The "Mechanics" of Prayer

Prayer is common practice among believers of almost every religion. In the Bible we identify four distinct forms of prayer: thanksgiving, supplication, intercession and spiritual warfare. In this article we will examine only the "philosophy" of the prayer of supplication, which is the most prevalent, although not the highest, form. Supplication or petition is the type of prayer most humans have used at some point in their life. It is only natural, in times of danger or distress, that man seeks the help of a Higher Power. People are doing it instinctively, even if it is not expressed by words but it is simply the desire of their heart. The Bible encourages believers to pray, but there are certain rules one should follow, in order for one's prayer to be effective. St. Paul said: "Do not be anxious about anything; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Phil. 4: 6) Worrying oneself about how to meet one's needs doesn't help. It eats up one's energy and undermines his/her health. It is also unpleasant for those around, and makes the worrier unpopular. So we should not be anxious about anything. On the contrary, we should trust God and "present our requests" to Him with thanksgiving in our heart. Then we will have inner peace. "I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." (Psa. 34: 4) David, although an anointed king, had all the characteristics and the weaknesses of an ordinary man. When he sinned before the Lord, he was seized by fear. Fear is a crippling and torturing feeling and David would not sit idle resigning himself to its torment. He was a man of faith and prayer, and he earnestly sought the Lord to deliver him from all his fears. And sure enough, God answered his prayers and set him free from the devastating spirit of fear. Jesus instructed "the multitudes", during his famous "Sermon on the Mount" to pray: "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened unto you. For every one who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (...) If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7: 7-8, 11) 'Ask' and 'seek' and 'knock'... What is the reason behind this? Is God deaf or blind and we have to be loud and persistent in our requests so that He could eventually take notice of us and answer our prayers? Of course not! Is He so unwilling to give us good gifts that we need to be persevering in our prayers in order to convince Him to change His mind and eventually grant us what we have asked for? Not-at-all! When a good human father knows in advance what his children need, and he does not expect them to beg him on their knees but gives them freely what they want, before they even ask for it, how much more will our heavenly Father give us what we need without asking! Why, then, Jesus gave such instructions? In order to answer this question we must understand how prayer works. Furthermore, we must clarify in our minds whether we deal with a personal God or simply with his sovereign impersonal laws that govern our nature and our relationship with others and the Deity. In my long search for the truth on this matter, I have reached the conclusion that we rather deal with the Deity's sovereign laws. The answers to our prayers do not fall down from heaven, but we draw them to ourselves in proportion to our faith and persistency. The power to get those answers is released by our own spirit, which is God's presence within us, i.e. the inherent divine element where God does become personal. The closest definition I could give to prayer is this: prayer is the means of generating and releasing spiritual energy from within in order to effect the fulfillment of one's wants. The invocation of the name of God in our prayers quickens our spirit, while faith increases the quantity and quality of the energy produced therein. The more we "ask" and "seek" and "knock", the more will be given to us, the more we shall find, the more doors will be opened! That's why we should be very cautious what to ask for in prayer lest we violate God's divine principles and bring judgment on ourselves. Through the following verses, the above definition of prayer will be further verified. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us, unto Him be the glory (...)." (Eph. 3: 20-21a) Surely God is able to do "exceeding abundantly" above all we ask in our prayers or even think of. But He is limited in what He does by "the power that is working in us", i.e. by our faith and the energy it produces in our spirit. In other words, it is our "inner man", even our spirit that "answers" our prayers. If we believed this, we would never complain to God when our prayers are not "answered". Nor would we ever hold bitterness in our heart against the Almighty, when things don't turn up as we anticipated. "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Matt. 21: 22) What is this element of faith that comes into it? Faith is "the substance of things hoped for". (Heb. 11: 1) This substance is absolutely essential in order to have our prayers answered; it is the seed we sow in our spirit to create the necessary energy for the materialization of our requests. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it shall be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you hold anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11: 24-25) So strong must be the faith vested in prayer that we should believe that we have already received what we ask for! Note the present perfect tense of the verb: believe that you have received. So firm one's faith must be, in order for his/her prayer to be effective! Moreover, when we stand in prayer, we must have forgiven all those who have wronged us. Unforgiveness undermines one's faith and weakens one's spiritual energy. When we hold in our heart anything against others we don't have boldness before God. Besides, forgiving others is the prerequisite for our own trespasses to be forgiven by God. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (Jam. 5: 16b) The prayer of the righteous man, when it is fervent, has great value. Why should one's prayer be fervent? For this way, it produces more spiritual energy. It appears that faith should be vested with enthusiasm, intensity and emotion in order to be more effective. Prayers that are read from books, as one reads a poem, are not effective. "The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. (...) When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles." (Psa. 34:15,17) Is there any divine intervention, beside the person's own spiritual energy, in answering one's prayers? Most probably there is. We are not alone in the Universe. There are the angels, God's ministering spirits - the "eyes" and the "ears" of the Lord - and probably the spirits of the deceased saints, which are drawn to the help of the righteous when they cry out to God for deliverance from a difficult situation. However, as the Bible advises us, we should not deliberately enter into communication with such agents lest evil spirits deceive us. We should only pray to God. This is what Jesus instructed in "The Lord's Prayer" and in other instances. He, himself, employed fervent prayer, even with "cries and tears", during his ministry. Here is what the Bible tells us: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with strong cries and tears, unto Him who was able to save him from death, (...)." (Heb. 5: 7) "And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours be done'." (Luke 22: 41-42) However, praying to God, even fervently, does not mean that we always get what we want... Even Jesus didn't have his final prayer "answered". Should we, then, add to our prayers, "not my will, but your will, Oh God, be done"? But wouldn't such a clause undermine our faith, implying fatalism? Are we not free, after all, to determine our future with all our strength? This "condition" makes sense when we are aware that we pray to our own spirit within to which we have already submitted our "ego". Surely our inner Higher Self has a will for our spiritual perfection and would prefer us to get only what is for our highest good - a highest good that we may not be conscious of when we ask for something in prayer.