Thoughts on Prayer

Spirit: Hello, it’s me again, June.

Now it is not my story. It is not really a story entirely about the spirit world, but it is about someone you have heard of… my friend Bill.

As you probably remember Bill was a funny sort of minister. He had ideas outside of his church’s thinking I guess, but during the war they were right for us, for the poor people, the troubled people; he just knew the right thing to say. So as best I can, and I won’t be word perfect, I’ll try and repeat something that he said to us.

Now at our makeshift meeting place he started off by saying “It was nice to see us all there”, because by then there were quite a number of us who would turn up, but he said,’ “I don’t notice you coming to my church”. Then we sort of shrivelled, but he went on to say, “And I can understand why”. He said, “It’s all the praying, the kneeling up and down, the ritual… that is not necessary in prayer, because it is in your heart, it is in your soul. You are just inhabiting that body so why make it do things that cannot help your soul, because if your prayer is sincere, whether you are kneeling or standing on your head, it is just as effective”.

And then he changed his voice a bit and sounded a bit grumpy. He said, “There is prayer and prayer too. Too many people are begging… ‘I want’, ‘I want’, ‘Give me’”, and he said, “Those are selfish prayers. If one sincerely prays for help for someone, they are listened to, and if it is possible without any harm to that soul that you are praying for, God will listen”. He talked a lot about God.

But if you are praying, “Protect me from the bombs”, he said, “That is being selfish in your prayer, you are asking for your protection, but how about all the other people?” He said, “The prayer should be outgoing – not inward grabbing”. I liked that, and it made a certain amount of sense to me.

He said, “We didn’t have to be in one place to pray, we could just be sitting somewhere quiet”. He said “It’s better not to have a lot of disturbance around you, but even if the bombs are falling all around and your house is shaking and dreadful things are happening, if you are sincere in your beliefs and in your praying, you will find an inner peace – as long as it is not a ‘Give me’ prayer”.

He said that to all of us, and I think that most understood and accepted, and it was surprising how many people as they left, seemed to be more upright. You may think that that was because they had had a chat, and a cup of tea and some company. True, but they also had some deep thinking to do, about what their prayers meant!

Think on that my friends. What do your prayers mean? Or do you ever pray? Pray, is just another word for ‘asking’. You ask for help, you pray for help. Is it always for yourselves? Or is it for something small, some little animal, or some stranger whom you have seen, and whom you feel is distressed? That last little bit was not Bill talking, it is what has been said to us from our teachers over here, because we still ask, we still pray… they are thoughts.

For those of you who have people who have come over here, pray for them by all means, ask that they are happy, but don’t make it a burden on whom you are praying to. So many people ask a particular Saint, or name a person, to help them… we suggest you don’t do that, just ask. Ask God the eternal, of which you are part.

Well I was told to make it short. I hope I have.

Spirit: Do you want to ask anything that I hope I can answer?

Sitter: Should one never ask, for anything for one’s self?

Spirit: You can ask, as long as it is not a selfish thing. It is no good asking for a bigger house or a better job, because that is up to you to get yourself…but you could ask for your health or for someone you love… something that you can’t do yourself, and even if you can’t do it, as long as you are making an effort to improve the situation, the building or even your health… because its no good asking for good health if you are stupid in the way you treat your body. Does that help you?

Sitter: Yes thank you June. I was thinking of health and the alleviation of pain, and so on.

Spirit: Everyone can understand that. Nobody likes their physical body in pain, but we must also think, “Are we doing our best to look after it?” It is no good swilling a lot of alcoholic drinks like they do nowadays, or sticking needles into your arms without the supervision of doctors… there are many dreadful things people do, even their way of life, they don’t walk, things like that, but I’m sure you understand.

Sitter: Yes thank you June, understood.

Spirit: God bless you,

Goodnight.