Praying for Other People

Transcript

Jim: 0:00

Hello, and welcome to this episode. Decide on Joy, a podcast coming to you from Harmony Spiritual Center in Fort Worth, Texas. My name is Jim Alt,

Pjae: 0:12

and my name is Reverend Dr. PJ Stanley. Welcome and thank you so much for being here.

Jim: 0:17

And our topic today is one that I suggested because I, it is a genuine question from me. Yeah. A lot of people have questions, not a, not a, oh, let's talk about this. Although we already know the answers, it's, I really don't to this,'cause I was curious about what, what are we talking about when we say we're praying for other people

Pjae: 0:36

E Exactly. Exactly. And,

Jim: 0:38

and. And maybe we need to start that topic by discussing what in new thought terms prayer is exactly, because it might be a different thing from what. How, what's going on in a more traditional church. Right. Right. The, the appeal to some separate entity. Some, yeah. Severe old man and somewhere in the sky, you know? Exactly.

Pjae: 1:02

And having to be on your knees. So it was, it was a really interesting idea. You know, how to pray and not have to, I,'cause I think it's just. Pray. The, the thing that got me was a saying that said, pray ceaselessly. And if you have to be on your knees, you can see the problem there. How do you, and for me it's, it's actually being in constant contact with spirit through prayer. So again, how do you do that? So the, the idea, the thing for me is that prayer is, is. It's just discussion. It's just talking to spirit. God, George, whatever you call that, you know, the divine, whatever the name is, it doesn't matter.'cause this is about you and that entity that's divine. And so it's how do you, how do you, how do you talk with that divine. And do you talk with it? Does it talk back? I think these are all individual ideas. And it's, it's up to you because Spirit doesn't care. It's up to you. How do you relate to that entity? I believe it's, it's important that you're constantly in constant contact with it. The divine, I'm gonna call it the divine. I'm actually, I call it George, with George because the ego, my own mind, my own logic gets in the way. And so so to understand what prayer is, I think it's a really great thing. So it's a, it's a sacred connection.

Jim: 2:20

But we all are part of that divine. Yes, we are

Pjae: 2:24

the we. This is something that bothers some people, but we believe that we are the divine much as we are our parents. We are part of that. And so we are, if, if, if God is the father, the creator of all, we have to be that we have to, we have to be a part of that. We, the that runs in our, in our spiritual veins. And so yeah, we are the, we are the divine and we're just, we're reminding ourselves from, for us prayer is re is a reminder of who we are and what is possible for us.'cause we are, we, we co-create our lives with the divine. And so the we, we create our lives by saying what it is we want to do, how we want to behave, what we want. And so we do that by through prayer. Yeah. Through that, that conversation, and it's a, for me, a constant conversation and I, I talk about this all the time when I'm telling my stories about how I'm the human side of me as opposed to the divine side of me. Mm-hmm. Shows up with all the ego involved. And I really don't want that because the, the highest and best is always when I allow the divine to speak for me. When I know the truth of who I am and who you are. That we are brothers and sisters. And so so, so, so, so prayer is a connection with a divine. And so I wanna start off by the, the question that you had, that you asked me about, well, how do you pray for others? But I wanted to talk about how we actually pray and then how we pray for others, right? And so it's a, it's a, it's a process and the first process of the prayer is connecting with the divine. And, and you might have ask how you do that. And it's just recognizing, it's just a realization. You just sit and you just know with your, you have to know within yourself that you are connected. And I think that comes from practice. It's, it's, it's how does anybody know when they're speaking a prayer that they're being heard? You have to believe that you are right? Yes. I mean, you have to believe that that is what's happening. Well, we believe it's true because we are, the divide is within us. We, we we're a part of that. So even our thinking is, is, is a part of what the divine hears. However, until we make a statement. Because we got random thoughts all the time. So now thank God he doesn't, the, the divine doesn't respond to random thoughts that we have'cause that would be chaotic. But once we say it in a prayer, however we say that is when the action takes place. So we just want to connect with the divine. We, we, we say the second step, that's the first step is, is, is just connecting with that, that knowing that we have that divine within us and that we're speaking to the divine. The other is aligning and centering with it. So we, we. We have to, we, we do it a lot in meditation. We talk about, I do it at the first thing in the morning before it gets too much noise outside of us.'cause there's just noise. Every, everybody's got an opinion. There's horns, walk blocking, there's TV going, there's radio. There's a lot of noise. So early in the morning. It's, you know, when the birds are up and singing and all of that, that's when it's very quiet and even in the evening.

Jim: 5:27

Yeah, I was gonna say, you can gather from that the peach I gets up earlier than I do, but Yes.

Pjae: 5:32

But you could also do it in the evening when it quiets down and so there's not a lot of other noise that's interfering. So that you know that this is a question I get a lot. How do you know it's a divine speaking? How do you know you're speaking to the divine? It is something that you have to trust. And when you do it a number of times, it's like, how do you know you're gonna win the race? Well, because you've been practicing, you know how to get across that line. So how do you know it becomes a personal knowing within yourself? I talk to George, God, that's what I call George God. As if I'm talking to you and I hear a response and we argue. Well, I'm arguing'cause spear's not arguing. I'm arguing'cause I don't really always wanna do it. Do what? The I, I've asked for help, but then I don't wanna take the help. Mm-hmm. Because it didn't come the way I wanted it to come. Yes. Well it comes the way it's supposed to come, but anyway, so you're aligning and you're centering with that and that's just kind of a peaceful, quiet place. I should take a breath and just kind of release anything that's on my heart that might be stopping me from hearing from spirit. So I know and I can even ask. You can ask when you hear a response. You can ask the question, is that just my ego talking? Is that what I want to hear? Or is that actually you? So you, you, you begin to develop this, this voice, this sound. It might not be a voice for some people it's a sign. So whatever it is for you, you'll be practicing that and knowing for sure what it is. We begin with, I said, you know, aligning and connecting, but we also express gratitude. So all, every prayer. Starts with a thank you because the universe is abundant. We've already been blessed. Prayers have already been answered. I woke up this morning. That's a blessing. Okay. I didn't have to many people didn't. So, so there's a, there's a, a graciousness about a, a gratitude about the abundance we already are experiencing. I live in a beautiful place for me. I'm not saying it's a grand place. It's a beautiful place for me though. I love it. I love the community, so I'm, I'm waking up thanking God for what has already happened, and that's what we do. It's the gratitude just, and it, it helps you think about how you've already been blessed that God is already in your life already. So that's, that's, that's the, the third step. The first step is connecting with the divine, knowing that there's something out there. The second step is just aligning and centering. So taking a breath and knowing that it's there. And the third step is expressing gratitude and thankfulness. For what you already have, and then you state what it is that you want. What's the desire? Is it for health? Is it for wealth? Is it for a place, a place to live? Is it for relationships? What are you, is it for understanding? What is it that you're, what's the desire? And so you state that as clearly as possible, and you may not know exactly what it is. So you can say that, I wanna feel better. I don't really know how I'm gonna do that. But Spirit knows what you're talking about. So you can say that. You don't have to be, if you're specific, if you know exactly what it is, then say that. But if you don't, then say, this is, I wanna head in this direction. I wanna feel more of this or, or, or do more of this. I want to be more impactful. That's a prayer that I pray. I wanna be more impactful about my purpose. I want to reach more people because I think I'm talking about something that's helpful. Right. So that's, that's the thing that I, prayer and then there's the transformation. So it's, it's, it's transforming. It's a shifting that you're not changing things. Outside of you, that's number one, because you can't, you can't change other people. What you can change is your perception of things you can ask for, that you can ask for something to flow into your life and recognize when it's there. So there's a, there's a, there's a transformation of, of, of, of, of a health issue. Transformation of, a knowledge issue where you live where the, where there's, for me the way that I was raised, it wasn't okay to have money. Like rich people were terrible people. And you don't wanna be that I beg to differ, I beg to differ.

Jim: 9:41

Well, some rich people are terrible people, but so are some poor people. So are some poor people. Exactly. So

Pjae: 9:46

that's, that, that wasn't, that wasn't true. But, but I had to let go of that and, and know that. And here's the thing. The spirit is prosperous, spirit is plentiful. The the universe is plentiful. And so why, why, why couldn't some of it flow towards you? What's so wrong with that? What are you gonna do with it if you, if it does flow? Everyone that I know of, when you think about that I've spoken to, when you think about winning the lottery. No one has talked about, no one that I've spoken with, maybe it's somebody you've spoken with or others, but everyone that I've ever spoken with has always talked about things they wanted to do for others, for their parents, for their sisters, for their siblings. Everybody has always talked about taking their prosperity and spreading it. So that's what, that's what's gonna happen. So anyway, the, the, the next step is to just talk about what's the accepting the transformation that. We want spirit to help us live more intentionally. So we, we, we, we wanna make sure that we know as best as possible, what's our intention, what's our intention, and say that as best we can. And so that's pretty much what a prayer is. It's communion. It's communion with the divine. It's aligning with the truth. The truth is we're already prosperous, prosperous. That spirit has already blessed us. I don't, why would spirit stop blessing us? Won't. Well, well, it's not gonna happen. So that's, that's how we pray. So we just opening connection, we, the gratitude, we state what we want. I'm just gonna say that really quickly, then we just let it go. Once we, once we say this is what we want, we don't just keep worrying about it. You release it, you assume that spirit's gonna handle it. So just release it. Just let it out there and just affirm at the end that it's already done. It's already done. Here's the thing. Whatever we ask spirit for, it is done in the mind of spirit. What we're waiting for is the physical physicalness of it on this planet. But things have to move around. It's not like a magic wand. It's not like you, not bewitched or anything. Spirit's not gonna do his nose up and then all of a sudden you're gonna have a partner next to you if that's what you're asking for. Well, by not, I know. So, so once you pray and you let it go, be patient and allow spirit. Two things be patient and allow Spirit to move things around. You know, spirit moves through us. Right. Spirit moves through people. So you've gotta allow people to move and be and, and, and be faithful and follow what Spirit is asked them to do. And the other thing is this. If one person won't do what Spirits asked, spirit will just tell another one. Until you get until what? Whoever's supposed to come into your life to help you do whatever it is or become, whatever it's you're gonna become, they will be there. You look for it. Just start looking for it and know that that's what's going to happen. So use the firm. It's already done, and all you're doing is waiting for it to show up in your life and you're looking for it. You're, you're, you're expecting it. And so you're confidently expecting it. Yeah.

Jim: 12:35

Confidently is the confidently

Pjae: 12:36

expecting it.

Jim: 12:37

Yeah.

Pjae: 12:37

Yeah.

Jim: 12:38

So moving on to the, the original topic. What, what, what's going on when we're praying for other people

Pjae: 12:48

so everybody can pray for themselves, obviously. And every, you know, and so what we've just described, it is basically five steps. That's just makes it easier that, you know, you're going through, you just align with spirit. You know, you just know that you've gone through those steps, let it go and trust. So that's just an easy thing to remember. The reason why we pray for others is sometimes, have you ever had an illness that has just consumed you and it's just, it's frightened you and sometimes because of the physicality of you. The, the, the disease seems big and we know that nothing is bigger than God, nothing.'cause God is all things. So we know for a fact that nothing is bigger than that. But sometimes if we're saying we're prosperous, this is something that I've worked on. You're saying you're prosperous, but your bank account is pretty much at zero. So how do you then believe that? How do you believe that the universe is prosperous and that you have enough? S this is when, so this is, I call, this is a, a word that I've used since I've grown up. It's not something everybody use. You don't have to use it'cause it's not going to war. Yes. Mm-hmm. It's not going to war. But I call them prayer. Warriors. And the reason why I call them that is because they are just someone who automatically knows spirit. And the moment that they ask for a prayer, you feel confident that it is done. So we ask other people to pray for us because we know their faith is strong, so they can believe for us until our faith is strong enough to pray for ourselves, spirit will listen to the prayers of others for us. And so if I'm not feeling well, I'm about to go into surgery. I'm nervous, I'm afraid. And so I, I'll have my sisters or other prayer warriors come and be around me and all of the peace that they bring, all of their knowing I'm infected by that I'm gonna use the word if I'm, I mean, it just reaches through me into my bones. So that's the reason why we pray for others. Yeah. Because they're just in a place where it's hard. It's harder for them just because of the, the humanness of us to believe that they're gonna be okay through this operation or that something, you know what I mean? So that's the reason why we do that. So

Jim: 15:06

should you only do it when asked?

Pjae: 15:11

I, I don't I do it. Okay. So this gonna go back to this. So I, the thing that I, I know, I know for sure, for me is that you can't answer a question that isn't being asked. So in other words, if someone hasn't asked you for help, they're not going to receive your help. But you're not talking to that person. You're talking to Spirit, and Spirit already knows why you're praying for that person. They already know the issues that the person is having, and so. You understand that Spirit already knows that. And so you are just going to spirit because of your relationship with Spirit and saying Spirit, you know where they are. We both know where they are. So I'm asking you to give them some peace of mind right now. Just go to them and give them some peace of mind. So this is, so, yes, you can pray for someone who had to ask you to pray for them. You can't, you know, it's not, it's not like a, a magic wand or anything. You can't say, well, I don't like that person, so can you put some hoodoo on'em? It's not that,

Jim: 16:07

or, can you please make this politician have more sense? Yes, exactly. Because

Pjae: 16:14

no, because they have the sense they have no, you can't do that because, and, and think about this. We have free will. We have free will. That's the reason. So if someone doesn't like what I'm doing. They don't like the way that I speak or whatever. They can't pray to the spirit and say, can you get her to stop it? No. What you can do is say, can you get me not to care about that? Can you take that away from me? Not from her. Right, right. So we only get to pray for us when it comes to that sort of thing. When we're praying for others, we're praying so they can hear spirit louder. So they can feel spirit more, so they can have some peace of mind. That's what we're praying for.

Jim: 16:53

So you talked about like in the instance of, of the surgery thing or whatever, the Yes. That having, having your sisters there. Yes. Do you have to be in the presence of the person?

Pjae: 17:04

You don't, you don't. You can, my my, my sister prayed for me when I was overseas. When I felt I was upset about something and I would say, Hey,'cause I could, I could, I could feel the power of her prayers and it calmed my heart. I knew that someone was on my side with spirit, so. Interceding for me, that's actually what someone praying for you is, it's an intercessory. It's basically a an ambassador. It's someone who has got a really great relationship with spirit, so they can just, some people have such a great relationship with spirit. They can pray and then it's already done. It's always done as soon as you pray, but they know it's done, and so they don't even bother going any further. They just pray and then they, they're off to something else because they know it's done. And that gives you peace of mind. Knowing that someone knows for you that something great spot to happen or that something, one they already know. And so it gives you peace they know for you until you can know for yourself. That's what a, that's what praying for you, for that other people praying for you does for you,

Jim: 18:01

right? I mean, here at Harmony we even have prayer request slips that you can write down. Someone or some, some issue that you want the chaplains to pray about and then I'm not even sure how this works. Yeah. But they say they send it on to silent unity. Yeah. Whatever that is. Yeah. We just write it out. I don't mm-hmm. But yeah,

Pjae: 18:22

we give them a name. We write out the basic idea of what the prayer was about, and we ask the people, you know, silent Unity's been going on for over a hundred years. They, they, they pray for people around the world. And I've been there. It is the, it is a sacred. Space and we, you can go and visit and they're up in a beautiful tower at the Unity Village and it's a 30 minute session that you can just sit in in silence while they're praying. And it is the most peaceful thing you've, you've ever been around. It's beautiful. And you know that they've been doing that for over a hundred years. Every single day. They haven't missed a day that they're praying. So you, that kind of prayer that room is, is. It's sacred. You can feel it when you walk in. So can you imagine, I, I didn't get a chance to do this, but obviously I'm so many people didn't, but can you imagine what would be like if you met Mother Theresa, how you'd feel? You've heard some things.

Jim: 19:21

No, no, no, no. I I, she's reading my facial expression there. I know. And that wasn't my intent.

Pjae: 19:26

Yeah. No, but I mean, I could imagine if I was in her, in her presence, if she held my hand. Because she has such strong faith and you can feel it. So that's, that's what praying for someone is. It's just someone who's, who's been around a long time, who knows spirit really well and has a, a deep faith. You can feel that for yourself. And so it just helps you with your faith. That's that's what it's, that's why we pray for one another. Yeah.

Jim: 19:53

Okay. Yeah, there we go. That, that my question has been answered and we'll end this episode there. Thanks for being with us and we'll see you next time. Yeah.