"You are always praying; thought itself is prayer."

To understand the Science of Prayer, we must first accept that our childish definitions of prayer can never encompass the true experience we seek. Many of us were raised to believe that prayer is something we do in church, or while kneeling at our bed at night reciting a laundry list like, "God bless [this person or that person]."

As we grew older, we learned to expand our appreciation to include those mystical moments when we were deep in meditation, lost in the higher realms where worldly thoughts can never ascend. And the chants and mantras we learned then were certainly stepping stones for the soul. But could they encompass the totality of Divine Communication which is the ultimate goal of prayer?

What is this Divine Communication? What is it meant to teach us? Would anything suffice other than total union with God? the experience that we are forever one with our Divine Source? And if not, then how can we separate one moment from another and say, "I am praying now, but I was not praying an instant ago"? Is it possible to be thinking one moment, and then to be completely devoid of thought the next?

If the goal of any spiritual practice is the realization that we are one with God, then it stands to reason that every thought is shared. We cannot hide behind our private musings if communication with our Source has never been severed except in our imagination. But what occurs in our imagination has no real effect. Therefore, our illusions have not kept us away from the Truth, not even for an instant.

If it is true that every thought is shared, then we are left with only one conclusion: Our prayers are not something we can turn on one moment and off the next, like a faucet that fills our glass only when we're thirsty. The fact is that we are always praying, and that every thought is a prayer in disguise. The flow of energy between our Creator and ourselves has never changed, even though we may have fallen into a dream that makes it seem as if we are separate and alone, convincing us that our thoughts are as solitary as our physical bodies.

The key is not to confuse dreams with reality, and that's what the experience of prayer is meant to teach us.

And so, we enter a dialogue between three friends -- a Mystic, a Scientist, and a Psychologist. They come to the table each with their own unique vision, a different way of looking at the same reality: the experience of union and prayer. You may see yourself in one or in all of them. You may even hear your own voice speaking through theirs. Whatever happens, sit down at the table next to them and listen for a while. It is time to discover what has never been lost, the Source of prayer that has never been threatened by our silly dreams.

"The First Pathway regards the way we think," said the Mystic. "We have been told that every thought is a prayer. The Pathway says: 'You are always praying; thought itself is prayer.' We're here to add our own thoughts to this sacred fire, our own prayers, then watch as the smoke rises to the Heavenly altar where our thoughts become the extension of the Mind of God. Who would like to begin?"

The Scientist leans forward. The light of the candle dances in his eyes.

"In the tradition of the ancient Essenes, the mystical Jewish sect where much of our modern wisdom finds its roots, a clear distinction was made between our thoughts, feelings and emotions. Though in our world they are very similar, to these masters there were subtle differences that made them unique. When they are bound together, they become the technology we call prayer.

"The Essenes said that our emotions are the force that drives us forward, but without a directional system our emotional energy becomes scattered. Thought, then, provides the direction we need while emotion provides the power, and when these two things merge then you have the 'feeling' world. So, in other words, we may not separate our thoughts from our emotions, because from the Essene perspective it's the union of these two things that creates the feeling which is the real prayer."

"In psychology we would look at something we call 'selective attention,'" says the Psychologist, sitting back in her chair. "Our thoughts are indeed prayers, and yet we tend to focus only on those thoughts that we expect to be there, filtering out the ones we can't face, or don't want to face. In essence, we wear blinders that only let us see the things we want to see. Therefore, our world is filled with the images our thoughts have allowed, and the world we see is the subtotal of all those thoughts. Its only when we release those filters that we see our thoughts as they really are, as the prayers that create the world we perceive."

"Our thoughts are more powerful than we can ever know," the Mystic added. "If we are one with the Mind of God, then our thoughts are the prayers that create new worlds, banish old worlds, and imagine worlds that can never be. We have always created in this way, since the beginning of time, whether we want to realize it or not. The world we perceive is the world we want to perceive, just as you both said. We have made this world, and that's the same as saying that God made it because we are not separate from God. We often ask, 'How could God make a world where so much hatred and war exists?' And the answer is that we made the world ourselves, with God's full consent, not because God is without compassion, but because we need to realize just how powerful we are. What better way to do that than to look out at the world we despise, and realize that it is the result of our prayers."

"That can be frightening," the Psychologist said, "but sometimes that kind of scare wakes us up. From a spiritual psychological perspective, as A Course in Miracles says, 'It is impossible to have an experience you did not ask for.' Nothing happens by chance, and we need to realize that, if we are to step into our true power. Everything in our lives is the result of prayer. It's not necessarily the result of being on our knees saying, Dear God, give me this or that. Prayer can include worrying, obsessing, your goals and aspirations, and everything in between."

"Imagine how the world will look when we fully realize this power," the Scientist said. "Wars and conflict exist because we think we're weak, or because we don't understand how our feelings create the world we live in."

"Yes," agreed the Psychologist. She stood up from the table and began to pace around the room. "Wars exist because we're getting something we want from them. So the question is, what does conflict give us? Maybe it lets us live in a world where we don't have to be responsible. Maybe we're afraid of our own power. The idea that our thoughts are prayers seems to be very frightening to the person who wants to believe that we are separate from God."

Then the Mystic turned toward the Scientist and asked: "You said that prayer is not only a technology, but a science. What does that mean exactly?"

"When I say that prayer is a science, what I mean is that we can embark upon this path consistently, repeatedly and predictably, getting the same outcome each time. The technology is how we decide to apply this science. The fact is that we have been consciously using our thoughts, emotions and feelings as prayers for thousands of years, and their power has been proven over and over. This is not a modern concept we are proposing, but one that has been held by the ancients since time began."

"But what about when someone prays for something and it does not happen?" the Psychologist asked. "How can you say that we consistently achieve the same outcome?"

"This is the difference between praying with our thoughts alone, and praying with our thoughts and emotions combined," the Scientist replied. "When we ask people to 'Pray Peace,' we're asking them to 'feel' the peace they seek, or to establish peace within themselves. When we do that then we set up a resonance pattern that attracts the thing we feel. When we follow the science of prayer then the same results are demonstrated over and over."

"It would be more true to say our emotions are prayers just as much as our thoughts," the Mystic said, "because it is the combination of these two things that creates the feeling that is heard by God."

"That's correct," the Scientist added. "Our feelings are the real language that our Creator responds to, much more than the words. If the words we say are divorced from our emotions, then the prayer has no real power. It sits upon the ground like a lead weight, never experiencing the fulfillment of the spoken desire. Likewise, emotions without thoughts have no real direction and never find the intended mark. But when we link these two experiences, bringing them together like a bow and arrow, then the prayer flies to the target with speed and accuracy. This is the way we link with the Mind of God, for God understands that creation is the result of both these elements working together."

"In the past, and even in the present, many people have thought that if they said the same affirmation over and over, it would change their lives," said the Psychologist. She was pacing to and fro beside the table. "But if their lives didn't change, they would give up the practice. What they had forgotten was to add the emotional element to the affirmation. If they did that, then they would enter into the feeling of the affirmation and it would easily be fulfilled."

"I believe this is how God creates," said the Mystic. "And this lesson teaches us to create like God by attuning our minds to the 'Technology of Prayer.' With your permission I would like to change the Pathway to read, 'Your feelings are prayers, and are the result of your thoughts and emotions.'"

"Your point is well taken," said the Psychologist, finally sitting down in her chair. "But it really doesn't matter what words we use, as long as we understand the truth ourselves."

And there, for the moment, the conversation ended.