Aloha,
I'm Reverend Cindy Palos and I'm going to talk about a subject that I don't hear a lot of talk about.
Prayers.
Now I see requests for prayers every single day.
All you have to do in these COVID-19 days is go on Facebook or any of your sites and people will be asking for prayers.
There's been such a need for prayers.
And I often wonder when there's a request for prayers and people put the little prayer sign up there,
Little hands together,
And maybe a caring emoji.
How much time does someone really spend when they do that in praying for the person?
Now I've known a couple of times when I was really going through times where I needed prayers and I have to say some of the prayers I really,
Really could feel.
And I know that you have the power in numbers.
So if something happens that's a loss of a loved one or some major situation or a friend's in the hospital and you ask for prayers and you have maybe 150 people who are praying for you,
Or if you have a prayer network,
Maybe many,
Many more,
I do believe that that number of people praying can certainly make a difference.
But today I want to talk about the way you pray and how you go about it.
In the Bible it says,
Whatever you ask for in prayers,
Believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
And that's an important key.
And in the Bible there are many important keys and sometimes we don't always find those keys but believe that you've received it.
Now that's the same attitude you have in an affirmation,
Right?
Anything in positive thinking you believe that you've received it.
So if you were going to take your prayer with that attitude,
You would then take away the thought when you pray about someone really being in dire straits and being in a terrible situation you would believe that that prayer has already been received.
And how do you do this?
You do this by turning it out of your control and turning it over to God.
And I use often in my talks at the end of my talks a prayer that's an Hawaiian prayer that you say after a prayer,
A mama,
A mama,
Ua noa,
The prayer is freed.
And I had someone ask me once,
What does that mean?
What does the prayer is free mean?
Well that's almost the same thing I was saying.
Once you have said a prayer,
You release it,
You turn it over to God.
That prayer is free.
You don't carry it around.
Now I know some people want you to pray many,
Many times and you'll have requests for doing prayers every day.
And I will.
I know for people that have asked for prayers in the morning and at night.
But there's this conversation that happens.
This ability to talk to God that happens in a prayer.
And there's this other factor that's so important is your relationship with God.
Now some people don't have a real relationship with God and they only pray when they're in really,
Really desperate dire straits and they need some help.
And that doesn't mean the prayer won't work.
Many people believe that God already knows what you need before you ask for it.
But I do think there's a power in having that open channel in the conversation in your relationship and asking for God.
Asking for protection,
Asking for healing,
Asking for guidance leaves you open to receive that.
You really should not be afraid to ask for help.
God is always there for you.
And there is that light when you connect to that feeling and the energy of God that you can call upon.
Now of course I believe life works best when you're in constant awareness of your connection to God.
And I've practiced the metaphysical path since I've been 13 years old.
And in the metaphysical way of doing it,
Prayers aren't spoken in desperation or as pleas.
They're a way to actually put the energy out there in that communication you have with God.
And a very important key also is knowing and remembering to ask that it's for the highest will.
I mean,
Try to imagine for a moment what would happen if everyone who prayed for something had their prayers come true.
There's so many consequences to things that we have no idea about,
That we have no bigger – that we can't see the whole picture.
And we may be praying for something that isn't for the best,
For ourselves or for others.
So it's one of those things that you just have to kind of make a habit of it because many people won't say in a prayer if it's for the highest good.
If you can,
Fine.
But if you can't,
Just remember that intention that that prayer is going to God,
Not to the person,
But going to God for the highest good of that person.
If it's going to God and then it goes to the soul of the other person.
Now I think many people just send positive energy when they say it's a prayer and they send positive energy,
Almost like reiki,
Long distance reiki,
Healing,
Which is fine,
You know.
I mean,
There's nothing wrong with that.
Sending energy and healing is the way that can work,
But that's more like sending light and love.
That isn't the same thing as a prayer,
Is it?
I mean,
Although these days more and more I know that people are just,
When they see a request from something on social media,
They just send that person,
You know,
Some light and love,
Some healing energy.
And that can make a difference,
But if you really are going to the source and if you're asking the Lord to help you,
Then you can make that connection and also be open to receive some energy back,
Almost like you've got a yes.
It's hard to describe when you get a yes from God,
But it's almost as if something clicks.
I had a very,
Very close friend who had a stroke and I have this wonderful relationship with Mother Mary.
I had a vision of her once and she came to me and I've written a book called Mystical Mother Marian.
I really know that Mother Mary is the Divine Feminine Principle and she's doing great work and is prayed to all around the world,
More in Europe than we see in America.
You know,
In Europe you see cathedrals dedicated to Notre Dame and others are dedicated to Mother Mary.
But Mother Mary and I feel like this relationship I have built up with Mother Mary.
Now,
Some people in religion say you only pray to God.
I pray to Mother Mary as well.
And my friend had a stroke and had to go to the hospital and I was there in the emergency room and it was a typical stroke where half of the face was drooping and the words were slurred.
I was almost shut on one side and the doctors said,
Well,
This is a stroke and it could be a prelude to a greater stroke and all the machines are hooked up.
So I just start praying to Mother Mary and I'm there in prayer.
After one hour,
Total,
Total back to normal.
My friend could talk.
The drooping was gone out of the face and the mouth and the eyes was back to normal.
The speech was back to normal and the doctors came in and I said,
Look it,
He's back to normal.
And they said,
Well,
This is just a prelude.
We said there's going to be more.
So this is just a beginning and there's probably a bigger stroke on the way and we're going to submit him to the hospital and he's going to have to do some tests and all of that.
And I said,
And he said no.
And they got very upset.
Doctors do not like to be told no.
God bless them.
I love doctors.
I really do and they're doing great work.
But I had one doctor say to me,
How are you going to feel in the morning when he's dead and you wake up and you find he's dead and it was your fault?
And actually said that to me because you didn't admit him to the hospital.
But you know what?
I knew it was okay.
And there's no way I could have told the doctor and the doctor could have understand that the prayers worked.
But I knew it and he knew it and of course they did work and he didn't die the next morning and they still demanded that he do all the other tests and he didn't.
You know,
It was better.
There was no follow-up stroke or any problems.
Now,
That doesn't always happen.
If you have a broken bone or a heart attack or anything like that,
Of course you want to go to the doctor and check everything out.
But prayers do happen and miracles do happen.
And I have seen prayers work time and time again for me.
Some people don't believe that prayers work,
But I know that they do.
I've had too many cases,
Way too often,
Where I've had these prayers answered.
And when you have those prayers answered,
You develop faith and trust.
Now,
The problem is,
Prayers aren't always answered.
And people can get very,
Very,
Very angry when the prayers are not answered and the person passes away or something happens that they don't want to have happen.
And people resent that.
They feel betrayed by God.
But you know what?
Sometimes you can't control the karma,
The path,
The timing,
And what is supposed to be.
And just as often as prayers might be answered,
There probably are times prayers are not answered the way you want them to be.
And the other thing that's important to remember about prayers is they are not on the same timetable we are.
When people have prayers,
Sometimes they're very impatient and they want the answered prayers to happen right away.
Sometimes it takes time.
There's a different timetable that happens in God's time.
So you have to be patient sometimes as well.
Now,
Prayers are really a wonderful tool to use because I do prayers and they're a personal thing and I share them often.
But truly,
It's me asking for God's help when I can't really do it on my own.
And I also feel when I do that,
That the burden is taken off my shoulder.
When I am asking for help,
Like just when you ask anyone for help,
You feel you're really not alone and you aren't when you have a relationship with God.
You can have that communication with that spirit.
Prayers are powerful,
Beautiful things and there's so many ways and so many styles and different religions have different attitudes about prayers,
Right?
So there's no one way that really works.
It's you.
It's the way you talk.
It's the way you communicate.
But it should be coming from your heart.
There's one thing to say something from your mind and there's one way to say something from your heart.
And coming from your heart is very,
Very important.
And in a way,
Your whole life should be your prayer to God.
Your life is an answered prayer.
And think about the way you would have your life live if you realized it was a prayer from God for you.
And think about the way you do talk to God.
Are you begging or are you just having a communication?
Do you believe when you ask for God that it's being received?
Do you believe that it's there already?
It's important to look at some of these things and really take them into yourself.
I find that prayers help if I go into meditation first.
Why would that be?
Well,
You probably already know the answer.
Because we have pretty busy minds and when we're having our mind chatter away and talking,
We don't have a clear,
Quiet space to make that communication with God.
And I do believe we're much closer to God when we're in the silence,
When we go inside,
When we have some time to make that interconnection.
So ask yourself,
If you could pray and you really want that prayer to be heard,
How would you pray?
How would you communicate?
How would you send that prayer?
How clear would your message be?
Now we know from affirmations the power of positive thinking.
So another fact in prayer to think about is not including a negative part of the prayer in the prayer.
An example would be,
Don't let my friend die.
You're already putting don't in there and you're putting die in there.
It would be much more effective to ask for healing,
Perfect healing.
Ask God if it's for the highest good,
Please send the healing energy to make my friend completely healed in the best way possible,
In the highest way possible.
This is something that you have to think about because a lot of times your prayer may be something that is not phrased in a positive sense.
So when you're trying to think of phrasing your prayer,
Communicating your prayer,
Be aware of that power of that energy and also be open to feeling the response,
Getting the message back from God.
What do you feel?
What do you receive when you say that prayer?
Does it communicate?
Does it click?
Do you feel like you were talking to God?
Another real important key about prayers is expect miracles.
Expect wonderful things to happen.
If you're in that emergency room and praying but you really don't think it's possible and you're believing what the doctors say,
You're limiting what God can do.
So expect the good to happen when you ask for the good to happen.
Remember to ask if it's for the highest good.
I've had prayers answered that I've spoken and asked to God before for people in pretty bad shape in the hospital.
And it was interesting.
One time they didn't expect them to live and they made a comeback but they were in a coma.
More prayers,
More prayers,
Prayer groups.
They came out of the coma for about a week but then they had speech problems and couldn't communicate.
And it was determined if that person were to live they would be most likely having to stay in full-time assisted care living.
Oh,
I heard that one.
The door just slid.
That's God talking.
And they would have to be in assisted care living.
So a few days later the person died.
But I think it was a friend's husband and I think my friend realized that it would not have been for the best if that person,
Her husband,
Had been having to live in a semi-coma state in an assisted care place even though he was alive.
And so when he passed on it she understood that it was probably for the best.
And that's a hard thing to accept because we never want anyone to die.
But sometimes it is for the best.
And so we have to take into consideration there's a lot of factors to every prayer.
I wrote a poem called Your Life is Your Prayer.
In the living and surviving,
Dealing and acting out of life,
It's important to hold on to love and put it in your heart as your motivation,
Remembering your purpose,
And choose to live with God's love in your life.
It's the key to being able to enjoy the beauty and the miracle of creation.
And as you learn to live with love you are able to share it in your life with words to express how you see and feel it.
You'll be able to be that love in life.
Be alive in that love.
Let it live in the light of your soul while using this plane of existence to be a place that is reflecting the soul's purpose.
Honor your life.
Love those who surround you and live here.
And learn from this life as you would.
Learn from your meditation.
For your life is your prayer.
Your love is your way to pray.
And I say a few prayers every day.
One of the prayers I say,
And I do often hear,
Is the Aramaic Lord's Prayer because it's such a beautiful prayer.
The Lord's Prayer was in Aramaic,
Of course,
First and then translated.
The Aramaic Lord's Prayer says,
Father,
Mother of the cosmos,
Shimmering light of all,
Focus your light within us as we breathe your holy breath.
Enter the sanctuary of our hearts,
Uniting within us the sacred rays of your power and beauty.
Let your heart's desire unite heaven and earth through our sacred union.
Help us to fulfill what lies within the circle of our lives today.
Forgive our secret fears as we freely choose to forgive the secret fears of others.
Let us not enter into forgetfulness,
Tempted by false appearances.
For from your astonishing fire comes the eternal song,
Which sanctifies all,
Renewed eternally in our lives and throughout creation.
We seal these words in our hearts,
Committed in trust and faith.
And as I always say,
A mama,
A mama,
Ua noa,
The prayer is free.
May you find comfort and solace in prayers,
And may you really take your prayers into your heart of hearts and find it a great way to communicate with God,
To help other people as well,
And to help yourself.
God bless you and be with you always.
