Prayer Discernment

Should you pray for everyone or let anyone pray for you? + Prayer Resources

In recent years I’ve heard a very unique debate about prayer. For most of my life, I’ve heard people asking for prayer during hard times and good times to achieve their goals. In churches, they have prayer lines and lists of people to pray for when they are unwell. However, recent concerns have put some additional questions in my head about “praying for” someone.

Despite what many people think they know about me, I believe prayer is a powerful spiritual tool. I’ve studied a great deal over the years and my favorite book on prayer is The Energy of Prayer: How to Deepen Your Spiritual Practice by Thich Nhat Hanh. Many people on this side of the world know him for one of his most popular best sellers, Living Buddha, Living Christ.

As a person who is often asked about my position on spiritual concepts, the most popular question regards prayer vs. meditation. I consider both spiritual tools and one is not better than the other. Although there are many forms of meditation, meditation provides the opportunity to intentionally listen to the Divine presence that many refer to as God. Prayer is the direct outgoing communication with the Divine presence, often referred to as God.

As an energy healer and Reiki Master, I often work with people, whose crown chakras are blocked and imbalanced. Most times they are aware of this and book sessions because they notice a disconnect from the Divine. There are plenty of causes for this. Subscribe to the Soul Trine blog for chakra and energy healing post updates (FREE). My job isn’t to judge how they became blocked and imbalanced but to support them in clearing the way for their connection to the Divine.

Prayer Perspectives

A few years back I started hearing and seeing debates on whether or not it is okay to “let” others pray for you. It was off-putting because whenever I prayed for someone it was coming from a good place. However, points were made.

“Don’t let someone pray for you because you don’t know their true intentions.”

“Don’t let just anyone pray for you because you don’t know their relationship with God.”

The most interesting statement came from a woman who said praying for her without her consent was on the same level as cursing someone without their consent. It struck a chord with me, but I’ve heard people use the word prayer as a passive-aggressive weapon.

I’ve seen some of the fakest people, especially the ones who don’t like me say, “Praying for you!!” if they were to learn of a concern connected to me or to attempt to end a disagreement say, “I’m praying for you,” with the most condescending vocal tone and expression on their face.

As a person who values their spiritual existence, I can’t see why I would lie about praying for someone or using it as a passive-aggressive tool. When I experience this foolishness, I briefly consider if a person has always been fake with and about their relationship with their Divine connection or if they are planning on attempting to curse me with their prayers later. Knowing the negative energy that they had for me in the moment or on any other day, “Would I want those prayers?” Hell, no. All of this reminds me of a Key & Peele skit, where they portray church ladies named Georgina and Esther who are going over all that they plan to accomplish “with their prayers.” 🤣😭🤣 NSFW!!! NSFC!!!!

A phrase that has cheapened the idea of prayer is the term “Thoughts and Prayers” after repetitive tragic events. It’s such a cliche and trite statement for two actions (prayer and thought) that can steer the trajectory of people’s lives and events. I’m at a place where all I can do is shake my head in disgust when people say this after families have been destroyed. I’m not against guns either. The lack of empathy is disturbing.

Conflict and Prayer

About 15 years ago a friend died a tragic violent death. Prior to his death, we hadn’t talked for some months. I was friends with his “girlfriend” as well and it had been just that long since I spoke with her. When I found out he died I naturally reached out to her first. After listening to her story, it seemed like everyone was against her and she continuously asked for prayer to make it through the roadblocks in getting his funeral together despite the adversity she was experiencing. The adversity didn’t make sense, but she kept asking for prayer stating her position as his woman who just wanted to see him sent off in the right way. I prayed for her because I knew them and trusted her.

Long story short, they broke up months ago and I was unaware. He had left her for a new girlfriend. His mother was too weak from grief and her own prior struggles. She couldn’t stand up for her son in his death and most of his family was from another state. Thankfully, I also contacted his daughter’s mother to offer my condolences and offered her my home to stay in while she was in town. The person I had called friend was now his “ex-girlfriend” and she highjacked his death services, had him cremated, had a wake, and a funeral service. His family from the other state came to the funeral service at the last minute and stood up at the end to say their peace because they felt slighted. The new girlfriend stood up and spoke about his character and the changes he made since she knew him, but she never mentioned a title for their relationship.

Everything came to light a few days after the funeral. From our initial conversation about his death, the “ex-girlfriend” kept trying to pin his murder on an associate that we all knew. The associate showed up to every service and gathering. He walked in the door claiming his innocence every time. He was the only one who knew the truth about the ending with the ex-girlfriend and his relationship with the new girlfriend. After the services, he called his daughter’s mother and broke everything down to her. I heard her scream from a bedroom in my house because all the information hit her so hard at once. With the new information, hindsight hit all of us hard.

The new girlfriend was in a completely different circle. She had an apartment with a doorman in the same building as a popular famous billionaire black woman. Our deceased friend had spent the months prior to his murder getting his life upgraded. This is why his “ex-girlfriend” handled things the way she did - a combination of jealousy, ego, and evil.

There is much more to this story. Key people and details were left out for the sake of time and space. You are probably wondering how someone who is not married could accomplish so much. The ex-girlfriend scammed her way through the whole experience and she did not act alone. If you want more details, just ask. I’ll write a whole blog post on it.

Prayer and Energy Requests

After this incident, I stopped praying for people in the same way. If someone is in conflict with another person or situation, I listen without judgment. My prayer will be that the situation resolves at its highest and best resolution and that the person requesting prayer receives clarity.

Never will I blindly pray for a person over a conflict situation when my emotions are high. I need to gather, ground, and center my energy first. Grief is a very powerful emotion. It is very strong, raw, and wild. Manipulative people can direct this energy in their favor. This is why you see some of the craziest fallouts and unlikely pairings after a death, tragic incident, or loss by other means. People are being led by the nose when they are most vulnerable.

Photo by Margaret Polinder on Unsplash

Asking for prayers isn’t something I do on a regular basis. My prayer requests are very selective. I know a prayer warrior when I see one. Energy alchemists are easy for me to spot as well. The level of discernment for energy is the same as it is for prayer. Asking for a specific type of energy from a select person or people is another approach.

In supporting people in my personal circles, I have to approach everything on a case-by-case basis. When people close to me are going through a hard time like grief, I ask if they are comfortable with me praying with them. Grief could mean the sudden illness of someone, the loss of a relationship, or the diminished health of a loved one. Praying with people who have similar intentions is a powerful experience. The drawbacks come when you are praying with people who don’t have your best intentions at heart. Unfortunately, when emotions are high, this can be difficult to spot.

If someone is processing trauma, I hold space. I sit with them in reassuring silence. If they want to talk, I will talk. If they want to sit in silence, that is fine as well.

When someone is praying for a goal, I ask questions about what they see for the intended outcome after the goal has been accomplished. I visualize what they expess and pray for that. Asking deeper questions is important because I would not want my vision for the success of the goal to interfere with theirs. If their goal was to win a settlement and their success vision for themselves was a Birkin bag and my vision was land, it would not be my place to interject my vision on theirs.

In deciding which type of prayer to use for prayer requests, I move with my spirit. If I am called to pray for them with words directly channeled to them, I will. Although, if I am pulled to read to them from a specific book, I will do that as well.

Books of Prayer

Some of my personal connections are Western Christians and others are mystics who practice a myriad of spiritual practices. I found that Christian texts translated directly from Arameic to English and/or texts that have not been influenced by the Council of Nicaea, Reformation, The Age of Faith, The Spanish Inquisition, colonization, The Atlantic Slave Trade, or any period where the words of Jesus Christ were tortured and forced upon others align more with what I’ve learned from the metaphysical and mystic side of spirituality.

When it comes to any type of spiritual practice, I make sure to tap into the history of the creation of the spiritual practice. The history of Christianity and its move from an Eastern religion to a Western religion that came back and influenced Eastern countries through colonization is quite interesting. The translations, information, and testaments have been hoarded and manipulated to appease the agendas of kingdoms and movements and to keep information that does not align with the ability to control the masses.

Prayers of the Cosmos, a book that translates the lines of “The Lord’s Prayer” from its original Aramaic text into English, while also adding more context from the Aramaic language. Words from other languages, especially languages that are of the Western part of the world, don’t translate to English word for word. In Prayers of the Cosmos, Neil Douglas-Klotz, references a quote from Dr. George M. Lamsa in the introduction “According to Lamsa in New Testament Origin, ‘Not a word of either the Old or the New Testament was originally written in Greek or any other European language. The theory that Jesus’ teaching was first recorded in Greek was undoubtedly prompted by anti-Semitism…. Prior to the British occupation of India and Egypt, the Western world knew hardly anything about the East. Almost everything that was written in Germany, England, and America relative to Eastern Christianity was conjectural or biased. Therefore the whole body of evidence relative to the Bible theology and the people of the East must be re-examined in the light of the present findings and the Aramaic language’ (pp. 1, 17-18).”

I recorded a segment from Prayers of The Cosmos to give you an idea of a prayer I pray with loved ones.

What are Semitic languages?

The Semitic language family consists of dozens of distinct languages and modern-day dialects, but the major Semitic languages are Arabic, Amharic (spoken in Ethiopia), Tigrinya (spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea), Hebrew, Tigre (spoken in Sudan), Aramaic (spoken in Lebanon, Syria, [Palestine], Israel, Iraq and Iran) and Maltese. - Babel.com

Another Aramaic-to-English book I work with for prayer is the Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text: George M. Lamsa's Translation From the Aramaic of the Peshitta. Many people use specific verses from the Christian bible for prayer. For some verses, you will see major differences in translation in comparison to the King James Version and other modern translations, while others will have slight variances.

At times an energy adjustment is necessary for a situation and a Mantra said at the correct vibration and the right amount of repetitions will assist in turning a situation around. Healing Mantras: Using Sound Affirmations for Personal Power, Creativity, and Healing and Meditative Mind are great resources for mantras and their proper pronunciations.

A book that supports my connect-the-dots form of spirituality, which is based on finding how we are all connected as opposed to harping on our differences as humans is THE BRIDGE OF STARS: 365 Prayers, Blessings and Meditations from Around the World.

I have other books I reference for the purpose of prayer for myself and my loved ones, but the best prayers are the ones that are channeled through the heart and the crown. My issue is that I need to start recording them so that they can be listened to more than once.

Be discerning with prayer - whether giving or receiving. We can only vouch for our own intentions.

Check out the last video I created on the impact of Western Christianity, among other topics.

@aethercandaceReplying to @usedfridgehoe13 I appreciate you caring enough to view the documentary. #banished #goodlordbird #johnbrown #BlackHistory #generationalwealth #religion #colonization #missionaries

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