Praying for Others

Recently I’ve had a personal revelation around the idea of praying for others.   In the past, my prayers for others generally revolved around the challenges, illnesses or weaknesses that others were experiencing.  Focusing on the problem, I would try to center myself in an awareness of God and envision the challenge being eliminated, or the weakness being strengthened, or the illness being healed.  In other words, the goal of my prayers was to bring about a change in another’s experience.

As my understanding of prayer grows and evolves, I have come to believe that prayer is less about asking for a change in circumstances and more about connecting with and cultivating a greater awareness of God.   When I am experiencing a challenge or illness or sense of lack in my life, rather than going into prayer to ask God to make a change for me, I let go of my concerns, get centered, and focus on connecting with that Divine source within myself that either has a solution to the problem or knows clearly that all is well despite the problem.   Still, when praying for others, even though I knew better, I found myself wanting to effect a change in their outer circumstances.

My reading of Sharon Salzberg’s  Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience has really solidified my ability to use prayer effectively in my own life.  It has also allowed me to make a leap in my ability to pray for others.  On a heart level, I understand now what I only understood on an intellectual level before – that praying for others is exactly the same as praying for myself.  While I may be inspired to pray for another because of a challenge or illness or problem he or she is facing, when I go into prayer for another, my only goal is to become aware of that Divine source within and to connect, on behalf of that individual, with that all-knowing Presence that either has a solution to the problem or knows clearly that all is well despite the problem. 

    

This way of praying for others brings me great joy.  It is a JOY to know the truth for another despite outward appearances.  I actually LOOK FORWARD to opportunities to go into prayer for others now.  I get EXCITED about praying for my church, my family, my friends, the world.   What a shift it is for me - to be grateful for what IS rather than to try to change what seems to be!  Thank you, God, for these ongoing opportunities to learn and grow. 

~REBECCA