Is there a single underlying principle to prayer and faith?
Religious people all over the world regardless of individual religion all seem to have something in common, and that is the belief in the efficacy of their Faith and Prayer.
In this contemporary world, whether it is a strictly monotheistic religion like Judaism or Islam , or an arguably monotheistic one like Christianity, or even a downright polytheistic one such as the contemporary tribal religions in Africa, believers of these religions, no matter the format of prayer or the nature of the subject of their worship, could swear that somehow or someway, their prayers were answered and their wishes granted by that which they prayed to. We’ve all heard it said at some point, we’ve all heard such stories recounted by people around us and on social media that “God answered my prayer”. While it is left for you the listener to believe such stories, a very important question logically follows from the above, and that is — who answers the prayers of Atheist? Do they even pray in the first place?
Given the understanding that prayers in all the different religions seem to be answered and with the answer being attributed to the particular deities of worship, one can’t help but deduce the possibility that they all somehow could happen to be interconnected by a basic law or principle. But still where and how does that account for the atheists?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary among other definitions, gives a more generalized definition of prayer as “an earnest request or wish”. By this definition it would seem that even atheists pray, but just not to a specific deity or deities. You know those moments when you look into a mirror and engage your reflection, speaking positivity and reassurance into yourself, or those moments when you make within yourself, a voiceless, in-coordinate, heartfelt wish? Those are moments you could largely describe as atheist as such thoughts and wishes may be made independent of any belief in God or gods.
Surprisingly, so many books about positivity and mind power reiterate that such positivity has the power to influence realities and create positive materialistic outcomes, and that requests made with immense concentration of mind power are very much likely to be actualized. An example of this is in the book titled “Secret of the Ages” by Robert Collier where he talks about the Genie-of-the-mind. He talks about the Universal mind or God mind — the third in the triad of minds which is preceded by the Conscious and Sub-conscious minds, all of which are present and at the disposal of man to actualize his dreams and help him realize his full potential:
“Remember this: the Universal Mind is omnipotent. And since
the subconscious mind is part of the Universal Mind, there is no
limit to the things, which it can do when it is given the power to
act. Given any desire that is in harmony with the Universal Mind
and you have but to hold that desire in your thought to attract from the invisible domain the things you need to satisfy it.
For mind does its building solely by the power of thought. Its
creations take form according to its thought. Its first requisite is a
mental image, and your desire held with unswerving purpose will
form that mental image.
An understanding of this principle explains the power of
prayer. The results of prayer are not brought about by some
special dispensation of Providence. God is not a finite being to be
cajoled or flattered into doing, as you desire. But when you pray
earnestly you form a mental image of the thing that you desire and
you hold it strongly in your thought. Then the Universal
Intelligence, which is your intelligence — Omnipotent Mind — ,
begins to work with and for you, and this is what brings about the
manifestation that you desire.”
I believe it would be reasonable and logical for a person — having witnessed two or more seemingly unrelated but strikingly similar occurrences that happen to all be preceded by what is essentially the very same act, to assume that the key to the understanding of the relationship between those occurrences would lie in a possible general principle which governs the preceding acts themselves.
