What is prayer and what is its purpose?

What is peace and how do I attain it?

Over the past few years I have become more aware of the ways of prayer and of peace. In most anything I read, noticed, listened to, whatever it was, prayer and peace were very present. When we first chose this issue’s theme, “Prayers of Peace,” more than six months ago I was drawn to write something for submission. Since then I have been playing with prayer and the awakenings and expansions I have been experiencing as “I am prayer.” I opened to the way of prayer more purposefully when I was introduced to a person who focuses quite a bit on prayer being a vehicle of change and healing. As a result of that meeting I began to play with prayer more intently and opened to something I feel may be serving to explore. The following is an exploration of the ways of prayer and peace. I’m going to play with this in two pieces then I will bring it together and see what comes of it.

What is prayer? There are quite a few ways of expressing and experiencing anything in life and prayer is one of them. After spending some time searching for expressions of prayer I have distilled those definitions of prayer as being anything focused on with the intention of receiving higher wisdom or guidance. Prayer is anything a person does with a focus of being more of or expanding into themselves in such a way to embrace a situation or way of being in a more accepting manner. Now this may not be the most common way prayer is used but as I have experienced for myself, seen of others, as well as what I have read, prayer is also used to change a current situation or future event.

While I find no fault in the reasons and/or ways people choose to pray, I will question the overall purpose and long-term benefit prayer plays in the evolution of humanity. If we are evolving to awaken to the truth of who we are as individuals and as a collective I feel prayer can have a truly supportive role. I feel we would be well served to use prayer to become an embodiment of a way of being that is in alignment with the true nature of Self. If we are divine beings having human experiences, and we are awakening to our wholeness in physical form, then it would be helpful if we used the tools we have offered ourselves to support this awakening and embrace all we experience in this life.

Quite often prayer is used in a way to ask for help or guidance in changing or removing our self from a situation we are not comfortable with. I’m not saying that we are to live torturous lives or stay in any situation that is repetitively painful or abusive. What I am stating is that we evolve and grow as beings as we experience ourselves throughout life and embrace all we step into and all that comes as a result of that step. I feel we would more consciously evolve and grow as beings if we would pray for the awareness of our wholeness, to embody and embrace all we are feeling which is being born from the situation we are currently in. If we allow ourselves to live with this level of embracement and love ourselves and all involved in any situation enough we would create a world that we have been dreaming of for centuries. But, as long as we are more focused on avoiding feelings we are not comfortable, with we will continue to turn our backs on ourselves and continue to live incomplete and temporarily peaceful lives.

All we bring into our lives is an opportunity to awaken to, through experience, all that we are and are capable of bringing forth as creative beings. If we are focused on doing or not doing something because of how it may feel we will be limiting the creative process of life. Gradually this will lead to tension, which leads to disharmony and potentially dis-ease. All of which is a result of holding in and back, and there is nothing about us within our design that supports holding back and lack of flow. I feel expansive use of prayer can be a wonderfully supportive way of opening to the True Self.

This leads me to the use of the word Peace. What is peace? As with prayer, there are numerous expressions for peace, which can and will vary with religion, culture, or subject of study and ideal. The clearest expression I came across, which I found online at Wikipedia is “Peace is a state of balance and understanding in yourself and between others where respect is gained by the acceptance of differences, tolerance persists, conflicts are resolved through dialogue, people’s rights are respected and their voices are heard, and everyone is at their highest point of serenity without social tension.” Peace as with prayer, is something we have put a great deal of emphasis on throughout history. Why have we not attained any lasting expression of it? That is for each of us to decide. For this expression there is a limited amount of space and I will focus on what I feel in this moment is a good place to start.

With all I have seen, read, and experienced for myself and with all I have been blessed to be in relation with there is a common thread I have observed within it all. A majority of the time people are focused on changing their minds. What they think about or focus on from their mind’s eye is a mental process of being at peace. If the focus is totally on changing the mind, any shift will be temporary. This is not to say that awareness of our mind’s focus is not serving, because it is. I do not feel changing the mind is the answer to our disharmony. Our mind alone cannot maintain focus for an indefinite period of time. The mind is meant to carry out tasks, work out solutions and bring forth the hearts callings in physical form. It is a tool that requires instruction to carry out direction or guidance. It has no direct access to Source energy. For centuries humans have been on this planet with a focus on survival and our minds has been the tool of choice.

Prayers of Peace by Ron Damico

Because the mind and body are so closely linked if the body feels something the mind labels it and reacts according to its records. This has its place and purpose but it is not a serving process for the creation and living of life. This is where the shift can come in. To truly experience peace it is first necessary to let go of any preconceived ideas, definitions and beliefs of what peace is. Peace is a way of being; it is something that is created from our True Self. Our True Self (Higher Self; Source Self; Sacred Heart) is brought to physical form at what I will call Zero-Point. Zero-Point is the place where we are infinite and have direct access to All That Is. This is how our True Self enters into physical form. When we live our lives with awareness, honoring and embodying of this Source Wisdom all can be maintained without fail, without struggle.

Our work is choosing to live every moment from that center and come to love and embrace the totality of our life. As we do this work and make our choices from our True-Self we begin to experience lasting synchronicity and peace as an embracement of the totality of all we are as human beings. This includes the love, embodiment and gratitude for all we are feeling in every moment of our lives without exception. When I share this with people I often hear “You are asking me to focus on the negative. Focusing on the negative brings more negativity into my life, so why would I want to do that?” I understand, but this is a reason why peace is short lived.

So much of what we have been hearing and reading is “what we focus on becomes our reality.” This is an expression that has been repeatedly placed before us. What seems to be more accurate is that what we ignore, avoid or resist will continue to re-present itself in our lives until we, as love, embrace and embody the totality of the experience. Focusing on anything as expression of love, no matter what it is, is anything but negative. It is the very nature of our divine grace being expressed in physical form. In the world of positive and negative, from the mind’s eye, that which we welcome into our lives becomes positive and that which we push away or reject becomes negative. There will always be balancing energies in the Universe, this is not avoidable. What we can do is allow ourselves to begin to live as the Sacred Heart and begin to see the world through those eyes. This becomes an opportunity to awaken more of our Divine Grace and be the being the entire world has longed for. If people are looking for change and peace in the world this is the way to begin.

Prayers of Peace are nothing more than a way of being, which honors All That Is in every moment without fail. The mind may distract and create anxiety, struggle, confusion, overwhelm, fear, worry, guilt… I could go on but I believe you get the point. All of these emotions may be something asking for deeper focus and support for something unresolved. It could also be empty patterns of fear of the unknown. Whatever it may be please provide yourself with opportunities to reassess if what you are thinking is real and entertain the idea that there may be more to you and life than you have experienced to date.

Prayer can be used to bring forth life lived as love as we open to become aware of the beauty in all we are blessed to be in the presence of. When we are a prayer of wisdom and guidance, to embrace and embody all we are in the moment, life is joyous and we are peace.

If you would like to experience yourself as prayer and peace let go of what you think they are and how you identify yourself with them. Begin by asking for Divine Guidance to feel prayer and to feel peace. For some this will take time because living without reference and living as reverence takes time and persistence.

Surround yourself with those you feel are living their version of what you would love to experience yourself as. Over time you will begin to connect with a feeling that will be beyond words, which will bring forth an awareness of something that is indescribably wonderful. This is the beginning of your conscious re-birth of your Sacred Self… the True You. Enjoy the experience.

Ron Damico and his life partner Joan Emmons at this moment live in Raymond, ME. They are co-publishers of Inner Tapestry as well as partners supporting people in the awakening to their True Self by supporting the harmonization and healing of all aspects of the being. For more information about Ron and Joan and their offerings please visit their website www.ronandjoan.com. You can contact Ron at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (207) 799-7998.