What is Prayer to you? Is it a feeling or is it a set of words? Is it on your knees or laying in bed? Is it looking at the beauty of nature or is it a special place? Is it Active or is it Passive?
Sometimes prayer is a passive thing, like asking of favors from your God. Sometimes it is a form of therapy, like talking out all your problems to your God, hoping for guidance. Sometimes prayer is an active thing, like wanting to change your life and then taking steps to do just that. Yes, prayer can be just that...
Prayer is usually defined as a meditation with a God/s. We come to the Spirit often asking for things and the action of asking and the subsequent relief or weight lifted from our being leads us to believe that the Spirit has "heard our prayers". We ask for all sorts of favors or to heal or to help. We ask for forgiveness when we have hurt someone or done something wrong. This is Passive Prayer. It is good it feels great.
If, after you have asked for forgiveness from your God/s, you go out and say you're sorry to the person you hurt, that is Active Prayer. It feels even better.
When I went to my Catholic Church I would pray fervently to my God. I felt that if I prayed well and long with the rosary or with the Bible He would hear me. I felt that prayer was enough. God would answer my prayers, not always in a positive way but I felt at peace knowing that He was watching out for me and my requests. I felt that He would not steer me wrong and prayer helped me be one with this. For me that is where prayer stopped.
When I went to Circle I would pray fervently too. I would light candles (like I did at church) and I would ask favors. The key difference to me was in Circle I couldn't "stop praying" I had to take it a step further. This is also known in Circles as Spellcasting. Really! Its True! Spellcasting, or Prayer, is asking for favors and then changing your behavior to get what it is you want. Here is an example, let's say you wanted a raise. In Church, you could pray that you would get a raise then your could go about your business hoping that this prayer would come true. In Wicca, you would craft a money spell and meditate on it. You could even count coins and put them in the dish with the candle. The next day you could get the energy to look into what to do to help this Spell along. Maybe its asking your boss for what you could do to get the raise or being mindful of your behavior. Now I am not saying that the above couldn't happen with Passive Prayer. I am saying that for me I got the sense that I should DO something rather than just sit and hope and wish. I found that for me lighting the candles and opening the Bible wasn't enough anymore. I had to take the next step.
I feel that I became more active in my love of God/s. Instead of feeling that He was far away watching me I felt that She was walking with me and guiding me. I became more aware of what I was doing and I tried to change my behavior to get the things that I wanted. Sometimes it worked out very well. Sometimes I had to do more. I would pray harder the next time and I didn't give up hope. I found that God didn't just answer with a yes or a no...sometimes the answer was "Make It Happen".
Blessed Full Moon!
DM
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