Prayer

There is a reason prayer is incorporated into so many religions throughout the world. Prayer, meditation, mantras, chanting, etc. are all methods of getting you out of your mind and into the reality that is. Prayer is also a method to show you the truth that you are not alone in this universe, when you can see that there are no "others", you stop being the main character in your own story and become an intrinsic part of the whole of the universe, of which couldn't exist without everything that lies within it. The universe does not in fact revolve around you, it only appears that way. Every being in the universe is in fact in the center of the universe, that is the only way in which we are able to perceive it. We can only be where we are which is in the middle, it's works the same for everyone, we are all in middle, no matter where we are. Many of us believe that since we perceive the universe from the center, that we are the most important thing in the universe and therefore everyone and everything else is put there for us.

Prayer is the acknowledgement that we are not alone, that there is someone or something that is greater than us. It is the acknowledgement that you are only the center of the universe from your personal perspective and are not actually the center of the universe. We feel alone because we only look at life through our own perspective and believe our perspective to be the only one. Since we believe that our perspective is the only one, we believe that there is no one else, therefore we feel alone. When someone is painfully unaware of anyone around them, and how their actions can affect "others", we say they have "main character syndrome". The truth is we all have "main character syndrome", it just appears in different forms for us all. As long as you have the belief that there are "others" and that you are more important than ANYONE else, you believe yourself to be the main character in your life. 

Another thing we tend to do based on our denial of the truth which is predetermined from our personal beliefs is to project ourselves onto "others". Anything that you believe to be true of "everyone else" is just you projecting yourself onto "everyone else" as to not face the truth of who you are out of the fear of being "wrong". Therefore, since "everyone else" is the problem, you don't have to change anything about yourself, and you can keep living your life as the main character, where everyone else is just extras in the movie of your life.

Prayer helps us to see that we are not alone. There are other ways to do this. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. When we step outside ourselves (metaphorically) and look at "another" and see that they have feelings too, we start to see that maybe we are not the main character in the universe and maybe our actions effect "others". We can also watch our thoughts/words/actions by becoming self-aware. When you become self-aware, you are able to see how your actions effect "others". Meditation is a proven method of helping us to become more self-aware. If you're hurting someone you Love due to your actions, wouldn't you like to become aware of those actions so you could stop doing them and stop hurting the person you Love?

Isn't it possible that you are hurting the people who Love you the most by your actions towards them, but you are unable to see it based on the fact that you are painfully unaware of yourself from the viewpoint of "others". When you believe that your viewpoint is all that exists or your viewpoint is all that matters, you hurt those around you. When you see that "everyone else's" viewpoint does exist and does matter, you see past the illusion of being separate from "others". We see in "others", what we believe in ourselves.

Prayer along with meditation, mantras, chanting, etc. are methods to bring you to the present moment. When you are focused on something in the present such as praying, it's harder to think about the past and the future where all of your "problems" are. Prayer has been twisted into a form of a magical wishing fountain for God. Drop a coin (prayer) into the wishing well (God) and get all your hearts desires. Except God isn't a wishing well, and that's that what prayer is about. God allows us to live our own lives and make our own mistakes while he sits closely by watching and keeping us safe. Why would God need us to pray to God to tell God what we "need" when God already knows everything?

Singing praise to God is the acknowledgment that you have all you need and that you want for nothing. Prayer is to get your mind out of your "problems". Love and Peace!

May we have joy!

May we have peace!

May we be free from suffering!