Reflections On Native Healing Prayer
"Teach us how to pray, Lord, teach us how to pray. Teach us how to pray in your healing way."
I grew up in the Wesleyan Tradition of Holiness, so I have heard various versions of the above song lyrics since I was a child. The difference is that these lyrics point to a "healing way" of praying espoused by the Native American Church, and I have come to embrace the healing way of praying.
I was reading the musings of Dr. Tom Soloway Pinkston, a member of the Native American Church, as he reflected upon the above lyrics. "Prayer is one of those words used so frequently by so many with so many different meanings, that it strikes me that often we don't really know what someone else, or, perhaps, even ourselves, means by it."
I agree with him that "prayer certainly has something to do with reaching out --or-- in to a Divine presence. A presence greater than our physical being or individual ego. But what is beyond that? What does it mean to pray in a healing way as the words of the song speak about?"
One source of illumination for my prayer life came with my first Native American Vision Quest! While I was preparing for my Vision Quest with the University of Kentucky Anthropology professor, I learned that prayer was exactly the opposite to what I had thought it to be up to that moment.
The professor said that the real purpose of prayer was not to ask for something, but to give heartfelt thankfulness for gifts of life already given in the past and being given in the present moment.
The professor, who was also of Native descent, said: "You should come back from the quest exhausted for you have spent the entire time in prayer thanking the Great Spirit for all that you have been given."
My mentor instructed me to lay down on the ground and thank my Mother "for all the gifts that support your life!" He asked, "When did you last face Father Sun and thank him for all he has given you? And the trees that make the oxygen you breathe, when did you last thank all these gifts from the Mystery?"
As a Cherokee Medicine man told him, "Giving away, that's what you should be doing. Giving away. That's what prayer is for. To give back to the Creator your thanks for the gifts of creation. It's not about taking.
Ever since then, I have endeavored to be thankful in my communion prayers with the Sacred Mystery.
To pray in this way requires clarity, choice, cleaning out any obstructive forces in the mind, such as feelings/beliefs of unworthiness, guilt, fear or limitation, to the intent of the prayer, being able to clear all the channels to the higher self, and having enough power (manna) to set it all in motion. A breakdown in any of these factors and the system doesn't work. And, of course, before asking, to make sure you are in balance by having given thanks for all the other gifts in your life.
Prayer in this way is about opening your heart to what you are seeking, then opening to the Creator's heart and loving presence and to the field of infinite potential, which is this universe, and becoming an open channel for its expression and creative manifestation. The final step requires surrendering to the Mystery.
It really is true that what we give or do to others, we give or do to ourselves. If we want peace, healing, light and love in our lives, we must focus our will, intent and actions on opening to these qualities and extending them to self and others. This makes for a good prayer, one that works in my life when I remember to do it -- especially in that powerful time of day when Father Sun arrives through the eastern doorway bringing the gift of a new day. This is when we plant the seed for what we want to experience: peace or pain, love or fear, healing or separation. The choice is ours.
Thank you, Great Mystery, Great Goddess, Holy Mother and Holy Father, Great Spirit, You who are beyond names. Thank you for the opportunity in this life to be alive and to discover for ourselves how to pray in a healing way.
I grew up in the Wesleyan Tradition of Holiness, so I have heard various versions of the above song lyrics since I was a child. The difference is that these lyrics point to a "healing way" of praying espoused by the Native American Church, and I have come to embrace the healing way of praying.
I was reading the musings of Dr. Tom Soloway Pinkston, a member of the Native American Church, as he reflected upon the above lyrics. "Prayer is one of those words used so frequently by so many with so many different meanings, that it strikes me that often we don't really know what someone else, or, perhaps, even ourselves, means by it."
I agree with him that "prayer certainly has something to do with reaching out --or-- in to a Divine presence. A presence greater than our physical being or individual ego. But what is beyond that? What does it mean to pray in a healing way as the words of the song speak about?"
One source of illumination for my prayer life came with my first Native American Vision Quest! While I was preparing for my Vision Quest with the University of Kentucky Anthropology professor, I learned that prayer was exactly the opposite to what I had thought it to be up to that moment.
The professor said that the real purpose of prayer was not to ask for something, but to give heartfelt thankfulness for gifts of life already given in the past and being given in the present moment.
The professor, who was also of Native descent, said: "You should come back from the quest exhausted for you have spent the entire time in prayer thanking the Great Spirit for all that you have been given."
My mentor instructed me to lay down on the ground and thank my Mother "for all the gifts that support your life!" He asked, "When did you last face Father Sun and thank him for all he has given you? And the trees that make the oxygen you breathe, when did you last thank all these gifts from the Mystery?"
As a Cherokee Medicine man told him, "Giving away, that's what you should be doing. Giving away. That's what prayer is for. To give back to the Creator your thanks for the gifts of creation. It's not about taking.
Ever since then, I have endeavored to be thankful in my communion prayers with the Sacred Mystery.
To pray in this way requires clarity, choice, cleaning out any obstructive forces in the mind, such as feelings/beliefs of unworthiness, guilt, fear or limitation, to the intent of the prayer, being able to clear all the channels to the higher self, and having enough power (manna) to set it all in motion. A breakdown in any of these factors and the system doesn't work. And, of course, before asking, to make sure you are in balance by having given thanks for all the other gifts in your life.
Prayer in this way is about opening your heart to what you are seeking, then opening to the Creator's heart and loving presence and to the field of infinite potential, which is this universe, and becoming an open channel for its expression and creative manifestation. The final step requires surrendering to the Mystery.
It really is true that what we give or do to others, we give or do to ourselves. If we want peace, healing, light and love in our lives, we must focus our will, intent and actions on opening to these qualities and extending them to self and others. This makes for a good prayer, one that works in my life when I remember to do it -- especially in that powerful time of day when Father Sun arrives through the eastern doorway bringing the gift of a new day. This is when we plant the seed for what we want to experience: peace or pain, love or fear, healing or separation. The choice is ours.
Thank you, Great Mystery, Great Goddess, Holy Mother and Holy Father, Great Spirit, You who are beyond names. Thank you for the opportunity in this life to be alive and to discover for ourselves how to pray in a healing way.
Posted by Howard Lips at 3/14/2009 12:01 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Native Spirituality Philosopy Religion
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Native Spirituality Philosopy Religion
Comments