Pray to be open

It is a common belief that in prayer we are to ask God for something. We ask God to bless our food; to keep us safe; to protect and guide our children; to provide us with house, food and other material things. Many of us, when we feel that our prayers are not being answered, ask harder to the point of begging and supplication, becoming desperate, wondering why God is not giving us the things we ask for.

It occurs to me that if God, or whatever you choose to call the one Higher Power, created and is all, then surely all these things that we are asking for are already provided? If all things are already provided, then there is no need to ask for anything. It’s all there. The food is already blessed; we are already safe; our children are already protected and guided and we are already supplied with all the material things we desire. If this is the case, one may ask, then why don’t we see them manifest in our lives? And that’s the challenge – we don’t see them, we don’t believe that they are already provided. We are in a place of “see it and believe it” rather than “believe it and see it”. HUGE difference!

So what do we pray for then? We can do a prayer of gratitude, giving thanks for the provision of whatever it is that we desire, in this way affirming our certain knowledge and faith that it is already provided. Another prayer is of affirming openness and acceptance of all the good in the universe, with ultimate clarity, no blockages, so that the veils (almost wrote “evil” – hmmm – something to think about) of doubt, of lack of faith, are removed. There is no need to ask or beseech. There is only a need to open and accept. Then we will be able to see that God always provides.