Prayer is a form of communicating with God. The quality of our feelings, thoughts and emotions during this communication is the main determining factor in whether or not the prayer will be successful. In other words, trusting and believing is critical to receiving a positive outcome of your prayer. Those “miracle workers” who ask God FOR you and help heal you or a loved one are simply creating that necessary level of trust and belief in you. It is actually YOU, not them who are doing it. That being said, there is a legitimate benefit in that they are able to get you to have the necessary faith to obtain the results of your prayer. If you were able to muster the same faith you would not need anyone to do it for you.
Without getting into a huge discussion, I will just say that the reason for our inability to have enough faith is centered around our belief that we are not WORTHY of a miracle or an answered prayer. We find it easier to believe that someone else, someone more “good” than us will be able to effect a more positive result than us. We often qualify our prayers with statements such as “If you [grant this prayer] I will [do some good deed]” e.g. “If you let me win the lottery I will give half of it to charity” or “If you keep me out of jail I will spend the rest of my life caring for the sick.” We don’t feel worthy in our present condition so we offer to change ourselves in order to become worthy.
This is where our journey begins, because this is the whole point of existence as we know it. When we live our lives creating love and helping others do the same, we become “worthy”. Once we’re worthy, we can have the necessary faith and trust in our God to make our own miracles. Now here’s the secret: you don’t have to become “worthy” because you already are. You just need to KNOW it. My upbringing was Christian. In our Bible Jesus tells us that we can cast a mountain into the sea if we have the faith of a mustard seed. He meant it. But the key is FAITH.
Take a look a mustard seed. It’s tiny. It doesn’t really look like much. But it is filled with the FAITH that it will someday become a plant, and so it does. How does this little seed know enough to grow? Nobody plugs it in. It doesn’t get charged. It doesn’t take batteries. In fact, everything it needs is already provided i.e. faith, water and soil. But unlike us, it doesn’t live in a world which insists that it CAN’T grow. It isn’t filled with doubt or feelings of unworthiness. It just is. It just trusts. And so it DOES.
Don’t pray in worry. Don’t pray in doubtfulness. Don’t pray in an spirit of unworthiness. When you pray, pray with love. Be grateful for all the things you have, all the things God has already provided for you. And by all means pray with faith and trust. Be the mustard seed – deserving, unquestioning and receptive to the miracle you seek. Your prayers will become much less of a chore, and much more productive. In addition, life will become one giant miracle and light and love will shine through your entire world. The sun will come out – literally – and you’ll see everything from an entirely new perspective. That’s powerful. That’s prayer.