Prayer is an active force, and we use it with intention. Dossey (1993) says that prayer is either an outward directive force – asking, pleading, or invoking, or it is an inward, allowing force – an attitude of prayerfulness, or "thy will be done." Dossey outlines seven different types of prayer:

1. Petition which is asking something for oneself
2. Intercession which is asking something for another
3. Confession which is repentance of wrongdoing and asking for forgiveness
4. Lamentation which is crying out in distress
5. Adoration which is giving honor or praise
6. Invocation which is summoning the presence of the Almighty
7. Thanksgiving which is offering gratitude

We will discuss each form of prayer as we talk about the use of prayer for healing. We will discuss prayer in three different levels of complexity, including simple or personal prayer, advanced or universal prayer, and transpersonal or mystical prayer. Simple prayers are more appropriate for Fowler’s earlier stages, advanced prayers work best for middle stages, and transpersonal prayers are best used by later stages of faith development, including the mystical levels. Appendix E gives specific examples of each type of prayer.

Simple prayers are most helpful when we first turn to God. They address the issues of Erikson’s early stages of development, including mistrust, shame, doubt, guilt, and inferiority or unworthiness. They help us grow in trust, autonomy, initiative, and industry. We develop hope, will, purpose, and competence, and we find our strength and goodness. Prayers help to heal the parts of us that keep us from believing in our own strength, goodness, and worthiness. They prepare us to receive the blessings and grace that surrounds us. Prayers at this level of awareness speak to God the Protector and God the Almighty. They ask for healing of that part of us that holds us powerless and unaware of our own strength within. Simple prayer opens dialog with the Divine. It allows us to:

1. Be humble, because we come to prayer just as we are, keeping no secrets, not trying to be other than we are.
2. Experience God just as we are, in a very personal way. We speak with God personally about what is going on in our lives right now.
3. Let our emotions run the full gamut. We allow God into our hearts (Hennies and Weiss, 2004).

Petition is the simplest form of prayer, and it shows up in all religious traditions. It is used often at this stage, because it speaks to our basic physical survival needs and emotional issues. The difficulty with petition is that we may feel guilty, selfish, and shameful when we ask God to provide our daily needs. When we experience crisis in our lives, we may feel anger or hostility toward God, because we believe that God is testing or punishing us. We suffer because we envision God as the Protector, sometimes vengeful, sometimes compassionate, and definitely harsh when we do not obey.

If we seek understanding, we petition God to help us, to take the trouble away, or give us understanding in our crisis. We pray for the strength, courage, and compassion to face adversity. Challenges make us stronger as we meet them and struggle through them, because we face our fear, anger, and lack of understanding. As we accept our own strength, we speak to God the Almighty. We learn that we can petition God for our needs and open ourselves to receive those needs. We feel worthy of receiving.

The maladjustments in our life must be met and overcome if we desire to move to higher states of consciousness. Anything that holds us back must be healed so that we feel worthy to receive God’s gifts. As we heal the doubt that holds us prisoner, and release the emotional blocks to self-acceptance, we are able to open to greater awareness and enter into a larger worldview. Prayers at this level of faith include:

1. Prayers for forgiveness
2. Prayers that allow us to relax and let go
3. Prayers that allow us to confess and purify ourselves

A. Forgiveness

Forgiveness is fundamental to healing and growth. When we use prayers of forgiveness, we face our fears of shame, doubt, and mistrust. We generally view God, at this stage, as the Protector who judges us and sees our every sin. Our own guilt makes it difficult to see God in any other way, and our own mistrust keeps us from fully accepting God’s love and forgiveness.

Forgiveness is essential to healing, and it is a two way street. We need to forgive ourselves, and we need to be generous and compassionate enough to forgive others. Tipping says that it is hard to forgive others, because we are attached to the victim archetype. He says the victim archetype is "sustained by that wholly false belief system that holds that we are separate from God, and that God is angry with us and will one day punish us" (2001, para. 3).

In other words, we continue to feel like a victim of others and a victim of life. We feel like a victim because we harbor our own guilt and shame. We stay in the victim role because we believe that we need to be punished for our own sin and evilness. We are our own worst enemy, and we find ways to punish ourselves by placing ourselves in a victim role.

As we forgive, we move out of our need to be a victim. Forgiveness is a Divine act. It releases us from our attachment to the person or thing we are trying to forgive, and in the process, it releases us from the negativity toward ourselves and toward life that we have held in consciousness. Tipping advises radical forgiveness, which is a shift in viewpoint from holding onto victimhood to releasing victimhood. It helps us see the big picture and the greater understanding behind the things that happen to us. Forgiveness helps us to see through the hurt or painful experience to the blessing necessary for our growth. It transforms our viewpoint of life (Tipping, 2001).

With self-forgiveness, we are more able and willing to petition God for our survival needs. We give thanks for receiving these needs. We petition God for healing of self or others, and we make affirmations to change our circumstances. The prayer of petition, lamentation, and thanks aids us in deeper levels of forgiveness and acceptance of our worth and goodness.

B. Letting Go

Once we have completed some work on forgiveness, we begin to move to a greater position of trust and belief. We let go of our guilt and feel more worthy of God’s love. Relaxation refers to letting go and releasing ourselves and our life into the universal healing power. We do this by giving our struggle to God the Father or Protector. We heal by believing that we are worthy of grace. We release our problems by knowing that we may not yet see the higher understanding, but we are willing to trust that this understanding is possible if we let go.

As we relax, we recognize our power. We meet God the Almighty, the God of Strength and Power. We begin to affirm our worthiness to receive. We use visualization as we ask for and manifest some of the things we desire. Prayers of thanks for food or blessings begin to move us to more advanced prayer. We begin to appreciate the abundance of the world and our ability to share in its resources. Prayers of thanksgiving and affirmation are powerful at this stage.

C. Confession

Once we have learned to relax and trust more deeply in God’s goodness, we are ready for deeper healing. We begin to purify ourselves through confession and vulnerability. Confession is a deeper healing than forgiveness. When working with forgiveness, we are healing our personal guilts of childhood. When we confess, we are healing our adult personal, interpersonal, and community interactions. An individual at this stage generally experiences issues related to adolescent and adult development and is most likely to be in Fowler’s third or fourth stage of faith.

We confess to our priest, minister, friend, or spiritual counselor. By confession, we mean that we admit to what we have done that still plagues or bothers us. Confession is an act of admission that allows for healing. We make amends and do penance for our wrongs. We put right what we have done wrong. We now have the strength and awareness to take responsibility for our past actions. We seek a sense of justice and repayment.

We purify ourselves through our vulnerability. We become vulnerable to the fact that we are not always right, that this is not a black and white world, that others have viewpoints, and that all viewpoints have merit. We begin to develop empathy and understanding. We grow in our ability to step into the shoes and viewpoint of another. Rites and rituals of fasting and cleansing may be appropriate at this stage. As we confess and heal, we meet the God of Peace.

Confession heals. Pennebaker, professor at Southern Methodist University (as reported by Dreher, 1992), has used writing as a way of catharsis. By writing about a traumatic event until catharsis is reached, individuals feel better emotionally and experience better physical health.

Pennebaker says there is a definite pattern to this process. When we first begin the process, negative emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, and guilt emerge. Many individuals cry and mourn when they bring these feelings to light. As the individual continues to work with the trauma over a period of several days, he will begin to gain new insights and connections between other events, and he will see a broader perspective with regard to the trauma. The individual will also develop feelings of wholeness as unfinished business is resolved. The individual has finally faced the truth about what has happened (Dreher, 1992).

As we see, this requires adult wisdom and understanding and an ability to self-reflect. Pennebaker’s research statistically shows that writing about trauma or guilt directly affects immune cells for several weeks following the experiment. Journaling and confession are powerful forms of prayer healing. They allow us to come to terms with undisclosed traumas that may lie hidden in our cellular memory. We hide these traumas, and they fester inside, sucking up our life energy (Dreher, 1992).

Catharsis is part of this process, but something deeper happens. The individual enters into a deeper learning about self and gains a greater sense of self-awareness. When we hold traumas inside us and do not address the issue, they affect our nervous system. Confession allows the nervous system to relax, because it is relief to let go of something held so tensely in the recesses of the psyche. Repression of the trauma can be more harmful than the actual event. Confession may lift depression, because it brings about acceptance and letting go. Pennebaker advises confessing to a priest, support group, or therapist such as the spiritual counselor.

Lingering tensions and cellular traumas must be worked through to maintain true balanced living (Dreher, 1992). Confessional writing is described more fully in Appendix F, Prayer Forms.

As we gain experience communicating with God and we feel more comfortable bringing our fears, sorrows, joys, weaknesses, and needs to God’s attention, we move into more involved forms of prayer, and we engage in advanced forms of prayer to gain greater knowledge of God and deeper wisdom about life. We pray for understanding and guidance to see more deeply into ourselves and make important decisions. We ask for greater wisdom, and help in choosing the right path in life. As we move into more involved forms of prayer, we take a greater part in the process, and we begin working with God instead of asking God to do everything for us. This is a shift in both power and responsibility, and we begin to accept adult responsibility for our lives. Prayers at this stage may include:

1. Affirmations and taking Vows
2. Divine Reading
3. Meditation and Contemplation

A. Affirmation and Vow

We have firmly moved past the physical and emotional realms of chakra one and two when we move into more advanced prayer work. This is not to imply that all emotional issues are firmly healed. Rather, it implies that enough of our childhood issues surrounding mistrust, shame, and guilt have been resolved so that the mind is clear enough to be free of emotional obsessive thought. We are then able to move to prayers that affect the mental realm. When we begin working in the mental realm, our first task is to evaluate our beliefs about ourselves and the world.

Affirmations are a powerful way to change negative destructive beliefs and instill helpful beliefs that influence the mind and mental body. This form of prayer uses the energy of words as affirmations or vows to promote virtue and create intention. We vow to be loving, caring, giving human beings, and we create vows to help us change aspects that do not serve our growth and development (Redfield, Murphy, and Timbers, n.d.).

Self-observation, witness meditation, and liberating detachment help us to develop our new emerging attributes. We grow in awareness and watch our inner thoughts, feelings, impulses, and sensations. We gain freedom from negative habits of thought, emotion, and physical body. We develop inner freedom (Redfield, Murphy, and Timbers, n.d.). Prayers for quieting the mind and body to promote self-observation are described in Appendix F.

B. Divine Reading

Reading sacred scripture or uplifting literature can assist us at this stage. Christian mystics call this practice Lectio Divinia. In religious terms, this is called Divine Reading of Scripture and all religions include these practices. We meditate on the meaning of the verse or lesson, and we ask God to help us understand more deeply.

Another involved form of prayer work includes keeping a prayer journal or a record of experiences with prayer. This helps us move into a deep understanding of our life and relationship with God. We meet God the Redeemer. We move into the heart chakra, and we feel and experience mature intimacy and vulnerability with God and with others. These prayer forms are described in Appendix F.

C. Meditation and Contemplation

Contemplative Prayer or spiritual devotion brings us to the heart chakra and a greater sense of love of self, love of other, and love of the Divine. The individual contemplates on the image of the Divine, on a verse that speaks of love, or on something that engenders love in the heart of the individual (Redfield, Murphy, and Timbers, n.d.). This form of prayer is very effective for Fowler’s stage four and beyond.

Meditation is a more advanced form of centering prayer. When meditating, we ask Spirit to speak through us, and we affirm our willingness to be a channel for Spirit. We feel the power, wisdom, and creativity within (Hennies and Weiss, 2004). Through meditation and contemplation, we strengthen ourselves, and we find the strong center within. We are able to feel the creativity, strength, and truth of God the Creator move through us and out into the world. Meditation teaches us that the Divine dwells within us. It is a point of absolute truth and wisdom. This Divine place is reached through silent intentional contemplative prayer. It moves us toward the path of the mystic and to the Source of our being.

Meditation brings us into a direct relationship with our minds and bodies. We are faced with habits of thought, and we experience unconscious thoughts that rise to the conscious mind. Meditation on an object is called concentration meditation, while meditation on the inner process is called mindfulness meditation (Judy, 1991). Mindfulness is a form of Zen meditation. By using it, we learn habits of thought, emotional responses, and body tensions. We face our emotional patterns, and we explore the places of tension and stress in our bodies. We meet the Divine within, and we begin to transform ourselves. Much of our own suffering arises because of lack of awareness. By practicing mindfulness, we become aware of our own victimizations.

Concentration meditation allows us to explore unique states of mind. It takes us out of the present moment of time and space and into eternity or the ground of being. We identify with the eternal. These methods are all quieting exercises or receptive prayers, and they are different from simple active forms of prayer. Concentration meditation is especially helpful to promote movement into mystical states.

We have now entered into the heart of the Mystic. The mature adult with a healthy, developed ego undertakes this process of development. The individual seeks the added quality of life or the deeper, profound meaning. Illumination or conversion often brings about this level of prayer.

The mystic path requires a more advanced form of prayer. Meditation and contemplation continue to be the central forms of prayer, but they are now used in a more deliberate, intentional manner. Prayer forms such as labyrinth walking and walking meditation may be used. They change or alter consciousness, because they focus on the practice of living in the present moment and awakening to being in the moment. Shadow work and imagery are other transpersonal processes that may assist the seeker at this level of awareness. Silence is a third method. Prayers move the mystic through three stages:

1. Illumination, Prayer of Miracles, Invocation
2. Dark Night of the Soul, Silence/Living the Question
3. Unity, Mystical Union, Heart of God

A. Illumination, Miracles, and Invocation

This level of prayer brings us into our own Divine creativity, and we find our capacity to invoke the will of the Divine. We have moved into a closer union with the Divine, and we are now in the heart of the Mystic. This is sometimes known as miracle making. Great feats of healing, and nonlocal effects of prayer may occur at this level. We meet the God of Miracles, but with miracle making comes a greater force of purgation and healing. We must recognize that invocation is active, co-creative prayer. It is making a commitment. We cry out for an expansion of our own consciousness, and we move toward Absolute Reality, seeking enlightenment and a greater awareness. We invoke an awakening of our deeper nature.

When we begin to access the power of invocation, we also take on a huge responsibility, because we often receive what we ask for. The weight of our request is usually not for survival items like those we petitioned for in simple prayer. Rather, the things we request through invocation are powerful states of consciousness. We ask for greater wisdom, beauty, and life changing states of being. This carries profound responsibility and requires adult wisdom and maturity.

Walsch (1996) says that praying for something actually pushes it away from us. Asking is acknowledging a state of lack. He says that a more advanced form of petition is prayer of gratitude. We appreciate what we are prepared to receive. This is a very subtle, yet profound perceptual shift. The individual who is praying cannot pretend to feel that she has already received the gift, as one would do in affirmations. Rather, one must be fully present with the inner ‘knowing’ that what you give thanks for is already yours, even though it may not have manifested in physical reality. This is an advanced form of manifestation and an acknowledgement of profound trust. The prayer of gratitude actually acknowledges one’s act of co-creation. This is the level of the stage six individual who has complete faith, belief, and knowing of the Divine power. This is how traditional prayer for petition, a statement of helplessness, can become invocation or a readiness for us to do our part. We are mature beings, ready to take responsibility for what we must do. We do not wait for God to do it for us.

Focused intention requires us to be full of the Divine before we can give to others. If the ego is needy, then an evocation of selfless service will not manifest. The first step is to clarify and focus on our true reason for doing anything. "Seeing ourselves clearly is active meditation, or positive, forward moving prayer. You build qualities, rather than reflecting upon them. Instead of stilling your mind, you are using it actively to build thought forms as a first step toward manifesting good works" (Small, 1998, p. 8). Focused spiritual intention is more of an attitude toward life, a way of life. One lives her spiritual practice. When the individual focuses her spiritual intent, she emulates her greater Self and practices being who she desires to be. She fully ‘acts as if.’ Please refer to Appendix F for a description of Small’s Prayer as Invocation.

Another prayer form for this stage is visualization where we open to greater beauty in the world by making an intention to see beauty or energy in all forms of life. We affirm our intention and feel the intention flowing from inside our center of being. We visualize it moving out into the world. We can also make an affirmation to see the beauty or the Divine in others that we meet throughout the day. The invocation often expressed is namaste, meaning "The Divine in Me Greets the Divine in You." This opens us to higher virtues and connects us to others we meet.

B. Dark Night, Living the Question

In the Dark Night of Soul, God seems to have forsaken us. We must clearly define our will and the will of the Divine, and know the difference. It is an awesome experience of aloneness and emptiness. We must pass through the great void. The prayer of silence is often the only prayer that works at this stage, however this stage brings about such deep yearning, that every form of prayer may be tried in order to bring back that first taste of enlightenment. We surrender to God, to ourselves, and to the silence. In the transformative silence, we are purified at the deepest level, and we become fully aligned with the Divine will. The Dark Night of Soul is the purification that takes the individual to the essence of life and to confrontation with death. This represents the symbolic death of the ego. Every aspect of life is questioned and every problem is explored. Sensual pleasures cease or become unimportant. Motivations and desires drop away (Judy, 1991).

Silence is the method of prayer at this stage. Bourgeault says that virtually every tradition that holds a vision of transformation has a form of intentional silence. It is a deliberate effort to stop the wandering of the mind. One either slows down or detaches from the thought processes that normally engage the mind. It is considered essential for any kind of spiritual awakening. All religions and great spiritual masters teach that there is a small self, the identity or ego I, and the larger Self or real I. Intentional silence sees beyond the illusion of the ego I to the real Self, the true Divine being within (Bourgeault, n.d.).

As humans, we have a self-reflective consciousness, an ability to stand outside ourselves and look at ourselves. In addition, because of this ability, we live in the illusion that we are separate, disconnected from the whole. On the surface, we see ourselves as separate, an ego with likes, dislikes, and attributes. We hold this identity firmly in place by self-referential ego thought, with questions that we constantly ask ourselves on an almost unconscious level, questions like ‘How am I doing,’ ‘How do I look,’ etc. This is ordinary ego awareness.

On a deeper level is a spiritual awareness. This awareness orients us to a deeper experience. It is a non-ordinary or altered state that is brought on by moments of heightened awareness and deepening connection to the whole of the universe and all that exists. In actuality, spiritual awareness is a way of perceiving (Bourgeault, n.d.). Spiritual awareness, however, does not perceive through self-referential awareness. Rather, it is an intuitive process. It uses the intuitive sense to grasp an experience of the whole. It is holistic. It is experiential perception.

Living the Question may be a way to help us move through Dark Night of Soul. We may find that there is still some unanswered question within us. Generally, it is a deep questioning or seeking regarding our own existence. It may be the question, ‘Why am I here?’ ‘Why do I exist?’ ‘What is my purpose for being alive?’ These questions may have come up at earlier levels of development; however, at this stage the question is different. These are the deep inner longings that speak to our last bit of doubt about God and the Divine inner nature of ourselves. If we hold the question in consciousness, and we live, eat, and breathe the question from day to day, we will allow the last vestiges of doubt and separateness to be purified and purged.

C. Unity

The Unitive Self represents a dropping away of the personal and an awakening to the transformative. The struggle between the ego self and the Divine Self is over. We move into the Heart of God. We are fully awake, illuminated, and united with the Godhead. We have entered into a selfless state where "Thy will be done" is our only prayer. This is the God of Pure Being, the Mystical Union that all great religious traditions refer to. The healing that takes place at this stage addresses the reality that the individual must rewin every moment, every day. The prayer that helps is living in the moment and practicing the presence of God. We will now turn to healing and the use of prayer as a healing force.