Cancer and Prayer, Part 1

How to Pray Your Way Through Cancer, Part 1
By Norma Schmidt

When cancer strikes, we may turn to prayer.

By "prayer," I simply mean connecting with the sacred. Prayers are often directed to a higher power, but they don't have to be.

Often, prayers involving cancer ask for a particular outcome. We might pray for a cure, or for the results of our next test to be favorable, or for freedom from unwanted side-effects of treatment.

Such prayers offer a release for intense emotions and connect us with our Source of meaning, power, hope and unconditional love.

On the other hand, if our prayers don't bring the results that we asked for, we may experience spiritual distress.

Here are some tips for keeping your experience with "asking" prayer positive:

* Pray honestly. This is no time to hold back!
* Remember that prayer doesn't require words. Tears, sighs, and simply relaxing into the sacred can all be prayer.
* Don't worry about falling asleep during prayer. Moms don't mind when their babies fall asleep in their arms. Your higher power won't mind either.
* Ask others to pray with and for you. Even if you don't see the answer to their prayers, right away, you'll get a lift from the love of the pray-ers.
* Believe that your prayer will be answered in wondrous ways -- some of which you may not see.
* Don't worry about praying the "right" way. When a toddler blurts out, "Wah nuk," a loving parent answers, "Oh, do you want some milk? Here it is!" In a similar way, the One we pray to can make sense of our prayers even if we sound like nonsense to ourselves.
* Conclude "asking" prayer with thanksgiving to boost your hope and serenity.

(c) 2005 Norma Schmidt, LLC, d/b/a My Cancer
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