Prayer or Intention?

Is there such a thing as the “power of prayer?”  I ask myself this at a time when so many appear to need help.  Sometimes I feel all I can do is pray.  Is there power in this?

A turning point for me on my faith journey was when I was lying in bed in the hospital, after surgery.  I was surprised at how much I didn’t feel pain.  Actually, so was the hospital staff.  I had one of those fancy machines that would administer painkillers at the touch of a button – literally.  However, I never pushed it – the miracle button, that is.  And the staff kept checking to see if it was working.  They were shocked that I never pushed this source of ecstasy.  “Don’t you feel pain,” they asked?  “Not enough to push the button,” I replied.

If I had known then what I know now, I would chalk it up to the power of prayer.  I had people from various faith communities praying for me in different ways: some chanted, some prayed out loud and others maybe just thought about me and wished me well.  The point is, they were all praying…just in different ways.

So, what is this thing called prayer?  Is it really about tapping into an outside source to change our destiny?  Or is it about tapping into the power within us?  Or is it about feeling connected to others – a community, if you will – who are doing the same thing we are? 

Various cultures interpret prayer differently.  Some may do a body prayer like yoga, or a meditative chant with the voice.  Others may prostrate on a prayer rug or kneel at an altar.  Some may create music to reach an ecstatic existence, or dance to the beat of drums.  Still others may relish silence as a way to meditate or pray.  What these all have in common is that they are focused on intention.

So, what is intention?  One doesn’t seem to need prayer for this.  People who purport not to be a part of a certain religion (i.e. Atheists and Agnostics) do this, too.  The online version of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that intention is “a determination to act in a certain way…resolve….what one intends to do or bring about…” Some of the synonyms listed are: aim, end, objective…goal.

That last term “goal” is one we can really grasp.  In the western education system we are taught to reach goals.  In our society, we learn to focus on goals and objectives.  Anyone who has ever achieved anything in life knows that it is with focused intention, with a goal in mind, that one achieves what one desires.

So, maybe prayer is this.  Maybe it is the intention of people – a focused intention – that lifts us up and gives us power.  The “power of prayer” then is when one feels supported by others – like when one is lying in a hospital bed, and not pushing the magical button of nirvana. 

But, then again, maybe we all have that “magical button.”  In an instant, we can find that place of ecstasy.  It is in knowing that communities of people are out there praying for us, for humanity, for the world.  Maybe this brings us hope…and power…so we can achieve our individual goals…or our collective dreams.  Maybe, we, too, do the same and give others the power of a “magical button” when we talk about prayer or intention.  In so doing, we give them permission to push the button, if they choose.

Power of prayer?  You bet.  And it is magic.

Blessings and faith,

Summer