How can I Pray and be Heard by God?

Would you like to Know the Truth (part 4)

How can we possibly not be? God is everywhere. God created all things. God is in all things. If God is in ‘all’ things, so then God is in, and within, us. Since God created ‘all’ things, s/he created atheists and people with other belief systems. Since God created all things, then God created other belief systems and other ways of coming ‘Home’ to the source energy that is in ‘all’ of us .. in other words, God.

So why is there separation? Separation begins with us, with our lack of belief, or faith (which are two different things). When we doubt we put a barrier between us and God. That barrier is our free will. Because we were granted it back at our creation, and because it was restored to us by Christ at the Crucifixion, (after we had so foolishly given it away to the ‘devil’ .. see the story of Adam and Eve as a metaphor for our choices ...) we have the power to stop God from helping us, to remove his/her ability to give to us what we most want – Love.

Sometimes our prayers are not answered, or seem not to be. There is a saying “be careful what you ask for, you might get it”. God in his/her infinite wisdom does not always give us what we want, because s/he knows that spiritually most of us are like small children demanding sweets. We try to bargain (if you do this, I will do that) and what we bargain for may well not be what is for our greatest good, and so we are not given what we seek. And God knows that we don’t always understand, at the time, why this is so, nor do we all understand about free will, but s/he doesn’t punish us when we become angry and despondent ... no, s/he loves us anyway, whole heartedly, unconditionally, knowing that we will understand one day – and that day might be the last of this lifetime, or it might be tomorrow.

So praying to God is important because it takes down the barrier between us and him/her, and tells God what we want, and, if we get it right, gives God permission to help us. It also tells God that we are listening when s/he speaks, and that we are grateful for all the good that comes our way each day, and accepting of the challenges that also are part of our lives.

The brochure says that for God to listen to us we have to pray in ways that s/he approves of. That seems a bit of a conundrum, given that first we have to learn God’s will, and then pray accordingly. How do we first learn God’s will? We can find lessons throughout the New Testament in the words of Jesus Christ. Love one another, be honest, truthful and kind. And the Watchtower quotes 1 John 5:14, which says “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us”. So be bold, be truthful, be trusting, be loving .. and just Be .. a daughter or son of God, a spiritual being in the material world.

Do you remember to say thank you when you pray? Gratitude is incredibly important. Or do you mouth rituals without thought for what the words mean? I agree with the Watchtower brochure here – do not just mouth prayers that you know without putting your heart and soul into the words. (Matthew 6:7-8) Keep it simple. Make it obvious. The Lord ’s Prayer in Matthew is lovely, to begin with –

Our Father who is in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive our debts
As we also have forgiven our debtors
And do not bring us to the time of trial
But rescue us from the evil one.

Begin with this and move on.

Sometimes I do feel unworthy of being the crumbs beneath his/her table, but most of the time I know that God seems me as s/he created me ... a perfect ‘likeness’. The imperfections are my own beliefs and attitudes that put the barrier up between what I want from God and what s/he wants from me. Just how thick is your barrier?