To Hear Is First To Listen

What happens when you pray?

There are many reasons one prays. Some pray out of perceived duty and orthodoxy. Some pray to be heard by other mortals. Some pray only when crisis threatens. Some respond to a call to prayer similar to attending church services when the church bells ring. Some reject prayer altogether.

There are perhaps as many reasons why men, women, and children pray, as there are men, women, and children.

Searching divine scriptures can give us many reasons for praying.

This is written, not to explore all of the reasons, but rather to express a simple thought: prayer is more likened to a telephone than to a loud speaker.

Prayer can be an expression of the soul's deepest concerns, and a surrender of self to the higher influences that can change lives and elevate mortals closer to their divine potentials.

If prayer is only a last resort, did it miss being a first resort, a customary resort to those deeper moments of meditation and resolve to connect with a higher power?

There are guides who counsel others to pray aloud when at all possible. There are guides who urge the recitation of customary prayers. Some suggest praying to saints, while others suggest that all prayers should be directed only to God, or done so in the name of Jesus Christ.

Christian scriptures express that a righteous person's prayers have the power to achieve many righteous purposes, while most faiths teach that even the humblest prayers are heard in heaven.

Prayers made without listening for answers, ignore the opportunity that answers can be received, guidance can be given, inspiration can surface from within and without.

Consider listening for at least as much time as it took to form the outgoing prayer. Give a response a chance.

Isn't that simply acknowledgement that prayers are prayed with a purpose?

Will every prayer have an immediate, tangible response? That might be expecting too much, but expecting ahead of time that there will be no response at all is expecting too little.

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© 2017 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.