Prayer - Small action at a Distance

Good Evening Lord..

Good Evening Michael. Are you ready to begin?

I think so. I’ve been having problems feeling your presence lately. It seems that you are a great distance away. As if I have to make an extra effort to reach you. It also seems I’m having difficulty starting this is the fourth or fifth attempt I have made at starting. Such a simple start, “Good Evening, Lord” I think I’m angry again and that often gets in the way of our conversations.

You have been dwelling on the seeming unfairness of life. Life, death health and sickness are all part of How the Universe Works. Why do these questions come around again to anger you?

I guess its more personal now. I’ve had cancer and that’s fine. I can accept that I brought it on myself by my habits and lifestyle over the last half century. Its different though when it’s a twenty-something who is just barely into adulthood. It doesn’t seem fair.

The universe doesn’t play favorites, Michael. The rules are the rules and will remain unchanged. There is room for uncertainty, however. Uncertainty is built into the system. A certain amount of randomness is present at all times. You may consider uncertainty a fundamental process in the physics of how the universe works. Your scientist have labeled it “chaos theory” as if it were somehow separate from the rest of how the universe works. But uncertainty is integral to every ongoing process. You are aware as a meteorologist the role uncertainty plays in the weather. That same randomness is at play in sports, in who wins the lottery. In who is struck by lightning in who survives a shark attack or in who gets cancer. Let’s consider your “twenty-something” . Its unfortunate that he was exposed to a toxin in his environment for a sufficient amount of time to become susceptible. its unfortunate that he has a genetic predilection for a weakness in his auto-immune system that allowed this toxin to cause an out of control growth (cancer) in his bladder. We use the term “unfortunate” with the understanding that it is the randomness of the universe working, just as we use the term fortunate for one who is the recipient of a positive outcome. When the odds are highly unlikely as in a million to one shot we can use the term “miracle” to describe the likelihood of a certain event happening.

Does prayer change the odds. Does it make one outcome more likely than another? Is prayer one of the variables in how the universe works?

Do you mean can I be swayed by consciousness? That is what prayer is, correct? An attempt to change how the universe works using consciously controlled means? The answer is yes of course. Consciousness is often used to affect physical processes. The wings of an airplane use the rules of aerodynamics to oppose the force of gravity. Energy is channeled in a large variety of ways by your mechanical, electrical and quantum methods. Prayer is another such process. Quantum mechanics has brought to attention the ability of consciousness to affect events at the subatomic level. Events at the subatomic level influence events in the larger world. Does this mean that thinking of an outcome or praying for a particular outcome cause that outcome to occur? No it means that prayer does indeed change the odds of an event happening.

You are telling me that prayer is not a guarantee of anything, in fact prayer can change the outcome in a negative way. Is that true?

Think of prayer’s effect as the small action at a distance that works with other actions to achieve a desired outcome. For example; add prayer to the knowledge and expertise of the medical staff against the virulence of the cancer and it just may be the factor that begins the healing process. All the necessary ingredients were lined up but were evenly balanced against the disease. Prayer changed the odds enough to allow the “miracle” to occur. Faith, hope, doubt, skepticism all play a role as well. One thing more I should say at this point. You have a tendency to work against the effects of prayer by being doubtful of the efficacy of prayer. I have just shown you that prayer works, but not in every case. Often the odds are too well stacked against the desired outcome. But don’t stop praying when it seems hopeless because, prayer can produce miracles.