Gazing in the Mirror

October 11 - Praying for Other People

... the thought came to me
first – that life was of God,
that we were inseparably one
with the Source, ...Others
saw that there was something
new in me. They asked me to
share it. I did. Others were
healed, and began to study.
~ Myrtle Fillmore, Unity

... someone might ask, 'How
does our prayer, our treatment,
or our affirmation reach the
person, the place, or the thing
we wish to help ?' This question
answers itself when we come to
realize that we are part of the
One Life, not as being separate
from it, but as individualized
expressions of it.
~ Ernest Holmes

I have written many affirmative prayers over the 40+ years I have understood that process from the Science of Mind tradition developed by Ernest Holmes which is known as Spiritual Mind Treatment. I have written the majority of these for my own self and these treatments have never failed to manifest some result (even if the manifestation was delayed for many years or eventually proved not to be what I was expecting). I have also written many of these for other people. I have written treatments for homelessness, unemployment and medical concerns. Once I wrote a treatment that was entered into simultaneously with another woman. We were going through reproductive medical treatments at the same time. We were both successful and to the degree that we each wished – she conceived twin girls and I conceived one son – exactly the outcome that each of us desired.

How is it possible for our prayers, given for the good of another person, to be proven successful ? I believe that it works to some degree the same way that falling in love works by elevating another person's traits closer to our own perceptions of them. We see The Beloved within a larger embracing of their divine potential of expression than they may actually see their own self expressing. Early in most romantic relationships the other person will actually seek to express themselves as that more positive representation being influenced by the light of our loving beliefs regarding them. That is why we generally become "better" people when we are deeply in early love with another person. This is how love makes us better and heals us. Sometimes the other person isn't ready and they are not able to actually hold that state of beingness for very long but it remains a true potential within them or it would not be accessible. We cannot see what isn't already there.

In the kind of affirmative prayer treatment that I learned how to do, we see the other person as Source sees them. We heal our own misguided thoughts about the other person by seeing them in our imagination as Spirit must see them always – whole and perfect. To whatever degree the other person is able to embrace that more perfect concept of their own self, they will manifest visible improvement. As Ernest Holmes notes – "I am not trying to influence people, I am not holding thoughts to make things happen, I am not concentrating Divine energies for any purpose whatsoever. Rather, I am still, knowing that God is over all, in all, and through all. Through my affirmation, I am watching, expecting, and knowing that there will be a reaction through whatever I identify with my word. Therefore, I am at ease, I am relaxed, and I am at peace. I affirm the Divine Presence and its manifestations of happiness, prosperity, and well-being for everyone."

Holmes explains that "whenever we identify our thinking with some person, place, or thing, we identify him or it as the object of that thinking; and automatically, because there is but One Law operating, the result of that thinking will be for that person, place, or thing. Since the person, place, or thing we are treating or praying for is in the One Mind — the One Spirit and the One Law — then the mere act of identifying him or it with our affirmation causes the reaction of that affirmation to appear".

At a spiritually focused conference in June of 2009 that I attended in Chicago called Celebrate Your Life I learned another perspective on such healing energies. Dr Christiane Northrup taught us an approach she called Divine Love Healing Energy. First, we recognize that we are not the source of this energy but that it is always present. Then, we are able to "send" this energy to our own self or to another or to both our self and another simultaneously. What I really appreciate about this particular practice is that one's own energy never feels depleted because we are not using our own energy to evoke healing processes, we are simply recognizing that this energy is always present and that we can utilize it with intentional thinking.

There have been times that I have become so overwhelmed by circumstances that I needed a partner to pray for me. I felt that I needed someone else who was emotionally removed from the situation because it had caused me to feel troubled to such an extent that I could not get beyond that emotional reaction within me entirely on my own. There are 2 very good partners of that type available to anyone that I am aware of – Silent Unity and the World Ministry of Prayer. When I was turning to them long ago they offered phone-in methods and I found it very helpful to listen to another person live as they know for me what I am having difficulty knowing for myself. These experiences can be very powerful and moving. Silent Unity still provides live prayer assistance at 1-800-NOW-PRAY (1-800-669-7729). World Ministry of Prayer no longer has live prayer practitioners but you can call 1-866-306-5546 to listen to a recorded affirmative prayer.

~ perspective

I know that there is One Power
which is expressing Itself through
every person, place or thing.
I identify my concerns as though
they are not and I see circumstances
as healed and whole.
When I am praying for myself or
another person I am aligning my
thoughts with the way that Source
actually sees each and every being
it has created.
Through loving energies I see the
Divine Potential as realized within
myself or the one I care about.
I know there is a Power for Good
greater than I am and I know that
it always responds to the beliefs
I have regarding Its activity.

#happiness #healing #health #homelessness #intention #love #potential #relationships #spirit #wholeness