There are several types of prayer available. Well, four actually. The same four apply to all religions out there. Basically, and in the vernacular of the day, let’s call them…
1. Gimme, gimme, gimme
2.Thank you, thank you, thank you,
3.I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry
and
4. Help me – I have no where else to go, please help.
~I found a pretty decent article here from Rev. Erik Walker Wikstrom based on a book he published in 2005, Simply Pray. http://prayingtoday.net/4_types_of_prayer.html!
I’ve noticed in my own life that these options pretty much hold true.
I mean really, as a child the whole “gimme, gimme” prayer was a great set up that further extended my Santa belief. Even as I “found” my current belief system as a young adult I was told to go ahead and pray for anything, it would miraculously show up. I laugh now that I was told to do the “gimme, gimme” prayer. Thing is…what I thought of during the initial prayer did show up. If that didn’t freak me out. Today it is more understandable. What I prayed for then, to get my parents of my back, was for a better grade on the upcoming exam. What I didn’t know then, that I firmly believe now is that,
“prayer is not a half-hearted longing or merely a wish, it is a vow to make something happen (period).
The “Thank you, thank you” prayer maybe should be listed first. Why have we taken away the simple prayer of thanks each time we sit down to eat? Even microwave popcorn had to be planted, harvested (people), packaged, transported, and stocked (people). A simple prayer sending good “vibes” out to the universe (and these people) will hurt no one. A simple thank you speaks volumes not heard by the average ear. An heartfelt thank you that gets sent as a prayer reaches through the unending universe.
“What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it – would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have. ~Ralph Marston
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry” prayer is a prayer for ourselves like no other. It is that time of knowledge of our shortcomings, of knowing we can be better or do better. These prayers are painful. Fessing up, even to myself, never mind the universal power, is humbling for me. In the darkest hours that brought me to the “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” prayers I have been reminded that whatever I did, or in fact didn’t do, the universe already knew. This is not news. The universe saw it, was a part of it, and I am still here. I would like to add a fifth “forgiveness” prayer here. I didn’t see it as a “prayer standard” as I searched the internet (so far).
Forgiveness – the act of letting go that the past will be changing any time soon – is necessary.
In reality, the “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” prayer is a sideways “gimme, gimme” prayer. During the “I’m sorry” process aren’t we really saying, “gimme strength”, “gimme insight”, “gimme courage” to do right, to do at all, to be better?
I don’t know what the difference is between “gimme, gimme” prayers that come to be and those that go “unanswered”. I just know the “Gimme, gimme” prayer is not the “Help me, I have no where else to go” prayer. There is a level of willingness to forego rational thought and allow for that which is beyond our reason to occur. More than all the other categories of prayer this one is the most open to allowing, maybe even asking, what the universe may have in store for you. This “Nowhere else to go” prayer opens possibilities that simply cannot be explained.
“Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine.” ~Kathleen Norris
For all four categories though one thing stands firm at the end, that we each stand here on this earth when we are done with our prayers. Life is to be lived; prayers require action.
