Prayer is a huge part of my spiritual and work regimen.
Before I work with a client, or teach a class or lead a drum circle, I ask who I've come to call Great Spirit to join in the work. It's more of an acknowledgement rather than a plea: My feeling is Great Spirit (or God or Universe, et al) is always present anyway, so this is a way of reminding me and who I am working with that Spirit is present.
I pray for relief when feeling down, yet I also pray when I'm doing well. Sometimes a murmured "Thank you!" seals in the gratitude of the moment. I also can feel when prayers are sent my way, or when people are sending prayers for those needing compassion and care.
There are times when this sensitive soul feels physically horrible and I cannot for the life of me figure out why, and so I figure something is going down soon in the world: a tsunami, or 911, or the recent mass shooting by a young teen in nearby Marysville WA. I usually feel awful about 12 to 24 hours in advance of the event. When I figure out that the symptoms have little to do with my personal health, I go into prayer mode. Here's my standard prayer: I pray for compassion for those left behind, ease of transition for those leaving, and for the highest and best outcome for all concerned.
The gift is this: Although I might feel sad about the impending event, I always feel physically better after the prayer, and I can continue on with my life.: It all counts in good measure. ..or does it?
I know there are those of you--and me too at times---who wonder if praying is doing any good. Great question, and one that I'd love to answer with all the wisdom I can muster. So, a few days ago, I thought I would find some recent research on the power of prayer to scientifically "back up" what I know. I didn't realize the search would cause writer's block.
In the 1990's and early 2000's, there was a host of exciting news on the prayer front. Favorite books on my shelf were and still continue to be books by Dr Larry Dossey, MD: Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine (1993) Be Careful What You Pray For (You Just Might Get it) (1996), and a little book I love because of its elegant succinctness: Prayer is Good Medicine(1996). I picked up the latter book weeks ago, and have been re-savoring it bit by bit: The studies, the perspective...I've been feeling a renewal of confidence in the efficacy of prayer. In it, Dr Dossey affirms:
"Prayer works: More than 130 controlled laboratory studies show, in general, that prayer or a prayer-like state of compassion, empathy, and love can bring about healthful changes in many types of living things, from humans to bacteria. This does not mean that prayer always works, any more than drugs and surgery always work but that, statistically speaking, prayer is effective."
And so it was that when I sat down to write this missive a week ago, I thought it would be great to find newer studies supporting this. And that's when I found reference after reference of studies--big ones too--that did not support the efficacy of prayer: Google those words and see what you come up with. I won't go into details here, but reading Wikipedia and other references gave me a bit of a jolt: Where were the continued "proof" that prayer works? Hence the writers block: how now? I even wrote a letter to the good doctor himself, just to get it out of my system. I said, "...no matter how I Googled it, there were the non-effects or the negative effects of prayers all over the place: I know you know of these studies, including the 2006 STEP research by Dr Benson. All of which leaves me with this: Now what do I say?"
Well, this is what I say to you now; Trust your experience. Trust your knowing. The Scientific Method is not the be all and end all in the search for truth. Truth and Spirit are too vast to be confined to statistical proof, and most certainly are open to lots of statistical error. I love science, I really do--hence the online search . Yet I also know what I know and I love what I know: Prayer does indeed make a difference. Especially prayers that are not just a wish list to an unseen Being.
Prayers are intentions expressed. They are visions of what can be (potential). They are peace-promoting in chaotic times.
We are energy, the Universe is energy...and the Universe is constantly listening and adjusting to the energy we put out. So why not put this out there: Pray for the highest and best for all concerned. Pray for peace. Pray for flowing through your circumstances, rather than struggling against them. Pray in gratitude. Pray in joy. Pray in grief. And most certainly pray in Love....Universal Love. The Love that passeth all understanding...including scientific understanding.
I believe you'll feel better for having offered your prayers whenever the urge occurs.
With love and blessings in all ways, (nice prayer, huh? ) Elke