How To Pray In An Effective Way

How To Pray In An Effective Way

Living in this crazy world where so much is happening is challenging. 

Staying in peace, joy, harmony, and wholeness when there is so much going on is difficult. 

Prayer can be a powerful tool to help us find and sustain sanity in the midst of all of this. But for prayer to be truly helpful, we need to learn how to pray in an effective way.

There are many modalities of prayer, many ways of praying. Some are more effective, some are less. 

In this post, we are covering how to pray in an effective way. We will be exploring something called the Six-Step Spiritual Mind Treatment, or the Affirmative Prayer. 

It has even been called Scientific Prayer because of its time-tested design and structure. 

Having said that, I want to be fully open and honest. There are many different ways to pray in an effective way. 

The Affirmative Prayer is one modality, but it is not the only effective prayer technique out there.

Just to be clear.

Why We Need to Pray in an Effective Way

And to be even more clear. How we pray is not even close to being as important as where the prayer takes us. 

Ultimately, we are not praying to change anything outside of us. No matter how tempting that sometimes may seem.

As so many wise people have stated. Prayer does not bring the answer – Prayer Is the answer.

So, let us just briefly explore what this means and how prayer works.

It all comes down to the spiritual principle that consciousness always precedes form. 

Another way of saying it is that whatever we turn our attention to the most, will and must come into our experience. 

Not by luck. Or by chance. Not by happenstance. But by Law.

Whatever our predominant feeling tone (vibration) is, will sooner or later demonstrate and manifest itself in our physical reality. 

In other words, whatever our external conditions and circumstances may be, we need to find a way to raise ourselves above them. 

Whatever seems to be on the surface, we need to find a way not to get bogged down in that.

No matter how real it may seem and feel, we need to find a way to turn our attention away from that which seems to be bad, negative, or wrong. 

What It Means to Pray in an Effective Way

This is where prayer comes in. And even more so, this is why we need to pray in an effective way. 

We are praying not to change something outside of us. But we are praying to vibrationally lift ourselves out of the lower vibrations of fear, worry, doubt, complaining, bemoaning, despairing, and whining. 

And onto the higher vibrations of peace, joy, harmony, gratitude, wholeness, and abundance. 

Because the more we hang out in those higher vibrations, the easier and quicker the good that we wish to experience will begin to emerge from within us and take form in the physical world.

This is Law.

So before we go into how to pray in an effective way, we first need to establish what it means to pray in an effective way.

As we just talked about, effective prayer can be said to be any prayer that raises our vibration and treats our minds to go above and beyond surface appearances. 

Effective prayer is any prayer that makes us feel so much better after having prayed than before moving into prayer. 

So effective prayer is any prayer that effectively and immediately expands our consciousness and raises our vibration.

Effective prayer is any prayer that moves us into a profound inner knowing and feeling tone that All is Well. Regardless of our external conditions and circumstances.

Effective prayer is any prayer that moves us into vibrational alignment with the good we wish to experience. Into a feeling tone that this good is already here, or at least that it is happening now. 

That is what effective prayer is. 

Why we never want to ask, beg or beseech God to give us anything

Now, I know that when many of us pray, we lean into prayer, asking, begging, or beseeching Spirit to give us something. 

While normal and very common, this is not an effective way to pray as we are coming from a space of lack and separation. 

On a vibrational level, the very act of asking for anything means to affirm its absence. We are only asking for that which is lacking or missing, right?

So while reaching out to God, Spirit, The Universe, or whatever we feel comfortable calling it, may bring strength and comfort, we want to be mindful of the words we are using and the consciousness from which these arise.

Consciousness always precedes form, and so if we are speaking from a space of separation, separation is what we are affirming.

So, to pray in an effective way means consciously treating our minds and speaking from a space of Oneness. 

From a space of it, whatever the good we desire may be, being already done and happening now. 

So that that good may emerge from within us with ease and grace. Which ultimately also brings us back to sanity.

The Affirmative Prayer is One Way to Pray in an Effective Way

The Affirmative Prayer is a technology, originally developed in the early 20th century, by individuals such as Ernest Holmes (founder of Science of Mind) and Charles Fillmore (co-founder of the Unity Church). 

Since then, a number of organizations and individuals have contributed to the refinement of this technology, resulting in the emergence of several versions of the Affirmative Prayer.

The Six-Step Spiritual Mind Treatment that we will cover here in this post was developed by Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith. Among many things, he is the founder of the Agape Spiritual Center in Los Angeles.

Where the typical Affirmative Prayer begins with recognition of what God is, Rev. Michael added Gratitude as the first step. 

He did so to help bridge the transition from being caught up in external conditions and circumstances and recognizing a Benevolent Loving Presence.

Below follows a brief description of the six steps of the Six-Step Spiritual Mind Treatment.

If you wish to go deeper into learning how to pray in an effective way using the Affirmative Prayer, I invite you to take my audio course called Pray Like A Pro. 

In this course, you will be guided deep into each of these steps so as to really steep yourself in this powerful technology.

For now, let’s dive into how to pray in an effective way, beginning with Gratitude.

Step 1 – Gratitude

So the very first step of the Six-Step Spiritual Mind Treatment is gratitude. 

This is where we spend some time bringing into our awareness some of the good that is eternally present in the nowness of this moment. 

We perhaps express gratitude for the Divine qualities that are here, such as peace, love, joy, harmony, abundance, and wholeness. 

Perhaps we express gratitude for blessings, people, and events that are present in our lives. For who we are or where we are.

In any given moment, there is an infinite number of things to be grateful for, and here is the time for us to turn our attention away from that which is not to our liking to the good that is here.

The Purpose of the Gratitude Step

The purpose of the Gratitude Step is to help us raise ourselves above and beyond our complaints and opinions about what seems to be. 

So that when we enter into the Recognition Step, we do so soaring and flying in the higher vibrations of joy, gratitude, and peace rather than fear, worry, and doubt.

And so it is important that we stay in this step until we actually feel gratitude. Rushing through this step, or any of the steps for that matter, is not something that serves us.

But we want to take our time and give each step permission to really expand our consciousness and raise our vibration.

Step 2 – Recognition

When we have moved ourselves into the feeling tone of gratitude, we can move on to the second step, which is the Recognition Step. 

This is where we begin to articulate all that we know to be true about Spirit, God, the Universe.

We can perhaps list its qualities, such as love, peace, joy, harmony, wholeness, abundance, intelligence, and creativity. Just to name a few. 

We can recognize that it is infinite, boundless, eternal, and limitless. That it is the One and Only Power/Mind/Source/Life, etc. 

That it is fully and evenly present everywhere. Not more here than over there. Not fully present in one place and completely missing in another. That it cannot ever diminish itself or divide itself into parts.

We can articulate that God is benevolent, always for itself. Always good. That it cannot ever be against itself. Or that it cannot compromise or contradict itself.

We can recognise that Spirit is always expressing itself perfectly. That there is no chance, luck, or happenstance anywhere in creation. 

God is Love, Order, and Law.

We can recognize that Spirit is always sourcing, fueling, and funding itself, providing everything needed to eternally reveal more and more of itself. 

The Purpose of the Recognition Step

This step really lays the foundation for the Realization Step, which is where we really get to treat our minds to know that All is Well. 

And so we are wise to include in the Recognition Step the qualities that we feel are missing in our lives. 

What do I mean by that?

Let’s say that we, for instance, have a physical, mental, or emotional condition that we want to transcend.

As consciousness always precedes form, transcending that condition begins by us treating our minds to know that Divine and Perfect health is who and what we are. 

The truth and essence of our being.

In the Recognition Step then, we need to make it a point to recognize all the qualities that support that knowing. 

Maybe we want to recognize that God is harmony, wholeness, and perfect health. That Spirit is fully present everywhere. 

Or maybe that the Universe is always providing everything needed for greater expression of itself to be revealed. 

This is the step where we build the spiritual foundation that will support the treating of our minds that primarily happens in the Realization Step.

Step 3 – Unification

The third step in The Affirmative Prayer as a means to pray in an effective way is the Unification Step.

In the Unification Step is where we remind ourselves that as Spirit is All There Is, it means that we and it are One. 

There is no separation in God. No division in God. There is no diminishment in God. 

In other words, our very life and being is Spirit expressing and revealing itself in, as, and through us. 

Each of us, is a unique, perfect, whole, and complete emanation of the One. Of the Only thing there is. 

The Purpose of the Unification Step

The purpose of the Unification Step is to bring us into the full awareness that we are never separated from Spirit. That we are living, moving, and walking eternally One with the One.

This realization allows us then to bring it all home in the Realization Step. 

The Unification Step may sometimes seem a bit redundant as we have already recognized that Spirit is all there is. 

However, to pray in an effective way, it is essential that we emphasize we have never been, never will be, never could be separate from the One Mind. That we are it, as it is us. 

Step 4 – Realization

The fourth step is called the Realization Step, and oftentimes, this is where most of the magic happens. 

This is where we add all that we have recognized God to be to the awareness that we and God are One. 

This powerfully leads us to the realization that all that is True about Spirit, is equally True about us.

If God is harmony, and we and God are One, it means that we are harmony.

As God is always for itself, as God is all there is, it means that all is for us. 

If God is eternally sourcing, fueling, and funding itself, it means that we, being a unique, perfect, whole, and complete expression of the One, are eternally sourced, fueled, and funded. 

On and on it goes. 

Oftentimes, this is the step where we spend the most time, as this is often where most of the work is done. 

We do not, and this is important, we do not want to leave this step until we know that All is Well – or this will not be an effective prayer.

The Purpose of The Realization Step

The purpose of the Realization Step is to treat our minds to know the Truth about who and what we are. 

Beyond any external condition and circumstance.

I sometimes refer to this step as the end of an equation. 

We have Recognized (Step 2) what we know to be true about the Benevolent Loving Presence that is all there is. We have Unified (Step 3) ourselves with this, the One. 

Therefore, all that we have recognized about God is also true for us. 

And this is so regardless of what may be reflected in the surface appearances of our lives.

If x equals 5, and we are x, that means that we equal 5, right? Whether or not we believe it doesn’t matter. 

The equation doesn’t need us to believe in it to be true, right?

Step 5 – Thanksgiving

The second-to-last step in the Six-Step Spiritual Mind Treatment is the Thanksgiving Step.

This is where we sort of seal the deal by giving thanks for all the realizations we have spoken in the previous step. 

I usually wrap it all up by giving thanks for all of this (whatever came through in the Realization step), being done and happening now.

“It is done, and it is happening now, with ease and grace – for this I give thanks”.

The Purpose of the Thanksgiving Step

The purpose of this step is to allow us to take a powerful vibrational stand for what has just been spoken. 

Giving thanks for something that may not have manifested itself here in our physical dimension yet, sends the powerful vibrational message that we, beyond the shadow of any doubt, know that this is so.

All traces of separation are wiped away when we can truly give thanks for something our eyes cannot yet see.

Step 6 – Release

This affirmative way to pray in an effective way is concluded with Step 6, which is the Release Step. 

This is where we take our hands off of the micromanaging how and when our words will come into fruition. 

We surrender and get out of the way for God to do its thing. 

We release it all to the One Mind, the mind that knows all and sees all. 

Our work is done in the sense that we have now moved ourselves into vibrational with the good we wish to experience. 

We have locked on to a High Possibility. 

We have planted a seed that has a life of its own. And that seed is now demonstrating itself here in this dimension. Through Divine design and orchestration. 

So we let it be. So it is, and So Shall It Be. 

Amen.

Summary

To sum it all up, to pray in an effective way means to treat our minds to know that All is Well. 

It is to come into the knowing that the good we wish to experience is done and that it is happening now. With ease and grace.

While the Six-Step Affirmative Prayer is one way to get there, it is not the only way. And how we get there is not as important as that we get there. 

And that we sustain that feeling tone to the best of our ability. 

As always, thank you so much for joining me. If this post resonated with you, I would love to hear from you, so feel free to leave a comment or start a chat.

Until we meet again, I invite us all to hold the world and all beings in a space of boundless peace and unconditional love.

As always, I bless, bless, bless your day, and I bless, bless, bless your way, in the absolute knowing that All Is Well ✨ Something Wonderful Is Always Happening ✨ Everything Is Working For Our Highest Good ✨ Perfect Preparation And Unfolding Is Always Happening ✨

Namaste 🙏🏾 💜