Gate 156: ימ — PRAYER

ימ

Pillar 6: THE PATH

[156:1] "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall

find;

[156:2] knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

[156:3] --- Matthew 7:7

[156:4] "Pray without ceasing."

[156:5] --- 1 Thessalonians 5:17

[156:6] "Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul.

[156:7] It is a daily admission of one's weakness."

[156:8] --- Mahatma Gandhi

[156:9] [156:1] Prayer is conscious communication with the

source---speaking to what cannot be spoken to, listening for what cannot

be heard.

[156:10] [156:2] "Ask, and it shall be given you." Jesus's

invitation is direct: petition the divine and expect response. This is

the simplest understanding of prayer---asking for what you need. But

prayer is more than petition; it is also praise, thanksgiving,

confession, contemplation, and ultimately, union. Asking is where prayer

often begins; it is not where prayer ends.

[156:11] [156:3] The problem with petitionary prayer is obvious:

sometimes the petition is not granted. The child dies despite prayers;

the war is not averted; the suffering continues. Does this mean prayer

doesn't work, or that God doesn't listen, or that we don't understand

what prayer is?

[156:12] [156:4] Prayer works, but not as magic. It changes the

one who prays, aligning their will with deeper will, opening their

perception to what is. Unanswered petition often reveals that what we

asked for was not what we truly needed. "No" is sometimes the answer;

the "no" may be love we cannot yet perceive.

[156:13] [FIGURE 156.1: A figure kneeling in light from

above---light descending but also radiating from the figure's heart.

Caption: "Prayer: connection flows both ways."] [156:5] "Pray

without ceasing." This cannot mean constant verbal petition---no one

can do that. It means maintaining continuous awareness of the divine,

making every act an offering, every breath a prayer. The practice of the

presence of God, walking meditation, centering prayer---these are

methods of unceasing prayer.

[156:14] [156:6] Prayer is resonance (Gate 87). When you pray,

you tune your frequency to the divine frequency. The words (or

wordlessness) are the mechanism; the resonance is the effect. Effective

prayer aligns your vibration with the vibration of truth; ineffective

prayer is static, noise, self-talk disguised as prayer.

[156:15] [156:7] Traditions structure prayer. The Lord's

Prayer, the Shema, the Salat, the rosary, the mala---these are forms

that carry accumulated power. Using traditional forms connects you to

the prayer stream of millions who prayed before you. The form is a

channel worn deep by use; your prayer flows more easily for the wearing.

[156:16] [156:8] Contemplative prayer transcends words. In

centering prayer, you release thoughts and words to rest in naked

awareness of presence. In hesychasm, you repeat the Jesus Prayer until

it prays itself. In zazen, you sit---nothing more---and the sitting

becomes prayer. The deepest prayer is silence in which the soul and its

source commune without intermediary.

[156:17] [156:9] Does God hear prayer? This is not the question.

The question is: does prayer connect you to reality? It does. Does

prayer transform you? It does. Does prayer participate in the unfolding

of events? Mysteriously, perhaps---the traditions say yes; materialism

says no; experience suggests something beyond either. Pray and find out.

[156:18] [156:10] Pray. Not because you understand how it works

but because something in you knows to do it. The impulse to pray is

itself the evidence that prayer matters. "Our hearts are restless until

they rest in thee." Prayer is the heart seeking its rest, the soul

turning toward home.

[156:19] See Also: • Gate 87: הט --- The Gate of Resonance (prayer

as resonance) • Gate 123: ×–×  (Zan, "Nourish") --- The Gate of the Word

(words that pray) • Gate 152: טפ (Taph, "Children") --- The Gate of

Meditation (contemplative prayer) • Gate 155: טר (Tar) --- The Gate of

Surrender (the heart of prayer)