Many kinds of prayer exist across the cultures of the world. All have their place and usefulness in our lives with varying degrees of effectiveness. But making prayer more effective comes from accessing Spirit deep within us.
I grew up in the Judeo-Christian world (More precisely, Catholic). My earliest exposure to prayer was bowing my head to a deity (I was told existed) outside of myself. Often this God is one whom we believe judged us and rewarded or punished us according to how well we followed our church or religious doctrine.
However, what I eventually came to believe, is that our basic personal concept of prayer depends on whether we see God/Spirit as something outside of us (giving us little control of our lives) or inside of us (giving us the power to live the life of our choosing). Because of this, prayer will mean something different to everyone. Therefore, the concept of prayer will not be so much about COMMUNICATION with Spirit—although prayer can certainly incorporate that—but COMMUNING with Spirit.
Carrying Emotional Baggage
No matter how you pray or what you pray about, we all carry a certain amount of emotional baggage into our prayers. This emotional baggage must be released and replaced for our prayers to be effective.
Effective prayer is not about begging, beseeching, or bargaining with a God or Spirit we do not understand. It’s about moving our minds and emotion to align with the good (desires) we see and feel as already manifesting in our lives.
“When working on transforming our lives, changing our thinking is a great place to start. When we add changing our feelings to the equation, we have the perfect formula for powerful manifestation.” ~ Science of Mind Magazine, July 2018
The beseeching or begging style of prayer is mostly less effective as it comes from a misplaced emotion. Focusing on eliminating the negatives in our lives – often where traditional prayer starts – does not invoke those positive emotions for designing prayer that meets our inner needs. Since this conventional approach implies that your life IS negative, it becomes its own programming.
When I beg an entity or God ‘out there’ for a particular thing or outcome rather than searching for God/Spirit within myself, my prayers offer less potential to be effective. Replacing begging with gratitude, acceptance, and forgiveness (including self-forgiveness to the belief that I am whole, perfect, and complete as I am), I discovered peace and joy that opened my heart and mind to receive from Spirit what is ours to cherish and enjoy.
If you are interested in learning how to pray more effectively, check out this information