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What is the proper kind of prayer? What should we be asking for? The highest form of prayer is communion with God. That is a wordless prayer that is constant, never ending, because you are One with Him. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't pray with words or thoughts. There are different levels to this illusion or dream, and we move through these different layers, which gives us a contrast to what is Real, the undifferentiated One. So prayer with words or thoughts are important rungs on the ladder, but these prayers should be ones of gratitude than ones of asking God for something.
When we pray for something, like prosperity or health, we are putting that which we pray for at a higher level than what we don't want. This reinforces separation. If you pray from your ego and not your true Self, you will be asking for something that is seen through the ego's eyes, eyes of separation. Asking to win the lottery is in the same category as asking to be prosperous, even though it sounds a little toned down. When we pray from gratitude, we are acknowledging our perfection and wholeness as we are. These prayers come from Love. They come from our authentic or true Self.
When you come from that true Self, you are coming from Love, and you don't ask to win the lottery. You know that your happiness lies within, that it lies in your relationship with God. You are already prosperous. You do not lack. When you are grateful for your properity, all of the world's riches come to you. Isn't that amazing. You are not even asking for them, and they come to you because you are grateful for already being prosperous. This is the underpinning of The Secret.
But let's go further. Those riches will come to you, but they will not satisfy you. They will not take care of that hunger, which comes from your longing to return to God's Love. So the next rung on the ladder of prayer is communion. Communion is wordless. It comes from the heart, not the head. Our gratitude prayers came from the heart, but now, with communion, our heart has found its Beloved. There are no words, because God cannot be known through symbols. You are in communion with God, every moment. You can 'feel" that space without end, simply by drawing your attention away from the world to that which you are, which is Love. And you bring your focus back to this communion through your remembrance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Larry Doochin came to understand the joy that exists in simply remembering and relaxing into who we truly are after years of spiritual study and therapy for childhood abuse and alienation. Larry currently lives in Nashville with his wife and four children and works in his family's printing business. Visit www.iamthereforeiam.net for more information on Larry's book I Am Therefore I Am: Finding God in Our Heart , to read Larry's blog, and find a schedule of Larry's ongoing radio appearances and workshop events.
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