The only APP you’ll ever need!

Have you counted the number of apps you have on your phone lately? All those little colorful icons, just a click away from convenience, entertainment, friends and family updates, news and information (and lots of “rabbit holes” to chase around in!)

It seems that our daily communications are reliant on using these apps so much of the time. As I continue to grow spiritually, I’ve found another APP that is even more helpful, more pertinent to all aspects of my life – Affirmative Prayer Power!

Affirmative prayer is defined in scripture, Matthew 21:22; “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” 

Jesus further teaches us in  Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

In our Unity church we paraprase often – If you ask believing, you are already receiving!

Growing up in the the Catholic faith tradition, I learned and used four basic elements of Christian prayer: adoration/blessing, contrition/repentance; thanksgiving/gratitude; and supplication, petition/intercession – all ways of communication with God, to be sure, and earnest prayer in any form can be life-strengthening, yet I’ve found the spiritual tool of affirmative prayer to be the most helpful to me. It brings an element of oneness with God that is very authentic and empowering, exceedingly personal. I’ve experienced it as feeling like Jesus is actually sitting in the room with me, talking, laughing, comforting my tears, holding my hand, and affirming the goodness of God in my life.

Talk about powerful…WOW!

In the Unity faith tradition, affirmative prayer is praying from our awareness of our Oneness with God, not praying to God outside of ourselves. This requires a big shift in consciousness for those of us who previously pictured God as the “big white guy with a beard up in heaven who capriciously handed out favors…. or not.” That shift in consciousness toward the Divine Within, feeling and centering on Spirit in the deep quiet of my own soul (see Luke 17:21) brought some startling revelations about my long-held beliefs, some of which are no longer serving my spiritual growth. I do firmly believe that God is everywhere, all the time, in all things. That instruction came to me at a young age, and I don’t think I could fully embrace what that actually means as a basis of my faith until the past few years. If there really is that “Divine Saturation” as I call it (Omni -presence is the usual term), then I, and everyone else in the world is blessed with it all time in all circumstances, no exceptions. That’s a hard one to accept and remember, because there are people and things I do not like! The difference then becomes our whether or not our thoughts, words and actions are based on that faith, our acceptance of our Oneness with God. I know mine are not always, for sure, but I’m trying.

And that’s where affirmative prayer starts, because if God, omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, resides in me as a part of me, then there is nothing that is impossible! (Mark 9:23)

In affirmative prayer, the first step is relaxation (breathing deeply, focusing on your heart and breath, and being willing to hear Spirit within).

Then begin to recognize and embrace your oneness with God… God as life, ever-present goodness, love, wisdom, truth, joy, peace, wholeness, power, strength… so much good! This is usually where I ask Jesus to join me, to be with me.

Then meditate, concentrate on that kingdom within – all those attributes of God are also within you. Accepting this as truth was hard for me, and even seemed a little sacrilegious at first. I used words like “God within me is love, truth, wisdom…etc” and began to see that as a beautiful gift, to see and love the good that I am because of the God within. That realization is such a powerful experience – that we are expressions of God as ourselves, spiritual beings having a human experience.

Next is affirming your truth. For example if you are experiencing an illness, you claim the truth of God’s wholeness is within you, that God takes up all the space, not any disease. When you affirm the truth of any situation – and the truth is of course absolute in God, be it love, wisdom, abundance, etc. – it leaves no space for the conditions you are experiencing. I’m not saying hurts, poverty, illness, despair, sadness, etc. aren’t real experiences, I’m just saying they are not the Truth of God Within you, because God is always Good, and cannot be any other way. In claiming our truth, we allow our thinking and our actions to follow divine guidance back to balance again.

Whew! Then, just be thankful! Gratitude is a huge part of a good spiritual practice. Thank God for the beauty that is you, that your true nature is divine, that Spirit is working within you as you, being so thankful for knowing that truth!

And then the release, the ending, the claiming “Amen” which is a Hebrew word that means “so it is” or “so shall it be.” I also claim “and so it is” at the end of my prayers, to cement it in well! Amen is a powerful word and needs to be said only to Truth and Truth only. Be mindful not to say amen to something negative – not what you what to “put in stone.”

Just a quick comparison of how I might have prayed before.

Dear God, please please please get me this job. I need the money so badly. I promise to be a better person if you will please just do this for me. (beseeching, bargaining)

And now…I am divinely guided to just the right circumstance in my work. I have all that I need and more, and I am thankful. (affirmative)

When I first started learning about affirming prayer, it seemed like it was “fake”… after all, my current condition was not what I was describing. But as I learned more about affirmations, I realized it was the same as an architect who is drawing up the plans for a house. The plans are not the actual house, but what it is to be after the work is done. And there is always work to be done – this is not some woo woo magic. It is affirming the truths that Jesus has given us. The faith doesn’t just happen. We have to open our hearts to believe. It is simple… but definitely not easy, and takes commitment and practice.

There is so much more than can be said about this APP, but this is long enough.

Recap – Affirmative prayer comes from an acceptance and belief (faith) in our oneness with God. It has several different elements to it (not rote or memory prayer, though).

Breathe

Know you are one with God

Affirm your truth words

Thank God

And so it is! Amen

And if you’d like to hear a beautiful song about prayer,