Edgar Cayce on Prayer
The
following is an excerpt from the late great Cayce scholar
Elsie Sechrist's book
Meditation: Gateway to Light.
More information concerning Cayce's insights into prayer
can be found at the
Cayce research foundation
(A.R.E.).
One the interesting
topics of information Cayce received was concerning prayer.
Cayce believed that the energy of prayer was sent by thought
- almost like a beam of white light being sent out to the
individual(s) for whom we are praying.
Meditation
does not lessen the need for prayer, because it does not
take the place of prayer. Prayer is a mental activity on
our part addressed to God. Meditation is a listening state
so that we may hear God speak to us.
Prayer comes before meditation,
before the affirmation; and we may pray, if need be, all
day long as we go about our daily work. Jesus found it necessary
at times to pray for long periods. Certainly prayer should
be a constant activity of the religious heart. The Cayce
readings remind us that, "He that would know the way must
be oft in prayer."
There
are many types of prayer. Unfortunately the most common
one is the "gimme" prayer, wherein we beg God for favors.
Is this wrong? Not for some people. For prayer, the art
of prayer, is an ever-growing experience. When there is
an acceptance of God's presence, one knows that God will
supply all that is truly needed to fulfill one's purpose
in life.
The art of visualization,
so common today as a form of prayer, is another type of
the gimme prayer. We want to make sure that God knows exactly
what we want, so we send him pictures of it. If we are going
to tell God that we know what is best for ourselves what
is the point in praying in the first place?
Jesus
prayed, "Not
my will,
but thine be done." The enlightened soul relegates
the gimme prayer to the nursery toy box, and turns to the
prayer of thanksgiving, of adoration, of petition for the
woes of others, always adding, "Thy will be done."
The Cayce readings tell us that
the daily prayer of Jesus was, "Others, Lord, others." From
this it is self-evident that the prayers of supplication
of the awakened soul deal primarily with the needs of others.
The more we pray for others, the more we gain in the power
to pray, and the more are we ourselves blessed. For how
can we sincerely pray for another, and not be praying for
ourselves, too?
Asking
God for forgiveness shows proper repentance for wrongs committed,
but unless those wrongs are righted by our own conscious
effort, we shall never feel forgiven.
We may pray for guidance, but
if we are not trying to do what we think is right, will
God hear us? Yes, but we may not hear him. As the Bible
tells us, an unrepented sin seals our ears to the voice
of God.
May we
pray to escape further trails and tribulations? Certainly.
Jesus did; but when he knew that he had to die on the cross
to fulfill his purpose, he accepted it unfalteringly.
God does not wish to see us suffer;
our adversities are of our own creation. We have transgressed
by either commission or omission, something we should not
have done, or something we should have done. Just as a parent
punishes a child in order to correct it, so the laws of
God prove immovable when we try to resist them. The more
we struggle to resist, the more hopelessly do we entangle
ourselves at the mental or physical or material or emotional
level, and sometimes on all four levels simultaneously.
Our attitude
when we are sick or suffering should be, again, "Thy will
be done." This calls for an inner submission while awaiting
recovery, but doesn't stop us from doing all within our
power to get well. A rededication of heart and mind and
an acceptance of suffering as a needed lesson have on more
than one occasion brought instantaneous healing.
"Thy
Will. Thy Spirit. Thy Ways" is the cry of the
awakened soul.
How
does one pray? Just as the disciples asked Jesus to teach
them how to pray, so many people today ask the same question;
it would be presumptuous of us, however, to tell another
exactly how he should formulate the words of anything so
personal and private as a prayer. The words themselves are
not important. It is the spirit in which they are said which
is all-important. God already knows more about the contents
of our hearts than we do; our real need is to be perpetually
aware of him as the source of our protection, and so we
pray to keep unbroken contact with him. The words in themselves
are not as important as some people would have us think.
As
Kahlil Gibran
says, "God listens not to your words save when He utters
them through your lips."
What is
the best position in which to pray? A group of ministers
once met to decide that very problem. They talked at length
without reaching any conclusion. Some insisted that it was
essential to kneel. Those with bony knees said that it was
just as effective to keep seated. Others felt that they
had to pace to and fro to generate the necessary fire. When
the debate threatened to become heated, they decided to
leave the decision to the only parson who had been silent
throughout. He came from a rural parish, and he answered
them thus: "One day when I was late for service, I ran across
a neighbor's yard and fell headlong into his well. Half
way down, my foot caught in a broken board, and I hung there
upside down. Brethren, I have never prayed so well before
or since!"
I hope that proves that it is
not our position but our sincerity which makes our prayers
effective.
Prayer
directs the consciousness to God. Through prayer, we solicit
aid from divine power. Prayer encourages humility, takes
one outside of self to him, brings guidance, releases tensions
and brings healing. Many people go into a state of meditation
without realizing it when, worn out from prayer, they wait
for answering help. Here the results of prayer are one with
the rewards of meditation.
While we need always to call on
the Lord, we need even more to listen to Him, and it is
in the quiet of meditation that there is a stepping-up of
spiritual receptivity in every phase of our being.
We learn
so much more by listening. This is what the Bible means
when it says: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm
46:10)
Every religion speaks
of the quest of the soul for the holy grail, the place of
the Most High. The Chinese speak of it as the "old road."
The Hindus call it the "path of return." Christians refer
to it as "the way." Meditation is the gateway that leads
us to God.
Praying
Tips from Edgar Cayce
1. |
Prayer is supplication for direction,
for understanding. Meditation is listening
to the divine within. |
2. |
Prayer is like a plea to your superior.
Meditation is meeting your superior
on common ground. |
3. |
Those who want to know the way must
pray often and joyously, knowing that
God gives life to those who sincerely
seek to be a channel of blessing to
someone. |
4. |
Prayer is attuning your consciousness
to the divine consciousness, either
with others or individually. |
5. |
All prayer is answered. So don't tell
God how to answer it. |
6. |
Why worry when you can pray? Your power
is very limited. The power of God is
unlimited. |
7. |
The prayers of ten people can save a
city. The prayers of twenty-five can
save a nation as the prayers of one
person can. But there is strength in
numbers. |
8. |
Your body, mind and spirit needs the
spiritual food of prayer, meditation,
and reflection upon spiritual things. |
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