Prayer

I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately.  This past week a friend of mine posted on Facebook that prayer was a religious activity and may not be productive.   When I read that I was immediately defensive for I believe that prayer is an important part of our lives.

As I have reflected about it I am coming to realize that the act of prayer for me means that I am sending loving thoughts to the person or thing that I am praying for.  I believe that energy follows thought so the mere fact that we are thinking of someone in a positive way will provide benefit.  Prayers sent on behalf of someone who is ill or in need can have a dramatic influence on that person's well being.  Just think, if someone says they are praying for you then at the least it means they are thinking of you.  Add to that a bit of love and you have a recipe for definite improvement.

Several years ago I was very ill and in the hospital for 52 days.  My family kept telling me about all the people who were praying for me and I remember being so grateful that anyone would take the time out of their day to stop and think about me.  As I recovered I felt like I had a team of people working with me to gain my strength back.  When I was in therapy learning to sit, stand and walk again I was constantly reminded of all those who cared enough to think about me with loving thoughts or what I call prayers.  Throughout the difficulties of my recovery I was motivated to keep going because I had so many people who cared.  Those thoughts were inspiring me to keep going and do my best to get strong once again.

So what are prayers?  Do we have to kneel on our knees and put our hands together to pray or do we have to put our heads down and go through certain motions?  My firm belief is that prayer is a constant in our lives.  It is focusing the universal energy or God through our thoughts.  Even more when it says in the Bible to  pray without ceasing, I interpret that to mean that prayer is in every thought of every day.

So today when someone says they are praying for me or asks me to pray for another, I see this as a wonderful opportunity to join forces to affect change on the highest level.  So I suppose I don't see prayer as a religious activity but as a human activity  My prayers for you today are for your highest and best and that covers it all.