THE SECRET OF PRAYER

Do you think of prayer as wishful thinking or a way of soliciting God’s help? Either way, you may be misunderstanding what lies at the root of prayer.

While there’s scientific evidence that praying can have true worldly effects -- prayed-for people and plants grow healthier; people who pray live longer; bacteria can be influenced by prayer; etc., -- it’s not clear exactly what causes these effects. When praying brings results, is the cause praying, or is it something else?

If we think of prayer merely as speaking words to God and asking for help, we may have reason for skepticism and doubt. However, if we think of prayer as a way of generating and focusing creative energy -- the essence of all being and from which all existence arises -- then there’s a way of conceiving a rational explanation for the workings of prayer.

In other words, if we recognize that prayer is a way of focusing the creative power of consciousness, then its results are no greater a miracle than any other creative act; no different than eliciting a new insight, idea, inspiration, or creative vision -- all of which suddenly emerge from nonexistence and cause new life possibilities to form. Prayer may actually be a way of mobilizing the creative power that secretly resides at our depths.

In this light the main difference between prayers getting answered or not has not to do with our prayerful words, but rather the quality of consciousness that underlies those words. When praying in desperation and fear, we may be unwittingly working against what we want, failing ourselves. Successful prayer may have everything to do with how well we focus the creative power of consciousness and the level of positive energy we generate.

Here may lie the true secret of prayer.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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COULD YOU BECOME A LIFE MASTER?

Many of us may think that life mastery is an unrealistic goal, yet I think everyone should make it their key goal in life.

Here’s why:  Wouldn’t you rather to be a master of a game, sport or occupation than be poor at it?  I think we all would.  But many of us may think it’s too hard, or that we don’t have enough talent, or that mastery means becoming great or the best or perfect.  And this is not possible for most of us.  So it may not seem worth the effort to even try.

But it is worth the effort.  For even if we only achieve a degree of mastery at something, we’re much better off. For we gain more control, success and satisfaction with each step we take, no matter how small.

To bring about mastery, we simply need to keep making a little progress, week after week.  Then, given enough time, we’re sure to achieve a level of mastery.

Now you might ask, “But if I barely have what it takes to master just one thing, how can I expect to master all of life?  Isn’t that expecting too much?”  

Not at all.  Because life mastery is achieved by mainly developing only one thing  -- one’s consciousness. Once we realize this, achieving life mastery is much more conceivable. 

It’s our state of consciousness that makes the difference in everything we do.

Once we know this and focus primarily on improving our state of consciousness, we’ll surely move toward life mastery -- which essentially is the ability to live with great satisfaction and ease. And what can be more important than that? 

So don’t sell yourself short. Aim for nothing less than life mastery and give life your best shot!

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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