by Michael Maciel
Prayer relies on several things, but the two most important are knowing and acceptance.
Knowing means knowing precisely what you want. An example would be “a car in excellent mechanical condition,” not “a car.”
Acceptance means what you are really ready to receive. For instance, you might pray to win the lottery, but are you actually willing to accept the life changes that would precipitate from becoming suddenly wealthy?
What would it do to your family dynamics, your friendships, etc.? Most people who win the lottery, I have been told, go bankrupt. Many prayers go unanswered because of these kinds of unconscious concerns.
This is not as magical as it sounds. Everyone knows that it's those who have a clear vision of what they want who are more likely to accomplish it. Success rarely happens by accident. It takes focus and perseverance. Luck plays a part, too, but we tend to get luckier as we get better prepared.
And it's also well-known that people tend to make as much money as they are willing to accept, often being stymied by unconscious restraints, such as not wanting to outdo their parents or not believing that they are worthy.
What makes prayer different from psychology is the metaphysical fact of the One Mind. This is the idea that everything is connected. Everything. And it's all connected on the mental plane. The principal driver of prayer, psychologically speaking, is intention. One of the best examples of this is a boxer’s performance in the ring. As Sun Tzu said, “Battles are won before they are fought.” Focus, willpower, intention—put these together and you will be unstoppable.
Science disallows the idea of the One Mind, but it still cannot explain consciousness. No scientist has yet been able to explain it—either its origins or where it resides in the brain. They cannot get their minds around the idea that it doesn’t reside in the brain. At all.
Some cutting-edge physicists have been toying with the idea that consciousness is universal and fundamental to reality. If that's true, then efficacious prayer is quite possibly real.
Everything that I have experienced says that it is.