Prayers

Pray the way Jesus showed how to pray. Not by asking for random things, but by aligning yourself first. Start with what is highest. Recognize what is sacred. Then bring yourself into order. Ask for what you truly need, not what is convenient. Take responsibility for your mistakes, and be willing to forgive others. Ask for strength to face temptation, not to avoid reality. Prayer is not a tool to control reality. It is a way to align yourself with what is right, so you can live it. 1. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Start by orienting yourself upward. Recognize what is above you. Something higher than your ego, your desires, your immediate problems. You are not the center. Begin by acknowledging what is sacred. 2. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Align yourself with that higher order. Do not go into prayer trying to impose your will. Ask that your life comes into alignment with what is right. You are not here to bend reality to you. You are here to straighten yourself out. 3. “Give us this day our daily bread.” Ask for what you truly need. Not excess, not comfort, not distractions. Just what is necessary to live and move forward. Keep it simple and honest. 4. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Take responsibility. Acknowledge where you have been wrong. Clean that up. And at the same time, forgive others. You cannot carry resentment and expect to move forward cleanly. 5. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Prepare yourself for difficulty. Ask for strength to face temptation and to not fall into what you already know weakens you. Do not ask for an easy life. Ask to stand firm when things get hard. This is how you pray. Not to get what you want, but to become someone who can live rightly.