WHAT IS THE PURPOSE of prayer? Does it help? Should we pray? If so, how should we pray?

When you pray, you are summoning forth the creative forces of the Universe. We have observed that when you pray, the vast majority of you pray from a position of lack. There are those of you who approach prayer as if you are beseeching the will of that which is greater than you. If you can appeal convincingly to that greater, more powerful being, then you will get what you want. We have said repeatedly that there is no higher authority in your life than you. Your will is dominant in the physical world. Within you is the power to create, within you is the wisdom of ages. They are not outside of you. When you pray from a position of lack, the Universe can only deliver to you more of the same. If you approach prayer from a position of feeling weak or incapable, then that image of yourself becomes dominant in your manifesting. However, this does not mean that you cannot call upon assistance, for there are many beings who are in service to humanity. What we encourage you to do is to acknowledge that you are able, and have the right, to summon forth energies unto yourself in a multitude of forms.

It is important for you to acknowledge that you are a multidimensional being. As such, the greater part of yourself is at one with the power that creates worlds, with what you call God. As you pray, you are literally summoning forth this power to create in your world.

This is a prayer we suggest: “Source of all life that is non-physical, may I always honour this part of myself. May your presence be expressed through me as it is expressed in other realms. Supply me with all my needs for today and release me from my limitations as I release others from their limitations. Keep me from illusion and deliver me from fear.”
All words have energy, just as thoughts do. Words are thoughts expressed and they carry with them the message of your intention. Words are charged either with positive energies of love that help you to expand, or they are charged with the energies of fear that cause you to shrink away from who you truly are.

Try out an experiment now. Chant each of the following words for 30–60 seconds. After 15–20 seconds, you will have begun to resonate with the energy of a particular word, and as you begin to chant beyond the first 15–20 seconds, you will be bringing that vibration deeper into you, becoming the quality that the word expresses. First, chant the word “Joy”. Notice what happens. How did you feel? Did you start laughing? Did a smile start walking across your face as if it had a mind of its own? Now try the opposite. Chant the word “Fear”. What happened? What did your body do? Did you cross your legs? Start breathing in a different way? In this exercise, you started to resonate with fear, and your body began to react to that energy. Now chant the word “Love”, and allow yourself to chant this word for at least a minute so that you can undo the energy of fear that was brought in as part of our experiment together.

Words have power. They summon forth compatible energies. So the words you speak have an impact on the way you experience your reality. If you constantly tell people how hard you are trying to find a new job, you will continue to create more trying hard. If you continue to tell people how you hate something, you will increase the amount of things that you hate in your life. Just as you have control over choosing what you think, you also have the power to consciously choose your words. No matter how you are feeling, you can change your mood and feelings simply by repeating an empowering word in your mind, or out loud, for a minute or two.

This may not change your mood for the rest of the day, but it will have lifted your energy temporarily, and every time you lift your energy, the more accustomed you will become to a higher vibration. And it will then become habit forming. Love and joy will become a habit, and that is a habit you probably will not want to break! Try these things out. I would rather you believe these things through experience than simply take my word for them. The next time you are in a place you do not particularly enjoy or your mood has taken a downward turn, spend some time repeating a word that gives you power and observe what happens. Words that carry positive energy are: Love, joy, abundance, trust, happiness, delight, laughter, yes, forgiveness, and any other words that energise you.

In addition to creative words, there are affirmations, statements that affirm how you wish to recreate yourself. Affirmations help you focus on a particular goal or desire. Affirmations are statements like: I am joyful and abundant; Abundance is my natural state of being; All good things come to me easily. It is important that all your affirmations are stated in the present tense. Remember, the Universe always gives you exactly what you want, so if you affirm: I want a new home (with the feeling that you dislike where you are), then you will continue in your wanting of a new home. The Universe will agree with you: “Yes, you are wanting a new home.” This may seem like a cosmic joke, but so many of you hold a vision of things in the future, that they continue to remain there—in the future! When you desire something and your desire for it is dominated by your dislike of what you have, the Universe cannot deliver it to you for you are focused on not having it. You can say, “I want a new home”, and if you do so with the feeling of expectation and excitement, it will be yours.

Create your own affirmations and choose words that are the most empowering for you. Make the affirmations easy-to-remember ones that roll off your tongue effortlessly. An affirmation that is too long or complicated will not assist you to hold the mental focus on what you want. Once you have your affirmation, you can either dedicate a time of day in which you will chant your affirmation for 10 minutes or more, or you can repeat it to yourself as you go through the day. A combination of both is more powerful, and combined with visualisation you will be well on your way to creating whatever you desire.

For visualisations and affirmations to be powerful they have to be non-specific, not being attached to a particular object. If you are affirming that you want to find your soul mate, for example, you will be doing yourself and the other person a disservice by affirming that you want a particular person. Before starting, ask that what you visualise serves the highest good of all. Never bring into your visualisations a sense of competition with others, nor an intention that others meet with misfortune. What you send out comes back to you—that is a Universal Law and the Law of Attraction.

© John L. Payne, 2005

Editor's note: Excerpt from "Omni Reveals The Four Principles of Creation"