Have you ever really considered what prayer is? We ask God or a higher power to grant us our desires so that we may live a more comfortable existence in the physical realm.
This is prayer in its most basic form, but also considers it is a call to a higher level of consciousness. By praying we are acknowledging Gods existence. If you don’t believe in God why pray? Does your faith or belief wane when your prayers are not answered? It must be remembered that a prayer is a call to a higher state of consciousness, praying for a million pounds won’t get you a million pounds unless you take action.
The Following is a quote from Sedir, 1871-1926 :
Prayer is the most difficult undertaking which can be proposed to man. Yet everything around us prays: does not the stone lying in the darkness of the mine seek daylight? Does not the plant pierce through the wall to reach light? Do not animals lie in front of the sun at least once a day? Does not the ocean regularly rise to meet the moon beams which revitalise it? All look to Nature to maintain their strength. The atheist prays as he works; the demon prays as it covets; the pebble prays as it tries to evolve toward the crystal. Nations seek happiness; so do planets when they tilt toward their poles. Our very intelligence is so vast only because it has asked much from God. Is that to say that all these beings ask in the proper manner? No; the whole of creation is imperfect, but it perceives this weakness and senses a higher plane.
Every act is a request, and every being necessarily acts, because it lives. Results are not obtained through our will, but because while working toward their achievement, our energies desire and hope for success. Among living things, human beings are the ones who most often refuse to recognise this law; yet it applies especially to them. Understood in its true dignity, prayer is a desire for heaven and a conversation with God. It is a blessing and the source of blessings. It is a seed sown in the ground of Eternity, a work more precious than all the masterpieces, greater than the world, more powerful, shall we say, than God himself.
Do not be surprised; because prayer is no longer within the regulated realm of reason, it is the luxuriant Forrest of Love. To pray, suppress the intellect, open the windows of your heart, and contemplate the infinite fields of eternal hills.
You don’t have to be religious to pray, prayer is effective in helping you to attune with the Divinity and receive its spiritual influx. Prayer which is one of the foundations of all religions and mystical traditions should be studied in depth. Ever since man became conscious of the existence of a divine intelligence which governs all of creation, he has attempted to establish a relationship with that source of light and understanding. As our understanding of the nature of God has evolved so to have the techniques used in attaining contact.
Primitive man believed divinity was limited to natural or supernatural forces which were both malevolent and benevolent. They believed that that night, darkness, storms, tidal waves, and volcanic eruptions and earthquakes were caused by malevolent agents and used these forces to punish them. Human feelings were attributed to these forces, thus personifying them, and rites and rituals were created to appease them or invoke their mercy. Thus originated primitive religions and prayer in its most basic form.
Prayer was aimed at obtaining the favour of the Gods or spirits which primitive man believed ruled the universe. It usually resembled magical rites and incantations, and in extreme cases human sacrifice to appease the Gods. With the beginning of monotheism, the various multitudes of Gods and spirits were no longer invoked. God was now seen as a single humanlike being seated upon a throne somewhere in the heavens above and imposing his will on all of creation.
However man still believed in an all-powerful entity that dished out both mercy and wrath. Gods pardon and mercy was sought by people when they were confronted with adversity in their lives, and thus they prayed for forgiveness etc. This belief has persisted for centuries and even today in the 21st Century man still prays mostly when encountering problems and trials in his life.
The mystic, by definition studies the practice of the spiritual link between human beings and God. Prayer is then a special way of becoming aware of this link because it allows the soul to ascend to higher planes and attune more closely with its source, that is, the universal soul.
Prayer therefore consists of creating an intimate dialogue between ourselves and the God of our heart. It is the language of the soul, and should come from the heart and not the head or intellect.
Prayers, especially when said from the heart in the language they were written in have a subtle effect caused by vibration on the psychic centres of our bodies.
Here are some powerful prayers written by initiates from differing sources, Kabbalah, Knights Templar, and Christian Mystic.
Firstly I will give the Jewish Shema, this is a very powerful prayer which dispels all negative forces. Ideally it should be recited daily from the heart or before any Kabbalistic meditation work.
SHEMA-Concept Unity
SHEMA YISRAEL ADONOY ELOHENU ADONOY ECHAD.
TRANSLATION- Here/listen Israel, Adonoy our God, Adonoy is one.
Chapter 6, verse four from the Torah.
(YISRAEL- God wrestler, wrestling with the lower mind.)
It should be pronounced phonetically thus:
sheMA YISrael, adoNOY elehenu, adaNOY ecHAD.
With the emphasis on the capital letters
“Holy, Holy, Holy is the lord God of Hosts; his glory fills all the earth.
Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiphareth, Giburah, Chesed, Binah, Chokmah, Kether”
This prayer draws down the Holy Spirit.
A Rosicrucian prayer;
“In the name of Christ, by the threefold flame within my heart, I demand of my greater God self, a balanced flow of power, wisdom, and love and see what life will do to me.”
A Kabbalistic Prayer for the Purification of Thought
MODA’AH V’GALUET DA’AT
“Behold I believe with perfect and complete faith that ADONAI ELOHEINU is the cause of all causes.
He has made ten sefirot, which are Keter, Hochma, Binah, Hesed, Gevurah, tiferet, Netzah, Hod, yesod and Malchut.
Their lights are hidden and concealed in the supernal Kether. From their lights extend to the yod, which is Hochma, and Hey, which is Binah, and Vav that includes the six sefiret-Hesed, Gevourah, Tiferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod, and Hey which is Malchut.
To his great light (Ayn Sof), dressed within the ten sefirot of Atzilut do we offer up the intentions of our Prayers, blessings and Praises: the learning of the Holy Torah; the observance of the Mitzvoth written in the Torah or by the sages; every good thought and every holy intention of the heart.
All this to draw down the Supernal abundance and increasing blessing from the illumination that is within ATIKA KADISHA (The Holy Anchient One), who is the Supernal Keter, to Abba (father) and Imma (Mother) who are Hochma and Binah.
From Abba and Imma to MALKA KADISHA (The Holy King) and to Hakal Tapuhin KADISHIN (Field of the Holy apples), who are Tiferet and Malchut.
Behold I believe in perfect and complete faith that ADONAI ELOHEINU that he ADONAI is one and his name one.
He was, is, and forever will be. He was hidden and concealed in Kether. He is presently cloaked in the ten sefirot of Atzilut. He will be revealed in Tiferet and Malchut. It is incumbent upon us to offer up our nefesh (lifeforce), ruach (spirit), and neshma (soul), for the sake of sanctifying his Holy name.
With great love and a desiring soul do we accept upon ourselves the yoke of his heavenly kingdom, even as it is written in the Torah:
SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ELOHEINU ADONAI EHAD (listen all Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is one).
(Silently) BARUCH SHEM KAVOD MALCHOTO L’OLAM VA’ED. (Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom, forever, and ever).
Behold, I now reveal my will and desire before the Holy One, Blessed be he. With my complete heart and my desiring soul, in accordance with Torah law, I hereby nullify, with a complete and perfect nullification, any foreign, blemished, defective or forbidden thought. I also hereby nullify any thought of heresy, G-d forbid; any kind of evil idea or any evil, blemished, defective, or forbidden image in my mind; all feelings of pride and arrogance, all negative thoughts and slander, as well as all types of anger, rage and impatience that have ever arisen in my mind or heart, at any time.
Behold, I declare all these things to be completely null and void, in any and all facets. They shall not abide, or be sustained or last in any way. May the power, strength and vigour of the laws of declaration and stipulation of intent, that our sages have outlined for us in the laws pertaining to business matters.
May this revelation of my intent be in accordance with the laws of the nullification of vows, as outlined by ourselves May this, my nullification, be in accordance to the law of the Holy Torah regarding the nullification of leaven (Hemetz), prior to Passover May this declaration and revelation of my will, that I declare and reveal, be accepted and abided by in the heavenly court above, and in the human court below; as well as in the righteous, the elders, the prophets, the men of the great Assembly, the Talmudic sages, and all the sages of Israel.
Behold, I make a complete and perfect public confession, one that will last forever. With my complete heart and desiring soul, I declare that all my actions are for the sake of ADONAI ELOHEINU G-d of our fathers, and that he is one and his name is one.
All my prayers, my Torah study and my performance of MITZUOT (righteous acts), be they be defined by the Torah or by the sages; everything that I do is to obey the will of ADONAI ELOHEINU, G-d of our fathers and king of our universe.
He makes us Holy by the observance of his MITZUOT (righteous acts) and he has given us his true Torah.
For the sake of the unity of the Holy one, Blessed be he and his shekhinah, in awe and love in love and awe, to unite YOD HEY with VAV HEY in a perfect unity, in the name of Israel”.
This prayer has been translated from the original Hebrew version; therefore certain spellings will be different than those previously mentioned . The origin is from a deeply mystical Kabbalah group that practiced MERKABAH or chariot riding.
THE FIRST BLESSING OF THE AMIDAH
“Blessed are you, ADONOY, our God and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Issac, and God of Jacob,
great, mighty, and awesome God, Highest God, Doer of good, kind deeds, master of all, who remembers the love of the Patriarchs and brings a redeemer to their children’s children for his name sake, with love.
Helper, rescuer, and shield.
Blessed are you, ADONOY,
Shield of Abraham.”
THE TEMPLARS PRAYER
The holy mystical order known as The Knights Templar or poor knights of Christ were stepped in Kabbalistic and Gnostic thought. Little is known of their true rites and rituals, but I enclose here a prayer from a Templar order that is active and operates from Chartres in France.
“God of Life and light,
You who are the alpha and omega
Don’t leave me in the darkness, but help me to go forward on the path of life and love so that I can find illumination and profound inner peace.
Oh Father help me to find an initiated person, so that he guides me to get in contact with the cosmic world and prepare my mission among men.
Father, be thanked for all the kindness that you have for me. I commit to you my soul and my life, my heart and my body.
Let it be according to your holy Grace.
Non Nobis Domine Non Nobis Sed Nomini Tuo Da Gloriam.
Like prayers Psalms also have their own inherent powers and qualities. The psalms and the Torah are both Holy and the sages declared “He who will daily live closer to God, who deserves to unite his soul with him, and who is willing to live in the closest communion with him, should often pray the Psalms with fervour and devotion. Happy the man who does this daily and hourly, for his reward will be great!
The Psalms are divided into five books not unlike the Torah which is the first five books of the Old Testament, ascribed to Moses and commonly known as the Pentateuch.
It is known amongst kabbalist that words contain power to affect the material and spiritual realms on subtle levels, there are many hidden names and words of power contained in The Torah and the modern bible but these are hidden for good reason. The teachings of the Talmud and the Rabbis assure us that many of our forefathers availed themselves to great feats of healing by using prayers and the psalms. The most well known psalm, the psalm of David is most commonly known as the 23rd Psalm I reproduce it for you below.
23rd Psalm
A Psalm of David
The lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his names sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for thou art with me:
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever!