On: How to Pray

Reverend Jean always says "The Universe will give you what you ask for tenfold". If you stop paying attention after that because you are so amped to ask the Universe for stuff to come back to you, you'll miss the second and most important part which is, "so be careful of what you ask for".

Seems like the good Rev brings some common sense to her sermons so why is it that I don't heed these words when I'm praying for all those things I want to come to me tenfold? Well, I had a conversation with a buddy of mine and he informed me right before I called him that he was talking to another buddy about how to pray.

His advice was simple. He broke it down for me in a few steps:

STEP 1: Be Very Specific

I tend to ask the Universe for the baseline needs. Case and point, right now, I need money so it makes perfectly good sense that I ask just for money (I guess to do with what I please but in all seriousness, I just want to get the bills right). He said I should ask for what I want and for what reasons I want it so that the Universe won't just give you one but not the other.

STEP 2: Don't Ask for Too Much

I will speak for myself in saying that I usually fall into the trap of asking for everything in one sitting as if I'm never gonna pray again. That's probably because I don't pray enough. I feel like I have to get it all in. He said the Universe will only respond to what you ask for sincerely, so coming to it with a Christmas list of needs or desires will only muddy the waters. Fair enough. At this point I was beginning to get the picture.

STEP 3: Listen When the Universe Speaks

I know for a fact that I have a problem with this. For now I will blame my short attention span but I'm sure there are some clear and direct signs the Universe is putting down that I'm not picking up. I heard about this stuff called "meditation" that's supposed to do the trick. Apparently when you meditate, you allow yourself to become closer to the Universe; you allow yourself to hear the Universe speaking to you; you awaken to what you really need to see or understand. This is where I'll blame my short attention span...whenever I set my mind to meditate, after about a minute or so, I begin to see Dave Chappelle dancing with goat legs replacing his regular limbs. I'm certain this is not what the Universe is trying to tell me.

Finally, he said its better to pray for the Universe to enact a change in you rather than a change in your circumstances. He finished by reinforcing the point that you (generically) can have what you ask for but that the vehicle for whatever change you desire is you.

I'm going to put these words into action to see what comes of it. I ask that ya'll pray for me but remember the rules above.