Does praying work? Can it help us in times of need?

In these modern times praying does not seem to be a common practice. And even though you do pray, it may be something that you are a bit embarrassed about and not happy to admit.

But, according to Martinus, praying is an extremely good idea, and it works whether you believe in it or not. Martinus goes as far as saying that he cannot understand how anybody dares to live without praying. But how does praying work? It is this question we will explore in this blog-post.

Who hears our prayers?

Are prayers not just spoken to the air? Does anybody hear them? Yes, all our prayers are heard by the spiritual beings that we always have around us. These are our guardian angels and we all have 2 or 3 of those. They form part of Providence, which is an army of spiritual beings that carry out the will of God. This army hears our prayers because they act as God´s listening devices. And they help us to the extent it is within our karma to be helped.

It is an extremely good idea to keep this channel open and active. When we pray on a daily basis, the channel is always open and this is very helpful should we suddenly get into trouble and need help.

It is with our relationship to Providence / God as it is with all other relationships and friendships we have here on earth: if we want them to flourish, we must cultivate them. A friend whom we are in contact with often is more eager to help us than if we come to that friend after a silence of 30 years and ask for help. We keep our relationships vibrant by paying attention to them. The same goes for our relationship to the higher powers. They want to hear from us  – not only with pleas and wishes, but also with gratitude and happy thoughts. The aim is to talk to God as we would to an old friend who is walking next to us. The aim is to be a friend of God´s.

Praying has its own rules

Even though all our prayers are heard, not all of them can be fulfilled.

Egoistic prayers are rarely fulfilled. If we pray for our football team to win the world cup, this prayer is unlikely to be fulfilled, especially if other fans of other teams are praying for their team to win. There can only be one winner, so a lot of those who prayed will be disappointed and may then believe that praying doesn´t work. Also, if we pray for our children to be geniuses, such a prayer is also rarely fulfilled, because the fate of the child is already mapped out before it reincarnates.

But prayers that are unselfish and altruistic, prayers that cause harm to nobody and blessings for many and are in alignment with the will of God, will be fulfilled.

When we pray or intercede for somebody, these prayers will be fulfilled to the extent that they do not interfere with the karma of the person we pray for.

All karma is a lesson that the person needs in order to progress in his/her evolution. If this lesson could be avoided via prayer, this would be detrimental to the person´s development and achievement of wisdom, and for that reason the accident or event that is due to happen cannot be avoided via prayer.

Martinus says: ”Thus prayer cannot be used to make undermining inroads into the plan which Providence has for every living being”, (Martinus, The Mystery of prayer, chapter 2).

But when we are in a dangerous situation, praying can be a huge help, and if the help is not contrary to our karma, it will materialize, sometimes faster than lightening, as it did in the following case:

An example

This is an example from my own life: Some years ago I was crossing the Alps on foot with two friends. I had found a route from Austria to Italy that was only around 10 km. as the crow flies. We were following a well-marked path, it was in the middle of summer, so everything should be fine. At a certain point the path was on a narrow ledge that was covered in hard snow. We were wearing sturdy boots and had walking poles, so we were well prepared. To our right, there was a steep snow-covered slope. Suddenly my right boot had no foothold, and before I knew it, I was rushing down the slope full speed towards a huge boulder some 100 meters away. My chocked friends immediately started to pray out loud; I heard them while I was sliding. But suddenly, without knowing, I performed a backwards somersault and landed on my feet in a small open hole at the edge of the snowfield. I was totally unharmed and all I had to do was climb up a few rocks to get back onto the path.

I was obviously not supposed to be smashed against a boulder in the high Alps that day, and praying helped in this case as it was not contrary to my karma. And one thing is certain: an open channel upwards via prayer is always useful. After the incident we continued to our hotel on the Italian side and arrived in high spirits with very sore thighs.

Also, if we find ourselves all alone in nature with no other humans around to ask for help, praying can be life-saving. The spiritual being who hears our prayer, can alert a human that is nearby via telepathy, and that person can then be led to the person who is in need. You never pray in vain when you are in danger.

Martinus prayed constantly: as a child he prayed that he would be able to remember his homework, as a grown man he prayed before he sat down to write, he prayed before every talk he had to give, he prayed before each outing by car, before journeys etc. He prayed that he would be able to say or write the right things, and he prayed for protection when he ventured out of the house. His shortest prayer was simply this: “Be with me”.

How are our prayers answered?

Our prayers are answered via what happens around us and to us, to the friends we have prayed for and to our surroundings. We must pay attention, so that we do not miss the answer to our prayers.

I know my prayers were heard once, when my daughter and a friend were on a trip to Columbia. Every night I prayed for their safety and protection. One night the hostel where they stayed was attacked by an outlaw group, who stole all the backpacks under threat of violence. But the only room that was not affected by the robbery was the one my daughter and her friend were in. I saw that as an answer to my prayer.

The mystery of prayer

Praying has its own rules and in order to pray in the right way it is useful to know these rules. Martinus puts it like this:

“Thus prayer has its own laws, its own structure and its own specific purpose. Knowledge of prayer is a science in itself. Without this knowledge, prayer will, to a great extent, be used in situations and areas in which Providence cannot grant it; and, because of that disappointment, doubt and disbelief in Providence will arise in the suppliant’s consciousness. S/He will therefore, at worst, become a denier of God. Wanting to use prayer for something for which it is not intended may thus give rise to rather serious consequences. How does one know, then, whether prayer is used in the right way or for the right purpose?”

(Martinus, The Mystery of prayer, chapter 2).

Martinus points out that this question is answered in The New Testament where Jesus says that all prayers that are expressed in Jesus’ name will be fulfilled. This has led countless priests to say after each prayer “in the name of Jesus”. But still, in many cases, these prayers were not fulfilled. Now, why is that? It is simply because we must learn what “in the name of Jesus” means.

By the expression “in the name of Jesus” we must understand “in the spirit of Jesus”. Jesus was a highly evolved being that had been sent down to Earth to teach humanity an important lesson: the lesson of non-violence and forgiveness. The mission of Jesus culminated on the cross when he said about his executioners: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing”.  In the middle of his excruciatingly painful crucifixion, Jesus was able to pray for his murderers that they be forgiven. Thus he was an example for all to see how a real, finished human being would react in a critical situation. He became a model for humanity in its way forward towards initiation: forgive your enemies! They literately do not know what they are doing when they persecute you, because they do not know how their actions will affect their own fates in the future. They are ignorant about the law of karma and they do not know that they will reap on their own bodies what they have sowed.

Because Jesus was a highly evolved being with cosmic consciousness; he knew the laws of prayer and he knew with 100% certainly that prayers that were expressed “In the spirit of Jesus” would always be fulfilled.

“Praying for something in the spirit of Jesus will, therefore, be the same as praying for something in contact with all-love (which means unselfishness) and thereby in contact with the divine will and the Godhead’s direct wish. Can a prayer possibly have a better wind in its back? No wonder that Christ was able to promise “all” who prayed to God in contact with this spirit or unselfish nature that their prayer would be granted.”(Martinus: Ibid).

Everything Jesus did and taught was in alignment with the will of God. For that reason he could say that what we pray for that is in accordance with the will of God will be fulfilled:

“Consequently a prayer can manifest itself in two ways: that is, “in the name of Jesus” or in the spirit of the unselfishness, where one says, “Father, thy will be done, not mine”; or in the spirit of selfishness in which it is one’s own wish that one definitely wants to come true, quite without regard to the cost or how much it may harm or inflict suffering, viewed collectively or from the point of view of the great divine-plan. In the former case the prayer is granted, whereas in the latter it cannot be granted. The great problem for the suppliant is, therefore, to learn how to pray “in Jesus’ name”, which again means in the spirit of all-love, the spirit in which the prayer never in any way can be anything but a great pleasure and blessing for everyone and an inconvenience or misfortune for absolutely no one.” (Martinus: Ibid).

Our Lord´s prayer

The best way to pray is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples: The Lord´s prayer. It is a prayer that is totally unselfish and 100% in alignment with the will of God.

This prayer contains the line: “Give us today our daily bread.”

And I think a comment is relevant here, because this may be seen as a selfish wish. But it is not selfish to pray for one´s self-preservation in case hunger knocks on the door. Martinus puts it like this:

“All desires that are vital or natural necessities, such as hunger, thirst etc., without which daily life could not possibly be preserved, are not selfish and they are therefore directly in contact with the divine will. It is all right to include these in one’s prayer if some inconveniences or obstacles have arisen as regards their satisfaction. (Martinus, The Mystery of prayer, chapter 8).

Where and how to pray?

 Should we go to a church or a mosque, or some holy place to pray, or stand in the middle of the street making a show of our prayer? Should we get down on our knees and fold our hands?

No, on the contrary. No specific acts are needed. All we have to do is go into our “secret chamber”, which means into the secret recesses of our soul. Just, for a few moments, close ourselves off from the outer world and look inwards. And then address our prayer directly to God. Pray for the protection of ourselves and others, pray for peace and harmony, pray for “thy kingdom come” which means peace on Earth. Keep the channel open so that divine help is always at hand.

 I would like to remind you that you can read most of Martinus´ work for free on line.

 For instance the small book no. 11 “The Mystery of Prayer” can be read on this link:

 https://www.martinus.dk/en/ttt/index.php?bog=11