We have packed up from our stay in the Palm Desert area and have made tracks to Arizona, first Phoenix and now we are in Tucson. We are getting used to having a tow vehicle (called a “toad” by RV’rs). Thanks to Jerry and Lois, who drove it down here, we now have a car to get around in once we arrive at a destination. Our model was rated towable for only two years of its manufacturing, and ours was one of those two years–thank you Ram!
Here in Tucson we will revisit a vintage Catholic Church, San Xavier del Bac. Last time here we enjoyed the church, widely considered the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States. However, what we really loved was walking about a hill dotted with icons which had a powerful spiritual feeling to it. We will light some candles at the prayer altar while there.
Prayer is a continual part of my life, but in recent times it has powerfully drawn me inward. Win, a long term devotee of Mother Hamilton’s is one reason, his heart is only pumping about 30% of what it should, and now he has been struggling with pneumonia. I have been in a powerful fight for his life, health and total recovery.
Prayer is a very large and important topic, and oftentimes its real power is little understood. When a child my mother taught me, “Now I lay me down to sleep..,” which I said nightly. I knew I was praying to God, but I think I mostly rattled off the little poem without much thought other than I was asking God to keep me safe through the night. Other times when feeling alone and particularly in some trouble I would pray to God for resolution to my immediate problem, such as I wanted Him to give me friends and good grades (without any effort on my part!). Gradually prayer wore off as I struggled to know what I believed.
It was not until I was nineteen years old and in emotional turmoil that I reached out to God due to the pain I was in, “God! I do not know if You exist, but if You do, if I have never needed You before I need You now!” Immediately the pain was alleviated, it felt as if thousands of pounds of crushing pressure was lifted from me. This was a turning point in my life and sent me on a journey of exploration for Who and What God is, and for that matter, who and what I am.
Down through the years I have grown in my understanding of prayer. Master writes beautifully about the power of prayer, that you must put your whole self into a prayer for it to have any real effect–half-hearted appeals have no real spiritual power. Over the years God gradually instructed me on Wordless Prayer. Wordless Prayer is more subtle than talking to God, and it is vastly powerful.
In Wordless Prayer you first feel yourself lifted into Divine Consciousness–His bliss, His upliftment, His power. Then God turns your attention upon any particular person, situation or part of the world, or for that matter, the whole world itself. You then experience all of the power, bliss and upliftment you are feeling merge into the focus of your prayer. Time and space collapse, even barriers we call death offers no resistance, the freedom and pervasiveness of God-consciousness is the means for quickening the subject of your prayers with all that you have in Divine Union. No words are needed, only the powerful awareness of all that God is.
Wordless Prayer does not necessarily mean you will not have any words that accompany the prayer; only that they are not necessary, and words are not the primary means of communication. Some words may spontaneously arise in your mind reflecting what was previously wordless, but primarily it is direct consciousness-to-consciousness connection as God sends His power through you, His conduit. His work being done through you lifts you even more closely into Him and His kingdom–He delights in using you in this way even as you delight in being used.
Whether with words or in Wordless Prayer, go deeper into being a conduit for God’s will to quicken creation with His power, bliss, love, light, joy, and wisdom. Be a blessing to this world, for every thought you have has creative power. You must be aware as to whether your thoughts and words are healing and uplifting, or damning and giving power to what is negative (as in gossip). Wordless Prayer is a powerful way of being God’s instrument and for you to be a blessing to this world.