The Heart is the Source of Prayer
January 21, 2008
We pray for those things we desire — plain and simple. Even if we sit around saying, “God, you’re so great! God you’re so wonderful! God thank you for all you do! God you are awesome! God, you’re the boss — you’re in charge!”, or things of a like nature, we are still desiring to offer reciprocation for good we have, or will, receive — or we desire to garner favor, or to be “good,” or something. Prayer is our way of voicing and fulfilling our desires. Even if we don’t know how it works, or how such a thing could be possible, we still do it; and it still works.
Of course, many prayers are actually curses; but whether your desire is for pleasant experiences, or to cast blame and criticism on those you think have made you and your life miserable in some way, you are still thinking about your desire. And, Desire is born in the heart. Prayer begins with an answer — although it may be in a form that is invisible to you. Prayer begins with what we WANT, or desire; before prayer, we give thought to what it is we are praying for.
“Whatsoever you desire, when you stand in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be given unto you.”
Putting your mental and spiritual energy into a thought — the invisible form, or mold, for the answer to your prayer — is what builds the energy that becomes the “mass” of your realized desire. Albert Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2 (Energy is equal to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared), speaks to the transition, or convertibility, of Energy to matter and vice versa. Thought requires and produces energy. Energy makes things happen; and, like Albert Einstein said, “Nothing happens until something moves.” Energy makes things move; energy is an animating force.
Your prayers begin as invisible, or unseen, energy — the energy of thought — and ultimately become other kinds of energy until, ideally, they become matter. What we call “solid matter” is simply a physical representation of an invisible idea — a representation that is available to our physical senses in our physical world. Prayer — answer; unseen — seen; dream — real-ized dream; steam — ice; non-physical — physical. How and why we are given thoughts, and then allowed to focus on those we wish to give physical life to, is the mystery; it is a mystery to our physical brains, anyway. But, this indeed is how it seems to work. We think of a thing and, if we feel an attraction, or desire, for this thing in our heart, we focus our attention on thoughts of this thing. Through a process that can unfold in infinite ways, our desires become ful-filled — the invisible pattern in our mind’s eye has become filled-full with the appropriate matter.
Trees grow from the inside out; balloons grow from the inside out; people grow from the inside out; and prayers grow from the inside out. Our prayer is the formal-ization of the recognition of a desire; our answer is the material-ization of that same desire — two forms of the same desire. It all starts with the answer; and the answer is the question. What do you want? What do you desire? Don’t judge or worry about what other people desire. If you want world peace, you won’t get it by judging or criticizing someone for wanting a new car, or more money than you want. If you want peace and health for a family member, or friend, don’t taint your joyous thoughts of your fondest wishes for that person with worry-thoughts of “the worst that could happen,” or resentment-thoughts that other people don’t spend as much time praying for “good” things.
“Every man according to his own heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.”
“Judge not…”
“As a man thinketh, so it is done to him…”
“Fear not, be of good cheer…”
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
“Man is formed and molded by his thoughts.”
But all of this thinking starts with the desire to experience something different. The desire is the seed, or spark of light, that starts the fire that cooks your dinner. Desire is ultimately behind anything we do; and to do things more clearly and effectively, we must become more clear about our heart’s desires — and that requires learning to communicate with (listen to) the heart.
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart also be.”
The role of the heart in prayer, it seems is three-fold:
- The Heart is the Source of the spark of desire that initiates any prayer… (”From the heart…,” or, “With all my heart…,” are examples of our awareness of where the spark of inspiration originates within us.)
- The Heart acts as a “magnet” to draw us and our desire together by giving us courage to act, and receptivity and guidance to the new things that show up in our life. (”Follow your heart,” and “Listen to your heart,” etc…”)
- The Heart feels and expresses joy and gratitude for answered prayers, or fulfilled desires. This is the reward a parent seeks when fulfilling the desires of a child.
But the Heart plays other, peripheral roles as well. The Heart is the seat of wisdom in the body — the Source of that “still, quiet voice.” When you have conflicting thoughts, you are observing the difference between the reasoning of the brain and the wisdom of the Heart. The HeartMath Institute has compiled a wealth of medical and scientific research data that absolutely corroborates the ancient wisdom teachings on the Heart. Though the Heart pumps and circulates life through our body, the Heart is not simply a physical pump; it communicates with each cell in the body via the rhythmic, Morse code-like pumping action, or the electrical and chemical impulses generated within — both of which change the electrical field around the Heart creating new physiology each moment. When the Heart is in-sync with the brain — when we truly believe in our prayers — anything is possible.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“Anything is possible for he who believes.”
The Heart is the beginning (desire) and end (gratitude) of our prayer; the Heart creates our desire, informs us of it, helps attract it to us (or us to it), and then enjoys the completion of the cycle of creation. Knowing your heart, opening it, nurturing it, strengthening it, listening to it, and following it, are all different activities; and, like any activity, each of these requires time, attention, thought, and action. It all begins with desire; and desire begins deep in the Heart. What do you want? Really, what is your Heart’s desire?
For amazing insight and research into the heart and its role in creating our overall experience of health and life, visit HeartMath at: www.HeartMath.com .
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