Thoughts on prayer from a Humanist

Since migrating out of Evangelical (Fundamentalism) Christianity in 2009, I have been wrestling with the issue of prayer and I have finally accepted the idea that prayer – that is talking to myself or talking to a force of universal love is okay. You see, I no longer believe in a personal God. I am a humanist or to be more specific, I am a mystical non-theistic naturalist or a spiritual naturalist. 

If you read my book, Journey into Love, then you realize that I no longer believe in a personal. I hold to some type of non-theistic presence of love in the universe. It is interesting to note that all the major religions have a concept of this presence. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the presence of God is referred to as AUM or OM. It is a song or a mantra that is vocalized and is very ancient. Among the Jews, it is called the Shekinah. In Islam, it is called al-hadra. Among the Native American Sioux, the term is Wakan Tanka or Great Mystery,

I still pray as a Spiritual Naturalist but my prayer as changed. I no longer cry out to a higher person, the old man with the white beard sitting on the throne wait out there.  I no longer beg for help from some angry God who must be appeased with my continual works of supplication.

But I do often in quiet stillness affirm the presence of love in the world and in my life.

Still I no longer believe is a personal deity, does this mean when I “pray” -am I talking to myself?

The answer is yes. And I must admit, when I stop praying to a personal deity, I stopped praying altogether. But recently it was at the dinner table that I realized that I can pray even though I no longer believe in a personal God. I discovered the power of oral affirmations. I was sitting there thinking how my wife was such a good cook and I just said, “I thank my wife for such a delicious healthy dinner.”

That is not the only time I find myself “praying.” When I need wisdom or guidance, I ask the “Spirit of Love” to give me wisdom. Often, as I quiet my mind I discover the wisdom or the answer to my needs.

When I “pray” for someone who has a need or is sick, I open my eyes and ears for a way that I can be helping someone. In order words, my “prayers” are followed up with action. My “prayers” are now more about looking for ways to be the answer.

What I am trying to say is that for prayer no powerful conscious entity or person is needed.

Someone might ask: Isn’t that kind of prayer an illusion? Good question- you are right! It was Ludwig Feuerbach, an 18^th Century philosopher who introduced the Western world to the notion that religion is a dream; that objects of religious faith are human projections in which we unconsciously create God in our own image. Never heard of Ludwig Feuerbach? I am not surprised. Most people have not heard of him. You’ve probably heard of Sigmund Freud…right? Freud was a student of Feuerbach at the University of Berlin. It was Freud who got all the publicity for his ideas about “religion being an illusion.”

So -I admit the possibility of this being illusion but psychologically, I am better off. I find myself more gratuitous. I am more thankful.

I am more philanthropic. I find myself more open to helping other people. In other words when people say to me “pray for me”; I look for ways to meet their needs. I don’t just say, “of course, I’ll pray for you.”

I have also developed an easier practice of prayer. It is far easier for me now-to sit in silence and be thankful than to “rant and rave” in a constant oral rumination of worries. My old way of prayer was very unhealthy!

So yes, I pray but it is based a different belief system and a far different practice.