Editor's note:

Christian minister Malcolm Smith, in one of his taped sermons, offers valuable understanding about the dysfunctional modern "churchianity" view of prayer.

we beat on our drums to get god's attention

In his younger years, Malcolm spent time in Africa as a missionary. In one of the villages, he encountered a great deal of drum-beating and wild dancing. He asked the village elders what all the commotion was about. Their response went something like:

"We're trying to get the attention of our gods. We know they don't like us very much, and don't really care about our situation. So we beat our drums and do our dances to flatter the gods, to worship and praise them, so that they'll take notice of us and maybe help us."

Is this not a sad state of affairs? How thoroughly pagan - like a child whining and fretting, tugging on the skirt of Mummy to force her attention. But we should not haughtily feel superior to the primitives; you may already have discerned Malcolm's point - how similar is the modern Church's viewpoint of prayer.

Most people can't just walk in a field and silently commune with Divine Intelligence and know that all is well in hand; ready to receive whatever it is that God would have receive. Instead, we have to "beat our drums," "bang our pots," and "do our dances" by contacting many others to pray for our need, sending out a prayer-bulletin, by engaging in complicated formularies of masses, prayer sessions, fastings, hosannas and hallelujahs, praise-worship-flattery, pilgrimages, deal-making with heaven, vows, giving money, sending in Mary to convince the angry Father - all designed to "get the attention" of a god whom we believe doesn't really like us all that much.

standing in line to be heard

This pagan god is as charming as the woman in Frank and Nancy Sinatra's song, Something Stupid, who disdains terms of endearment, contemptuously makes her petitioner stand-in-line until she deigns to "spend an evening with me," but, even when his prayers are answered and they "go dancing," he knows that "she might not be leaving with me," so fickle is she that he could be ignored and replaced that very evening! but, if he puts up with this kind of insult, he needs to think about his own neediness which is underwriting and allowing this disrespect - and then cut his losses, and her presence, from his life, and to do this quickly.

you will not be heard for your much speaking

How thoroughly pagan is all this drum-beating and pot-banging; and how contrary to simple and plain New Testament teaching of "Do not think that you will be heard for your much speaking"; or the apostle Paul's advice of "Let your simple yes be yes and your no be no," with no need for embellishment.

#1 Dr. Gary Schwartz: detecting the presence of light-radiating Spirit-entities in a biophoton laboratory.

The following experiment, conducted by Professor Gary Schwartz, University of Arizona, is elegant in its simplicity, easy to understand, yet offers some of the most potent empirical evidence for the existence of an afterlife.

"What happened next I witnessed with my own two eyes. In watching hundreds of hours of outputs, I rarely saw photon sums above 50-75. I was now seeing a 173-unit photon, and it occurred shortly after I had [silently] asked [invisible Spirit entities] to make a big [display of light]."

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immature prayer is a form of "choice," the dysfunctional gimmee-gimmee; but the advanced person no longer "chooses" at all, but instead atunes oneself with Universal Intelligence, thereby allowing "the answer" simply to come

On the "Reincarnation" page, where I explain its many errors, I explore the question, "Is reincarnation a personal choice?" as many believe it to be.

You are invited to read the entire discussion there, however, I came to see that the Higher Self no longer chooses anything, in this world or the next. Instead, it accesses God's mind, brings itself into alignment with it, and by this atunement, is led in the right direction.

Editor's note: I make an issue of "this world or the next" because there are a lot people on the other side who have not yet found their "true selves," causing them to "pray for" and "choose" worlds which merely reflect their egoic states of mind.

The following is an excerpt from the "Reincarnation" page:

As our “eyes open,” we’ll stop making “choices” and simply allow the answer to come to us. It is only the Ego that wants to “choose.” It will attempt to choose in all aspects of life, in this world and the next, until we get our heads right, including the area of “R” ...

Everything the Ego touches eventually turns to tears, brings no satisfaction, leads to existential crisis, comes to nothing -- but for the chaos it creates. The Higher Self does not “choose,” in any area of life, in this world or the next. 

enlighten the Deity – then ask for a favor

The following is channeled information from the other side, received during WWII, via the mediumship of Winifred Willard, reported in “From The Seventh Plane, Inter-World Messages” (1946):

I was given to prayer while I was on the earth plane. It was the mainstay of my spirit. I thought I knew something of what it meant to pray and get results... But prayer as I knew it and as most earth people know it, even those who lean the most upon it, is as different as day is from night, compared with prayer as we here [in the afterlife] know and practice it.

enlighten the Deity, then ask for a favor - is this a joke

Editor’s note: This afterlife person pinpoints the farcical essence of what passes for “prayer” in our world: “inform the Eternal of a problem, then ask for something nice.”

On the earth plane, much prayer seeks to enlighten the Deity and then ask favors of Him… As I see it now in perspective related to my own life, I did not gain more than a small proportion of the strength and growth for my needs that I should have done, because I did not know how to pray.

Prayer to avail, should lift us out of ourselves [out of the false self] toward God … acknowledging His power for every need, committing our every problem to Him, laying aside every problem [having] committed it, trusting in Him...

the essence of true prayer is communion, constant contact

In sweetest essence, prayer is communion. It need not be uttered aloud. It reaches into the deepest places of the human heart...

just listening, just waiting

Prayer! It has nothing to do with long and formal petitions heard in public worship… Real prayer, the kind I covet for you, is in quiet, with the door of the spirit closed to the outside world, where the spirit opens itself in joyful surrender to the presence of the Holy One; not speaking; just listening; just waiting for whatever word or spirit of comfort or peace or love [might come].

caught in fearful perceptions, trapped in worries, that we will not find happiness

excerpts from the writings of physicist Peter Russell, "From Science To God"

In every moment I have a choice as to how I see a situation. I can see it through the eyes caught in the materialistic mindset that worries whether or not I am going to get what I think will make me happy.  Alternatively, I can choose to see it through eyes free from the dictates of this thought system.

prayer as panic-button, when we believe we will not get what we need to "make me happy"

But it is not always easy to make that choice. Once I’ve been caught by a fearful perception, I’m seldom aware there could even be another way of seeing things. I think my reality is the only reality.

Sometimes, however, I recognize there could be another way of seeing things, but I don’t know what it is. I can’t make the shift on my own; I need help. But where do I go for help? Other people are as likely to be caught in this thought system as I am [meaning, they can’t help me]. The place to go for help is deep within, to that level of consciousness that lies beyond the materialistic mindset – to the God within. I have to ask God for help. I have to pray.

do not pray for the world to change

When I pray in this way, I am not asking for divine intervention by an external God. I am praying to the divine presence within… Moreover, I am not praying for the world to be different than it is. I am praying for a different perception of the world. I am asking for divine intervention where it really counts – in the mindsets that govern my thinking.

“No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.” Albert Einstein

The results never cease to impress me. Invariably, I find my fears and judgment drop away. In their place is a sense of ease. Whoever or whatever was troubling me I now see through more loving and compassionate eyes.

we are not to pray that someone might love us; this is an impossible request

"When The Summer Is Through" (1966)

“When The Summer Is Through” is an emotionally-moving song about a couple, presumably, college students, who’ve parted for the summer months. “I’ll wait for you,” he laments, “so impatiently.” Moreover, he prays that she will be of the same mind upon reunion “when the summer is though.”

However, it does no good to pray that she will want you as much in September. God and the Guides cannot work with such requests. How could it be otherwise? For some external force, even Divinity itself, to tamper with the volitional attributes of one “made in the image” would be to diminish and violate one’s very humanity. No one in Summerland, or highest Heaven, would ever do such a thing, and so any appeal for her to “still feel the same when the summer is through,” of absolute necessity, must be tabled with no action forthcoming.

Editor’s note: Would you really want someone who needed coaxing and arm-twisting? There’s a Star Trek: Next Generation episode featuring a young girl, a member of “The Q.” She falls for Riker, but he has no feelings for her. Desperate to be accepted, she employs her formidable powers to cause him to seek for her, even against his will. She quickly abandons the effort, however, as the emptiness of it all soon overtakes her.

The point is, when we pray, our requests must not violate sacred personhood, the capacity for free will, free choice, and the responsibility of living one’s own life. Any supplication, by an observing third party, sincere as it may be, which countermands this “prime directive” of the universe, will not rise even as high as a room’s ceiling. 

See Father Benson's instruction on how the Spirit World deals with our prayers.

a Course In Miracles and its instruction on prayer 

It is not necessary to tell Him [God] what to do. He cannot fail. Where He can enter [to effect what you desire], there He is already.

Mark well this precept from the Course In Miracles as it is the truth. If some good thing can be done for us, then God and his agents, the Spirit Guides, are already johnny-on-the-spot working on it. We don't even have to ask for it. It's already being worked on; if, indeed, such request fulfilled would be in our best interests.

But this isn’t the view of the average religious person, of almost whatever religion. With these, you need to twist God’s arm. He’s so detached, don’t you know, he sleeps a lot and can hardly be bothered to help you. To get his attention you need prayer warriors, prayer chains, prayer wheels, prayer alerts, prayer bulletins, prayer newsletters, prayer something-else, round-the-clock intercessions, masses, all-night prayer-chanting vigils, mindless-memorized prayer recitation, special rogation days of supplication, or whatever other pot-banging contrivance might be employed to lobby and rouse a complacent God.

formulas, programs, and advice - all peddling techniques for getting what you want from God

"The world is filled with so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. [God] knows better than you what you need." (Matt. 6:7,8, The Message)

All of these prayer-schemes do not represent reality and will not score points for our case. When our prayers are not answered, then, we can know, (1) whatever we want is not good for us, or (2) it’s the wrong time for it, (3) we need to learn other lessons right now, and, the big one, (4) we’re not prepared to receive.

This last item is the real issue. The real problem of unanswered prayer is not on God’s side, as his team is already right in there, if it can or should be done. The real problem is on our side. We're not ready; we’re immature; we’d make a hash of it; like winning the lottery, it would ruin us.

The needy-little ego has created this lobbying-effort view of prayer, that of ganging up on God to get our own way - as if God didn't care about us; as if God could be schmoozed into making a deal; and, as if we even knew what was good for us.

the problem with “prayer as asking” is that we have no idea what our true needs are

We ask for health, for more money, for a mate, for this-or-that, but what do we really know? Maybe our current state of diminishment is exactly what we need for our spiritual development.

The best prayer is “thy will be done,” that is, committing our lives to One who knows what we truly need.

See Adrian Smith’s article on this subject.

'praying always' is a form of instant communication with God offering real answers 

Elenchus. This whole subject of prayer is so misrepresented.

Kairissi. To most people, it just means “give me this, give me that.”

E. And if that’s all it is, then prayer becomes a tool of the ego, a doomed effort to fill up the inner sense of “I am not enough.”

K. But Elenchus, what can we say about this? What’s the right way for an enlightened person to approach this?

E. Well, we do have Paul’s admonition to “pray always.”

K. We’ve stated that this means “remain in constant contact, constant communion with God.” And that’s fine, but what does this really mean? I say this because, well, we’re still very human, flesh and blood, and if we bump our toe on the furniture in the dark, we feel pain. What this means is, we have real needs, we feel that we must ask for things. How do we reconcile this “prayer as asking” versus the more lofty “pray always”?

in all of our eternal lives, we'll never be more likely to pray than when we're missing the one we love most

E. I have to admit, this was a real question for me. For a long time I was confused; and angry, I guess. I didn’t want to just “ask and ask” as that seemed petty and dysfunctional to me, and so, for some years, I didn’t really pray much at all.

K. What happened then?

E. I can’t really say. We’ve learned from spiritual teachers, like Krishnamurti, that “truth is a pathless land,” and you can’t just reduce “finding the truth”, or learning how to pray, to a handy set of “seven laws of success.” It doesn’t work that way.

K. But then, how does it work? Let’s give our readers at least something to go on here.

E. Even though there’s no “approved method” or sure-fire way, I’ll share a bit of what happened to me. But, before I do, let me jump all the way to the final scene. I want to explain what Paul’s phrase “pray always” means; at least, what it means to me, and how it worked out in my life.

K. We would like to know, even if the process unfolds a little differently for each person.

E. The best way I can explain is to bring it all down to a personal situation in my life. Some years ago now, when we were apart, and I didn’t know when – or, really, if -- I’d see you again. I’m sure that was the darkest time of my entire existence. And, I realized that, if I survived the ordeal, my time of missing you so much was the worst kind of pain I could ever experience, in this world or the next, even a million years from now.

K. (silence)

late-night hard-bargaining with God

E. The author uses the phrase “the hermitical years of late-night hard-bargaining with God.” I know what that means. I did that almost every night. I would make my case to God, pleading that either my life should be taken – as it wasn’t worth living without you – or to give me some sort of indication that you still loved me, or that you at least thought of me, or something, anything, to give me hope for the future.

K. (sighing)

E. And I remember thinking, “This is pretty useless. How could this prayer even be answered?” At the time, you were far away, unable to freely communicate, and so I wondered, how could this prayer-request ever “see the light of day” and not be “stopped at the ceiling of my bedroom”? I despaired of receiving any sort of an answer from God concerning you.

K. (very softly) And what did you learn from all this misery and heartache?

it's not a puzzle to be worked out with great effort

E. The answer simply came to me in an unguarded moment. I wasn’t trying to “work out the puzzle” of us, there was no strenuous effort. What happened was, suddenly, I just “saw” how it worked. Usually, I would call this an “insight,” but this was more - I see it as mystical “revelation.”

K. (softly) And what did you “see”, Elenchus?

E. It’s not easy to explain. As we’ve discussed, a “revelation” is non-transferable, it’s for the recipient alone, and others will need to seek for their own “private tutoring” from God. However, I will try to explain. I received an answer from God, about you, and about us, but not via conventional means. I was granted my insight by way of “praying always”, that is, “communion with God” of which Paul speaks. But, this doesn’t really tell you much. So let me say this: When we “live in the spirit,” as Paul used the phrase, when we live from the “true self,” the inner link to God at the core of being, then, when we ask a question, we’ll be given a general sense of “right or wrong,” of “good or bad”, or “within the will of God or not.”

K. And what did you see that was “within the will of God”?

E. When we pose a question, we will sense – what I call – an “inner resonance”.

K. And what does this “inner resonance” feel like?

E. It feels like – absolute certainty. It feels like “there’s not a doubt in my mind.” It feels like “I may not be happy right now, because happiness is linked to happenings – and you’re not here, so I can’t be ‘happy’ – but, even so, I feel an inner joy, and, along with the joy, there’s not a particle of worry in my spirit about the future concerning us.”

K. (silence)

E. I will even go so far as to say that, if one does this the right way - it's not possible to be wrong. I have tested this for many years now, and I have learned that, if I leave the ego out of this, and "get a good reading" from my inner sacred self, with "no static on the line," I have never been led astray.

Editor's note: see the article on "certainty".

E. Now, I’d experienced this “inner resonance” for some years. This was not new to me. But, what was new -- and this is what I learned during the “revelation” – is that the “inner resonance” is God’s way of communicating with us concerning a generalized sense of “thumbs up” or “thumbs down,” if you see what I mean.

K. And so, if I understand correctly, for many years you actually had been receiving answers to your prayers from God, but you didn’t realize they were answers.

E. I was still looking for some external sign. I had received the “inner resonance” about us – a “thumbs up” – but I couldn’t accept this as an actual answer from God, just to me.

K. (small smile) You couldn’t accept yes for an answer.

E. (smiling) I guess so.

K. Actually, Elenchus, this is an amazing point of understanding. It means that not only are we connected to God via “praying always” but it’s actually a form of communication that can be translated into directives for our lives.

E. Once we see how this works, it’s a real game changer. It’s a “private tutoring, “ a “private communication” from heaven - marked "for your eyes only."

K. Elenchus, this "instant communication" reminds me of the debate about "entangled particles," able to affect each other, no matter the separating distance.

E. The great quantum fathers went back-and-forth on this.

K. But, as we often do, let me play “devil’s advocate” and bring up objections some will have. We know that this mystical process has no hope of working unless one is very honest with oneself in terms of sacred introspection. You've made bold statements concerning "it's not possible to be wrong if this is done correctly." But, the critics will say, “He’s just talking to himself, it’s just wishful thinking.”

E. Yes, that will be said.

why do you doubt your senses

K. This moment, coming to mind is that line from Dickens’ “Scrooge.” He’s talking to his old partner Jacob Marley, now a ghost, and exclaims, You’re just an illusion, “there’s more gravy than of the grave” in you; why you’re nothing more than “an undigested bit of beef” or “a fragment of an old potato.” Elenchus, our materialistic critics will judge you similarly, and how will you respond?

Star Trek's Data playing the role of Scrooge

E. I will answer as Marley did: “Why do you doubt your senses?” By this I refer to one’s higher senses, one’s critical faculties, whose foundation is not the dysfunctional ego but the deeper inner-person linked to God. This sacred part of us cannot lead us astray.

K. All this is most instructive. Some spiritual teachers say that God communicates with us via synchronicities, chance happenings, the improbability of which suggests an invisible Guiding Hand. And, while I think synchronicities do occur and are, in fact, a method by which Spirit might get our attention, the “inner resonance” is, by far, the normal, natural, and daily way by which God “speaks” to us.

E. I think this is correct. And let’s make very clear that the sense of “absolute certainty” is not something we drum-up for ourselves, by ourselves; in fact, it has nothing to do with one's own effort and "trying very hard". The “inner resonance” is an effortless and easy natural by-product of our communion with God.

K. A natural by-product of, Paul’s phrase, “praying always.”

E. Absolutely.

K. Elenchus, you were going to say a word about how one might develop this “inner resonance”.

E. There’s not much to say on this. All I can offer is, as we learn to “open a channel” to God, as we allow “surrender and acceptance,” then, like a rosebud opening to the sunlight, we begin to unfold to the energy of the Spirit. As we experience this “openness,” many gifts, long buried within the soul, come to the fore; not the least of which is a sense of instant communication with the Great Spirit.

trust yourself

K. We should also mention that, once this process begins, we'll need to trust ourselves - the "true self," not the ego. This is what Scrooge failed to do.

E. And it's what I failed to do for a long time - when I "couldn't take yes for an answer."

K. (small smile) 

K. As footnote to the above, I’d like to offer comment on what we’ve called the perfect prayer – “thy will be done.” A desire to live and express the divine will is not only commendable but a guarantor of success for our lives. However, in light of what we’ve discussed concerning the “inner resonance,” “thy will be done” can also represent, not just God's but, one’s own will being done.

E. This is a valuable insight, Kriss. Say more on this.

K. As we “go within” to explore our inner link with God, we find that what we call our “true self” is not a stand-alone entity but, in reality, a joint life with God; or, maybe it’s better to say that our authentic selves are individualized expressions of God. The effect of this union is that, when we determine the will of God, then, in a very real sense, we are delineating our own sacred desires.

E. They’re linked, they’re one. This is the origin of the "inner resonance." And this is the best prayer because, in effect, we are offering to God, reflecting back to God, willingly and with desire, what God has wanted for us all along.

K. And what we ourselves have wanted all along but, so often, didn't even know it.

K. Elenchus, I’d like to offer a summarizing thought.

E. Please.

K. This whole area of “prayer” is so misunderstood. It’s the proverbial “donkey created by a committee that should have been a horse.” Most people think of prayer as “gimmee, gimmee” – and there’s a place for asking, but asking is really only the very minor part of prayer.

E. It’s strange, isn’t it? We’re told that God and the Guides are already working on giving us everything that we really need and want – even before we know enough to ask for these things.

K. Yes, and this begs the question, so why do we think we have to ask for anything – or, why do we think that “prayer” means asking? Well, we know the answer. It’s the Little-Me Ego that’s so fearful that it will never find happiness; so it has to bang its pots and pans to get God's attention.

E. That is rather pathetic. It doesn’t say much for God.

K. It’s rather insulting, implying that God can’t be trusted to direct our lives.

E. So, Kriss, what would you really like to say about this whole subject?

K. 95% of the time we need to just stop “asking.” We don’t even know what to ask for, we don’t know what we really need to prepare us for eternal life. So, we just need to stop asking. Instead, we need to enter that state of constant contact and “open channel” with God.

E. That’s counter-intuitive. If we picture ourselves in a crisis, we immediately want to start “banging the pots and pans” to get God’s attention.

K. But that’s not how it works. If there’s a real crisis, God and Guides are already all over this for us. They knew about the crisis, could see it coming, long before it hit us. So, to be frank, it’s rather stupid and out-of-alignment with reality to now “use the red phone” to call God in panic about it.

E. So, spell it out for everyone. What should we do when a crisis overwhelms?

K. I’m not saying that we can’t ask for something. We’re human, and we’re in relationship with God, so we should talk about what’s happening. But, after this is done, the main thing we need to do is simply that of opening our spirits to what God is communicating during a time of trial. What are we to learn? What are we to see?

E. As you speak just now, I’m reminded of the many psalms in the Old Testament that say, in effect, “Quiet your worried mind. Just stop. See the salvation of the Lord. Rest in the lovingkindness of the will of God.”

K. Very good. This "salvation" is often not of material substance. There is no "health and wealth gospel." We didn't come to this world to necessarily have our bodily needs answered. That's for the next world. Right now we're supposed to learn how to "open a channel".

E. - to "pray always".

K. Elenchus, let's offer an example that everyone will understand. We're all looking for love and for that true mate. But it really does no good to enter into that "late-night hard-bargaining with God." God already knows that we want and need a Darling Companion, and, in general terms, it's already being worked on for us. So, what's holding up the process? Nothing on God's side of the equation. The real answer as to why we might not have found our true mate yet is that we're not ready. We're not spiritual enough to receive that ultimate gift. To remedy this deficit, we need to put away "prayer as asking" and adopt "prayer as attunement."