Deepening Techniques, Part 2: Prayer
August 30, 2024 § 1 Comment
We have already partially segued from relaxation into prayer with the affirmations I outlined in the previous post. But I say the affirmations for myself to myself; I do not address them to a divine presence in the way that prayer is normally understood.
But I do pray in the way we normally understand it. I pray to five spirit allies. “Spirit allies” is an inadequate term, but I need a generic. The things they have in common are that they came to me, not I to them; they present themselves to me as “persons” in the sense that they offer relationship and communication; they have distinct “personalities”; and they have brought blessings into my life.
The metaphysics
I’m not going to get deep into metaphysical speculation here. And by that I mean speculation about the nature of the transcendental and about the dynamics behind presence and action in the spirit world, or heaven, if you like: What are these “spirits”? How do humans and spirits interact with each other? How do spirits bring the blessings that they bring to us?
I bring up the subject of metaphysics in order to enlarge the landscape of prayer, to make room for forms of prayer, for understandings or theologies about what’s happening in prayer, and to make room for a variety of addressees of prayer beyond the popular expectation that one prays to God, whatever we might mean by God.
I’m making a case for something like the Roman Catholic approach to prayer, in which you can pray to God and to Jesus, but also to Mary, to angels, and to the saints.
I do think of some of the spirit allies I pray as angels. They have different roles and they came to me in different ways. Some are more active in my spiritual life than others, and they all are more present at some times and less present at others.
Who they are
One is a muse, the spirit that has made my writing life and my spiritual development into one coherent spiritual journey. Another simply reminds me of the joy to be had in this life; sometimes I forget. Two are healing spirits whom I ask for help in my prayer healing work for others. And one is Jesus.
I don’t count myself a Christian, insofar as Jesus has never called me personally and directly into his discipleship. Nevertheless, I have a relationship with him and I invite the spirit of the christ into my spiritual life. I do this for three reasons: First, my deep study of the gospels makes me feel like I know him, that I know the character I see revealed in the gospels. Second, I believe Jesus Christ does exist as a “divine” presence, allowing for an expansive definition of divine; I believe this because of the testimony of so many who know him this way and whose testimony I trust and am not willing to discount or redefine out of some post-Christian sensibility. And finally, I believe Jesus Christ exists because I have had a couple of transcendental experiences in which Jesus seems to have presented himself to me, though not directly to me, but rather, indirectly as—I’m not sure what; it’s a mystery. Still, these encounters have deeply affected me.
Why pray?
Again, my goal here is to open up our understanding of prayer and its possible role in our spiritual lives, because I believe that prayer really makes a difference. Why?
First, conducting one’s spiritual life as a relationship is very different from a spiritual life devoid of personal communication with a presence. Such a relationship gets you outside of yourself. It seems to unlock personal openings and transformations that don’t arise from meditation or thinking or other purely self-centered and self-focused spiritual practice.
Furthermore, these entities, whatever they really are, can do things. I don’t know how, but they can. Or maybe I am doing them with their help. I don’t understand the metaphysics involved, though I can’t stop trying to figure that out; I have my theories. But theories don’t matter. It’s the reality of this mystery that matters.
Praying works. Not all the time, or even very often, in my experience. But sometimes, for instance, my healing prayer has actually healed somebody. And all the time, praying does something meaningful and transformative within me.
So I pray. I address these spirits, whatever they are. I invite them in. I ask them to help me and others. And I thank them.
Through the Flaming Sword 
Dear Steven—
I love your writing so much. I feel directly called to speak out more on this topic. Sometimes it feels odd to try to raise it with people who have not been thinking this way. Spirit has somehow communicated that I need to get “bolder”. When I asked why, I was told that all the varieties of connecting with the consciousness that exists beyond the physical world are related to hearing clear guidance from God as God speaks through ALL the creation, BOTH physical and beyond.
At our last Bible study when you were not there, we took up the story of Jesus walking to Emmaus with two of his followers after the Resurrection. I went and confessed to some of the many experiences I have had communicating with people who have died or are about to die, times when I had conversations with them at their memorial service or even felt them touch me. It was just at the end of Bible study and I do not know if anyone else would have taken it up. I hope we can take this much farther including all you have written here. I have also had experiences of physical contact in the years of working with energy healing, such as working with active Spirit guides during healing sessions. One time after my daughter gave birth to twins, I thought it would be good to take her to a Quaker friend who was doing energy healing. Both of us had a session with her and as we talked about it on the way home, we learned that both of us had been surprised to feel Spirit hands holding our feet while our friend was working on our head end.
In particular I hope we can discuss Spirit Allies, and dare to share our own experiences of that. I suspect that many people experience help from allies who have not been recognized as individuals and that considering that thought would open them up to new and deeper experience. Just reading your words here opened me a bit in that just thinking about Spirit allies woke me to bringing Spirit angel allies and human angel allies into the same field. Twice this week, other people showed up and did some small thing that was exquisitely timed to answer some need I had, to answer a question or give information I did not know I needed. I remember telling them they had just been an angel for me. ~~ We should notice angels. We could all be angels. 😄
Love, Rita