Inside restored kivas in the Four-Corners area, there are the remnants of the mud plaster that covered the stone structures long ago. Etched, carved, and painted into the walls of some kivas are clues as to how the lost mode of prayer was used in native traditions. These perfectly circular stone buildings, some submerged and covered deep within the earth, were known as kivas (pronounced KEE-vuhs). In the American Southwest, for instance, ancient stone structures were created in the desert by their builders as “chapels”: sacred places where wisdom could be shared and prayers offered. Sometimes we see references to this mode of prayer, perhaps without recognizing what we’re being shown. Through this intangible “language,” we participate in the healing of our bodies, the abundance that comes to our friends and families, and the peace between nations. Without any words, without our hands held in a certain position or any outward physical expression, this mode of prayer simply invites us to feel a clear and powerful feeling as if our prayers have already been answered. Rather than the sense of helplessness that often leads us to ask for assistance from a higher power, feeling-based prayer acknowledges our ability to communicate with the intelligent force that 95 percent of us believe in, and participate in the outcome. This fifth mode of prayer, the “lost mode,” is a prayer that’s based solely in feeling. During meditation, we’re typically aware of a sacred presence that permeates our world and our being, and we apply the techniques of various teachings to experience what this presence means in our lives, as well as to harness it.Īs good as these descriptions are, and as well as each of these prayers appears to work, there’s always been another mode of prayer that this list doesn’t account for. ” and “God is great, God is good.” Some people make a distinction between meditation and prayer, viewing prayer as “speaking” to God and meditation as “listening” to God. Two examples are: “Now I lay me down to sleep. These are offered as specific words spoken at a specific time of day or year. An example is: “Dear God, if just this one time I can get to the gas station before my gauge reads ‘empty,’ I promise I’ll never let my tank get this low again!” Petitionary prayers are requests to God, such as: “Mighty God, I claim perfect healing now, and in all past, present, and future manifestations.” Ritualistic prayers are perhaps most familiar. My book, Secrets Of The Lost Mode Of Prayer was recently released in paperback.Ĭolloquial prayers are informal prayers offered in everyday language.
When we pray, the researchers suggest that we use one of these four modes-or a combination. In no particular order, they are: (1) colloquial, or informal, prayers (2) petitionary prayers (3) ritualistic prayers and (4) meditative prayers.
Today, modern prayer researchers have identified four broad categories that are believed to encompass all the many ways that we pray. Some estimate that there are as many different ways to pray as there are people who do the praying! Prayer is unique to everyone who experiences it. Even before the word prayer appeared in spiritual practices, the oldest records of the Christian and Gnostic traditions used words such as communion to describe our ability to speak with the unseen forces of the universe. Prayer is perhaps one of the most ancient and mysterious of human experiences.