand behind a lamppost and watch to be sure that the mailman picks it up. You would not follow the carrier to the post office and hover over the shoulders of the mail sorters. You would not squat in the back of the mail truck, stowaway on the airplane next to the mailbag, and follow the letter through the same processes on the delivery route, making sure the letter gets put into the right mailbox. While this scenario sounds ridiculous, it is not unlike the notion of holding onto our prayers after we have dispatched them. If you are the kind of person who feels that you have to control everything and make sure every detail is handled in the way and time you expect, releasing your intention could be the most important element in your prayer process. Simply letting go of your prayer will assist you to let go of the control struggle that led you to pray in the first place. Holding onto prayer beyond its due time is an affirmation of lack of faith, and will bear negative results. After you have gotten clear on what you want, asked Spirit for help, and affirmed your deservingness to have it, any further energy invested will only backfire on you. When you overpray, you are saying, in effect, "I don't believe that Spirit has heard my request or that He will answer it. So I had better keep badgering until I get what I want." Yes, persistence is good- but faith is stronger. Prayers are effective for their quality, not volume. Every sentence you overpray will reverse the effects of prayer, for your continuation attests that you do not believe you will be helped. When you get the sense that your petition has been heard and you feel it will be answered, give thanks, and stop. You have done your part; now let God do Hers. Praying or doing an act of faith is like planting a seed. You place the seed gently into the ground, nourish it, water it, cover it with soil, and then you let it be. If you dig it up every day to see if it is growing, you will damage it and undermine the results you seek to achieve. In any form of embryonic growth, there is a gestation time in which you do not see obvious results. If your faith is small, you will wonder and worry if your seed is growing. But most growth processes occur on an invisible level. A human mother sees no growth in her womb during the first few months of pregnancy, while many miraculous changes are occurring! Trust that an invisible hand, guided by wisdom, is tending to your seedling even when you cannot see it. Remember the admonition to "Let go and let God." This wisdom applies not only to daily activities, but to the core of our relationship with Spirit. Your seed is in good hands. Let it grow. BackgroundLast updated on February 24, 2006