The Sacred Space of Personal Prayer and Divine Exchange

From the streets of South Bronx to the sanctuary of my soul, I've witnessed a revolution within my own spirit, a tale I'm eager to share. As we journey through the transformative power of prayer in this episode, you'll hear how a Catholic upbringing evolved into an all-encompassing dialogue with the divine, a conversation that doesn't pause when the morning's amen is said. I lay bare my own growth, influenced by the unwavering faith of my grandparents, and how this foundation led to the recognition of prayer as an omnipresent force, capable of reshaping not just moments, but entire existences.

Our intimate narrative then takes a turn towards the personal evolution of faith—questioning rituals, embracing an intimate rapport with the higher power and recognizing the subconscious threads that entwine with our spiritual fabric. You'll witness how the sacred act of creating a personal space for prayer invites a divine exchange that transcends traditional practices, fostering a profound inner enlightenment. As I share the rituals that have profoundly shifted my life, you are invited to redefine and realign your daily communions with the divine, opening the door to a realm of limitless potential and a renewed vision for life.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

If you're here for prayer, it is important that you heed the power of these words, for prayer can be defined as private time between you and the divine. Now, when I truly appreciated what that meant, I prayed different, and then I became different, and if you already pray that, maybe you know precisely what I'm talking about and maybe, like you, I and we have been praying for just about our entire lives, and I feel confident in that truth and somehow, while I don't want to make this about data, I believe this conversation is relatable and one I personally needed a lot sooner in my life, because the data does suggest that it's possible. Over 70% of Americans and about 84% of the world, which is roughly just under 7 billion people, believe in some sort of faith, religion or God, which generally implies, then, prayer. So here's my question If you fit into any potential category with belief in a higher power, do you pray and if so, how often? What are you praying for, and I guess of slight importance, do you believe your prayers are being answered? And what if I told you that? The answer based on how I started this undeniably and unambiguously, regardless of holy books, scripture or word that you do pray, and you do it all day and your prayers are always answered and revealed to you in whatever you see for yourself. And that, my friends, that possibility of those words, are what changed my world forever, and after this talk, my hope is that it will change yours too.

Speaker 1: 2:16

I'm going to explain how I arrived to this conclusion. If you stay to the end, I'll also share my personal style of prayer, which has paid dividends beyond what any words or material could possibly describe or yield. So let us begin by bowing our heads and folding our heads. Oh, I'm just fucking with you. That's not explicitly how I practice, but you can if you want to. But the bowing of the head and the folding of the hands is important to the conversation. But the bowing of the head and the folding of the hands is important to the conversation. So I want to begin by adding a bit of color to my journey.

Speaker 1: 2:49

If it's not obvious and you can't tell by the sexy, I'm Hispanic, a Puerto Rican male who grew up in the South Bronx in the early 80s. Don't know why I had to think about that, but I was born in 81, to be exact. Why is that important to this talk? It's important because I was raised as a staunch God-fearing every Sunday church. Yes, I was even an altar boy for a little while while I was a young human. But that was my upbringing. And my grandparents, who were more like my parents, but for various reasons which I won't get into. It's just important to note because they had a massive influence on my upbringing, massively influential, and both sides of my grandparents father and mother's side were all the way Catholics and there was no compromise on God. We were followers and believers. It was God and the Yankees. There was no choice. And as God-fearers, worshipers and followers, I followed and went through the whole script baptized, commune, confirmed, even attended Catholic school up until about the third grade and so, naturally and part of the evolutionary process, they taught me to pray Our fathers, hail Marys, nau Aleimis, every night, right Confession on Saturdays, more Our Fathers and Hail Marys for forgiveness, and on and on and on with this perpetual cycle.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Let me tell you a quick story, which I think is a funny story, to drive the level of faith and priority my grandmother, specifically from my father's side, had in her version of God and, for the record, she was and still is a saint. She only ever hit me once in her life and she never hit and she had four wild boys. So, based on time and culture, hitting was a pretty common thing. It's how we rolled in the 80s, how we got raised. So there was a slap in the face and let me explain it all right. And it's because I looked her in the face one day and as I walked into the house. It's because I looked her in the face one day and as I walked into the house. It's a tradition of how I grew up Spanish, hispanic, puerto Rican culture you embrace, you hug and you kiss.

Speaker 1: 5:12

In Spanish, we say bendición, which translates into blessings, and then the person receiving the blessing is supposed to reply with Dios de bendiga, which translates into God. Bless you. Bendición, dios de bendiga. I know I get tongue-tied there, so I walk in because I'm walking in. It's grandma's job to say bendición. I say Dios de bendiga and after I said Dios de bendiga, I looked at her and I said I don't know why I need to say that, because there is no God. And bam, no hesitation, no flinch, full flex. She slapped the shit out of me. Don't you ever say that to me, in front of me or in my house, ever again, and may God forgive you for that nonsense. You just spoke right.

Speaker 1: 6:12

But the but besides the slap in the face and, hopefully, the laugh, the point I want to carry over is I was taught to pray. I was taught the words of prayers, taught to always pray, taught the words of prayers, and I carry that from childhood all the way to just about my 40s. Can you relate to that and, if so, you ever have the courage to wonder what this actually means? Do you truly know why you are doing this? No, I'm not going to slap you like my grandmother, but if you're like me, consider this. Is it because of what you were taught and how you were raised, and what someone told you that was read out of a book, a book you have possibly never read for yourself, a teaching you never really asked for, words provided to you to follow with full conviction and authority. This is your lifestyle.

Speaker 1: 7:15

You have to do this, and this, to me, was deep, to the point where I couldn't sleep without praying first. I can remember multiple times vividly waking up out of my bed like oh, oh, shit, I didn't pray. I fell asleep but I didn't pray. Papa Dios, I'm sorry, our Father, hail Mary.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Now I lay me and, for the record, I'm not looking to denounce or, for that matter, even validate the significance of any specific prayer, nor am I suggesting you should stop these practices. I am just identifying the first turning point for me, because, as I started, I began to pray different and became different. Because, first things first, I was tired about knowing about God through others, because that then implies that I don't really know God. I know of God based on what has been told to me of God, so that, if that's possible or logical, what am I truly praying for? And of the utmost significance, do I really have a direct relationship with God? And that's the pivot point for me. I decided which I believe you should do if you haven't already that I should control the relationship, my relationship with God, through prayer and in my discovery, what's the best way to do that? What's the best way to have any success in a relationship? Communication Sounds about right.

Speaker 1: 9:02

So, right away, first thing, I ditched all formal prayer that was ever offered to me or taught to me. I decided to read the Bible and, lo and behold, there are a plethora of prayers that are of super awesome potentiality and possibility which, from a culture perspective, when I got to Psalms, I didn't even expect to read it, reading, going through it, understanding it, processing it. And here comes the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness. For his name's sake I'll walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Speaker 1: 9:59

And I got goosebumps even now thinking about it, because this prayer, I feel like, was recited in every mass I ever attended, and growing up in the 80s in the South Bronx Hip-hop culture, gangsta's paradise, right as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and on and on and on. So this resonated with me and gave me a sense of deep pride to my youth, which is cool. But as I continued, it was not it, it was not what I was looking for. So I had an epiphany. It might not be quite as innovative as I like to think, but I decided that I would ditch all the material I was given, ditch the book, and I would just talk to God, that I would just simply make all prayer conversational Again, not innovative, and while this is not unique from a real perspective for me and my benefit, it wasn't taught to me and was therefore a departure from the standard which then made me feel like I had a more authentic connection to the divine and, in parallel and most likely not coincidental, but rather, I believe, the divine power of God and creation in all of us.

Speaker 1: 11:15

I learned about the subconscious effect on our mind, or I should say of our mind, that our subconscious, which does and is responsible for many things, we overlook again, not likely coincidental or ironic, but things like, you know, breathing, heartbeat, blood flow, internal organs, all those things that keep you alive, those things that keep you alive. This super powerful gift, our subconscious, which all of us has or have sometimes I don't know about my English is also responsible for providing you whatever you seek for yourself, based on what you think for yourself, and that impacts how you feel about yourself. The subconscious mind is littered with thoughts, your thoughts that persist all day, even when you think you are not thinking. That's ultimately how we produce a flow state right, and that subconscious responds and reacts to all those thoughts, because that is its job. It is a dominant force in our life, as it is active approximately 95% of our lives. So where am I going with this?

Speaker 1: 12:28

We're talking about prayer, right? Some standard culture? Scripture will tell you that God or the higher spirit, sees everything, and I say this over and over. But we tend to gravitate towards the visual stimuli of life as seeing with our eyes, because the visual sense dominates our perceived reality to the tune of 80% of our processing power. But what if God or the higher spirit sees, based on what you feel, which is based on what you think, which not only happens all the time, but it's done in private? What goes on in your mind goes on in your mind privately, in your mind privately. And we now know prayer could be defined as private time between you and the divine. So, based off that premise, we could argue that the mere practice of thinking is prayer and prayer is private time between you and the divine. So as you thinketh, so beeth. I don't think that's in the book, but that's a Jeffism. And if you want to erase or eliminate God from the equation and gravitate towards universal laws, that's fine.

Speaker 1: 13:52

What is the premise for the law of attraction? Let me ask. Let me ask, not if, necessarily, you're satisfied with your life, but without any emotion. Can you answer very simply Is your life not exactly what you think it is? Are you not exactly who you think? You are Just asking, therefore, could it be that your thoughts are prayers which, as I opened, are constantly being answered, which is why any sort of self-improvement framework focuses heavily on changing how you think, so you can change how you see and therefore change how you feel. And if you can do that and you can let go and release all worry because everything material you seek is therefore, by definition, merely a byproduct and if that is true, would that then not also require the definition of faith? And then, possibly, if you can change how you think, you can change how you communicate to God, who sees. And maybe I'm fucking crazy, I'll take that, but I prefer the alternative, because doing the math around the logic I just described anyway has amplified my life to levels indescribable and, most importantly, allows me to have the direct connection to God I seek through what I prefer to do best, which is communicate, or better described by me as prayer. So think about it, as I offer the possibility now for how I practice intentional prayer outside of doing my best to ensure my conscious and subconscious thoughts align with the life I want to live through faith, belief and divine connection to God.

Speaker 1: 15:52

I'm going to give you how I open the prayer keyword being open, as I believe that is the most important piece of this. It's up to you where you take it from there, which is also the beauty. It allows for the individuality in it which I think is really required for everyone. It's your relationship, your choice, your God. Right.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Here we go and, for the record, I do this in a meditative state, while sitting down, with my eyes closed. While I do this, while laying in my bed, or I do kneel in the prayer corner I built in my room. Depending on the position, I might fold my hands, but I don't feel it's required. The only non-negotiable I believe you should follow is that this is done alone, in privacy. I happen to prefer the darkness. Either way, I leave the formality up to you. Remember this is a conversation.

Speaker 1: 16:42

Here we go again. Father, god, my creator and my protector, allow me this cup with your divine love, divine wisdom and divine power of creation. Point of emphasis here and this is me telling you the significance is to visualize yourself, your heart, your mind, which equates to your consciousness literally like an open door, and your intention is to be pointing your energy up, as you are requesting, through prayer, for the divine to be showered or overflowed into and over you. So you should envision all the elements I mentioned receiving massive amounts of energy.

Speaker 1: 17:39

Now continuing on, for here I pretty much go wherever my heart takes me, wherever I believe I am on my journey, I ask for the strength, courage and will to carry on, and I allow this to go on until I feel like I've gotten what I needed and requested. No time limits, no time limits. Open yourself up, ask for strength and courage, and then I always end by praying for peace, love, health, happiness and safety for my house, my wife and my children. Because I'm not selfish, I then ask that God provide the world the ability to seek themselves selves through themselves and possibly find themselves connected to the possibility of their divine vision.

Speaker 1: 18:28

The do you rules and this style of prayer for me, these specific words open me up consciously, which then opens me up emotionally, which makes me then feel awesome, thereby changing how I see things and thereby influencing my life to be and feel divine. I fully appreciate this isn't perfect, so, to close and of significance, I watch my thoughts all day, as much as I can. I formally talk and communicate to God every morning and every night for at least 10 to 15 minutes in complete darkness and privacy, and I feel like anything is possible because of it. My life changed and became different when I prayed. Different Blessings Change your mind, change your life. I am who I say I am. Stay rich.