But First, Pray

A popular church hymn that probably every Christian congregation has sung, regardless of denomination, is called "Did You Think to Pray?" The opening lines of this hymn, written by a Methodist woman, Mary Ann Kidder, asks a fundamental probing question:

Ere you left your room this morning,

Did you think to pray?

Prayer is a fundamental concept, a building block on which rests most all other efforts. Prayer is so fundamental, that I am going to put this at my 10th principle out of 10:

Principle 10 - Pray Always

Now, some of you will reel in shock and back away slowly as if I just pulled a rattlesnake out of a sack. You will cringe and shrink away because, to many of us, prayer represents religion, and we will immediately consider praying in that same context. However, this is a grievous error.

I will write the rest of this blog from a completely utilitarian perspective. I am not going to espouse any particular religion or another. However, I am going to proclaim with confidence that prayer is a game-changer. The act of praying, for whatever reason, has a deep and resonating meaning that strikes a chord with the deepest part of us as humans. If you go through the annuals of history and read up on many of the greatest doers and thinkers, you will learn that most of them were earnest and frequently engaged in the act of prayer. I will talk about what prayer is here in a minute, but before I do, let me say the following.

Prayer is a ubiquitous human activity. Regardless of your cultural background, you have learned or understand the concept of prayer. Every major and minor religion in the world teaches prayer in some form. In my opinion, all of them are valuable. Some may be more effective than others, but all religions have figured out this same conclusion - miracles happen when people pray. Andrew Carnegie, the famous American industrialist, once wrote famously, "Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays."

This is the miracle I intend to discuss. Prayer is transformative. When a group of people learn to pray, they become powerful. They become united in purpose and dedicated to causes. They seek the elevation of others rather than themselves. In our society and culture today, people will avoid talking about this subject, but that does not diminish the truth. Prayer is powerful. I always find it rather amazing. I have engaged and worked with thousands of people in my lifetime. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and many other denominations and sects, all of which believe in the fundamental need for prayer in one form or another. However, I can count on one hand how many times this subject has come up. The funny thing is that every one of them will agree with what I am saying in this article, yet all of us will keep this to ourselves.

I suppose, in some regard, this is a good thing. Prayer should be a secret and personal experience. Most religions have a public spectacle of prayer in their various meetings and gatherings, but all of them also teach and advise personal prayer in some form or another. I am Christian, so I remember the teachings of Jesus, who proclaimed that those who seek rewards openly will have their reward, but those who seek privately, God will reward openly. This is not an exclusively Christian concept. I have talked with many others from many other religions and they all have a similar concept in their various teachings. So, prayer should be done in secret and not openly bragged about. So the fact that we do not talk about this in our everyday life, is perhaps understandable.

What exactly is prayer? The word prayer itself requires context to have meaning. Prayer can be verbal, silent, meditative, ritualistic and memorized. Prayer can even be done intercessory (for someone else). Prayer can be formal and informal. Prayer can be recited or impromptu. Prayer can also be sung or played. Out of all the many forms and methods of prayer, there are few core aspects that seem to be universal.

The core fundamental idea behind prayer that is universal is that prayer is when an individual communicates or communes with a higher power, usually called God but sometimes by other names. Despite the form of the prayer, there are always the same basic elements. Gratitude is almost always expressed, and guidance is almost always sought. Often, prayers will request assistance, confess mistakes, and seek peace when one is troubled. Even the most memorized and scripted prayers contain most of these basic elements.

I think all forms of prayer are valuable. I am not one to deny the value of prayer in any form because, in my wanderings on this planet, I have seen some amazing human endeavors accomplished by those who pray. Pray, but its nature has a grounding effect where humans connect with something real, within themselves, within the universe around them, or by becoming aligned with the correct and true purpose in life. I would argue that even an atheist should pray because there is clearly something happening in human psychosis that connects us to a primitive wellspring that produces massive benefits.

I remember when I was a young man, I put this theory to the test. I did not really believe in anything beyond my five senses. I was matter-of-fact about most things, but I also knew that there was something going on in the hearts and minds of the religious that I felt I did not understand. So I decided to experiment. I would pray every day like they did and see what happened. Would there be some miraculous change? Would there be an angelic visitation? Would lights come from the firmament in an answer to my queries? Well, none of that really happened, but what did happen was quite interesting. My life started to change. I saw things differently. I reacted to people differently. I responded to situations differently. I started wanting different things. After 90 days, I started to have a hope kindle within my soul that soon became a raging fire. I felt the effects that many millions of people have felt by engaging in the act of simple prayer. After my experiment, the fruit produced from this activity became so valuable that I was converted to this practice for life.

I have not heard many people discuss this, as it is not something that drives a bunch of clicks and likes. However, in my opinion, prayer is so fundamental that it is equivalent to being human. Humans pray. No other species does. The ability to conceive of what is not there, the ability to conceptualize hierarchy, and to consider a being more powerful than us is uniquely a human trait. Acknowledgment, recognition, and gratitude towards a divine being resonates within us deeply. Personally, I chose a quiet time to be by myself in a peaceful place and have an open dialogue with this invisible force that I call God. Honestly, your method and approach does not matter much. I recommend some form of daily prayer in everyone's life.

Do not believe me? Give it a try for 90 days and see what happens.