“Prayer is a ladder reaching up to Heaven. At the top there is a transformation. The things of earth are left behind, all unremembered. There is no asking, for there is no lack. Identity in Christ is fully recognized. Now, without needs of any kind, and clad forever in the pure sinlessness that is the gift of God to you, His Son, Prayer can again become what it was meant to be. For now it rises as a song of thanks to your Creator, sung without words, or thoughts, or vain desires, unneedful now of anything at all. So it extends, as it was meant to do. And for this giving God Himself gives thanks.” —Song of Prayer

Prayer has been on my mind. What is prayer? What is it’s purpose? And a Course in Miracles answers this question with the supplement, ‘Song of Prayer’…

I re member a poem, by Portia Nelson. I copy it here with my cliff note comments from the ladder referred to in a Song of Prayer…

This is a story…

I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am hopeless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

This is the first rung on the ladder of the Song of Prayer… Prayer is the ladder. I still see that there is somewhere to get to. My prayers are merely wanting, out of a sense of scarcity and lack… I am getting my singing voice, yet still hold out ‘wishes’ as the ultimate desire coming from prayer. “Prayer for specifics always asks to have the past repeated in some way.” —SoP Here is another story…

II

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I’m in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

The second rung on the ladder… I still hold unworthiness, my prayers now see a bigger picture and ‘less desire’, yet they contain a small voice of weakness and inadequacy. This ‘stage’ involves me Learning that “The sinless have no needs.” And I am still unaware of my sinlessness. I pray for many needs.

Levels one and two are still calling for vengeance and not love… And another story…

III

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in…it’s a habit. My eyes are open; I know where I am; It is my fault. I get out immediately.

The third rung… Here is where Joining is critical and necessary. I Join in Prayer with others… and I have the opportunity to See where I am still seeing error, in my reflections. And reflections can only happen with ‘others’. And Know that this level may require ‘vigilance for God’. As the song of Prayer says, “This (level) may be long delayed, because it may seem to be dangerous instead of merciful.” Hence Joining with those that have traveled this path and Live this path is necessary.

It is this level of Joining that allows me access to the True Song of Prayer… My Desire to See, and Hear God and bath in Love’s presence. And the stories continue to Heal…

IV

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

This is rung Four… True Joining in PRAYER! “This step begins the quicker ascent, but there are still many lessons to learn.” What is the Will of God? This is learning true ‘cause and effect’. Separate wishes unified in one Cause as Effect.

And I come to the top of the ladder there are no more stories necessary…

As Portia Nelson wrote in the last piece of her poem,

V

I walk down another street.

The last rung… The ladder not only ends, but Disappears for I Join With God as the Cause and Effect of All… Love Is, and Learning ends. No more stories are necessary.

This is the song of Prayer. Allowing myself to See my story differently. This process takes what it takes. I live my stories, until I am able to See them with God. Prayer is a part of this process… Prayer is my Desire to be carried by God down the path towards home. These are the stories I now Share. Healed stories. Stories of how I recognized a hole and avoided falling in.

The other day I realized that I had ‘un-re-membered’ God for years… in Truth, lifetimes. Looking back on ‘my story’ and remembering days, weeks, months would go by without a thought of God. I was lost in my hole. Without a thought of True Love. Without Singing My True Desire. No Song of Prayer.

While lost in the hole, it was always about ‘getting what I wanted’ or ‘fear of loosing what I had’… lolololol…. An insane hamster wheel at best.

My ‘Stories’ are my prayers. I am working out my desire for God with each ‘story. I now share ‘healed’ stories as my path out of a hole, or stories of seeing a hole and walking around it.

The third rung or when I see the hole and walk around it, is where compassion comes in. When I hear anothers story and want to judge it… That is when I start singing for them, for me. Asking to See differently. For my song is the only thing that will assist me in walking around the hole. Singing the Song of Love and not judgment.

I am at this moment, Joined in a Spiritual Community with a true single purpose, To Join in Our One True Song of Love. And along the way, some of us may see a hole and perhaps stumble into it. We are there as a community, to assist each through it…. And if we stumble with another… there are still others to Hold the Song of Truth. I am so Blessed to be Singing in a chorus. A Symphony of Love. Thank You God.