Praying From The Heart

      Prayer is something we all use at one time or another, and for a variety of reasons. We say prayers before we go to bed, when we get up in the morning, when we are afraid, and when we are in awe.  There are memorized prayers, desperate prayers, and prayers of praise.  But there is a special kind of prayer, the prayer that originates and emanates from deep in the heart.  It's a prayer full of love and compassion.  It's a prayer that embraces our unity  with all people and things.  It's a prayer we send up to Spirit/God for someone else who is suffering or looking for answers to a problem.  
​     In my last job I had the opportunity to meet people who were applying for credit to purchase a vehicle.  Credit applications involve questions about things that are personal and sometimes emotional.  During the last year of my employment I met some very special people applying for credit.  These were people were dealing with major life-changing, health issues.  I met a man who suffered a spinal injury in a motorcycle accident.  He dealt with intense pain on a daily basis.  At times his pain was to severe that he would pass out.  We would sit and talk about alternative ways he could find relief.  His doctors just wanted to medicate him.  He didn't want to be all drugged up, so he tried to endure the pain. I also met a man who had serious intestinal problems.  This is a man who owned a huge Big Dog motorcycle and had been very active.  He loved his bike, but ended up selling it because of his illness.  Doctors were having trouble diagnosing his specific condition, so he was forced to live with chronic pain.  It took a year for him to get a diagnosis, surgery and treatment he needed.  I also met several people with various forms of cancer, two of them in stage 4. During this same time period some of my close friends were going through serious problems.  I was told to pray for them, also. 
     That inner voice kept getting louder telling me to pray for all these people. I started a prayer notebook and entered the names and a few details about each person I held in my heart.  I decided to make it a prayer ceremony. I created sacred space and sat down in the middle with my notebook.  I felt my connection with all living things and my connection with Spirit.  I went through every name on my list - not with sadness - but with love.  When I got to the end of the list more names came to mind, and not just people.  There were animals, and even a tree.  The tree was a very old and large black walnut tree in the yard next to mine.  An old couple lived there, and they loved that tree.  Every year they would pick up all the walnuts and shell them.  Then they would give them as gifts to their special people.  I was blessed to receive a large bag of nuts.  Eventually this couple ended up in an assisted living center.  About a year ago the man passed away.  When spring came I noticed that the tree had no buds, no life at all.  I appears that when the old man died, the tree died, too.  The woman who lives there now told me it would cost her over $1,500 to have the tree removed, and she just can't afford that.  So the tree stands...as a memorial to a great old man.
     My prayers were, and still are, simple.  I believe it isn't the words that are so important, it's what I feel in my heart.  I don't feel called to get personally involved with any of the people on my list (except some close friends).  I simply put their situations out to the universe and send them energy (love) to help them in ways only they know. 
     I believe we all experience that feeling of someone touching our heart.  We also experience that feeling of being helpless to do anything for them.  That's the time to send up a prayer.  It doesn't have to be a ceremony.  You don't even have say it out loud.  Just send up a little love prayer from your heart.  This love energy will help to empower them to deal with their situation.  Your thoughts and prayers are very important.  Every thought and every prayer has an impact on the whole universe.