You can do a rain dance. Sing to the rain. Write a poem about rain. Read poems about rain. Visualize rain. Remember rain.
One of the best ways to pray for rain is simply to pray for rain. Ask God or Buddha or Jesus or the rain spirits or the Great Spirit – or whoever you pray to or talk with – to send rain. It can also be your grandmother who has passed on, your guardian angel, your animal spirit guide, or the rain itself, the clouds, or the sky.
One way to do this is to talk with the land itself. Here in the west, it may be the land and the rock cliffs that we see on the horizon. Ask the land and the cliffs to call the rain. Clearly, some communication has broken down somewhere, so it would be good if they get back on speaking terms again.
If you live in the eastern U.S. or elsewhere in the world where there is an abundance of rain, probably the last thing you would wish to do is pray for more rain. One can pray for sunshine too!
In the case of the western U.S., many living beings need rain — insects, baby birds, the wildflowers that have not bloomed at all, and the trees that have grown brown patches. Trillions and trillions of beings all over the western states are profoundly in need of rain. In some regions, this is the worst drought ever recorded.
(If you find prayers to be nonsensical – please just take it easy! Billions of people have already said at least one prayer already today. This has been happening for hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of years. It’s okay for people to have differing points of view.)
So – to continue – when praying for rain or anything else, some ways of going about this really help and others are a hindrance.
For example, listening to a negative inner voice that repeats endlessly “This isn’t working. See, there’s no rain.” “This is very silly.” Or imagining what things will be like in five years or even next year without rain. Or dwelling on suffering.
Our mind is not always our friend. Often our mind is a chatterbox, filled with negative gossip and irrelevant, even harmful thoughts. This is just a fact. Our mind announces to us that it is a superior being and that it knows best. It takes us away down very negative paths where we do not wish to go, all the while insisting that it is being “reasonable” and “rational” – “more intelligent” than you are and vastly superior. The human mind has its uses, when working out technical problems and other mental tasks, but it is not actually the essence of our being. The mind is not our truest reality or our innermost spirit. We can see this for ourselves just by watching where the human mind so often takes us. If we are not watching carefully, our minds take over the intuitive part of our being, and the mind issues proclamations which tend to be negative – fears, doubts, ridicule, depression, and derision. Unfortunately, this is compounded by our modern worldview which tends to discount any sense of the sacred that comes from our innermost being – and instead elevates the human mind.
Our Innermost being is often more perceptive than our mind. Fortunately, many people do know this, and with practice, we can learn to be in control and use the mind as a tool, while not falling prey to its compulsive tendency to babble negativity. Be vigilant. Remind yourself that there is no obligation to listen to your mind’s negative chatter. This chatter is not the truth. The truth lies within the higher, truer realms of your being, is intuitive and tends to be more perceptive, more peaceful, and more observant of the reality that lies in the present moment – not the past or the future, neither of which are really here now.
Our innermost being is open to great knowledge and clarity when we do not let the cobwebs of the mind get in the way. This doesn’t mean that we should forget the intellect and try to be stupid. Not at all, our intellect can be enormously enlightening. The intellect is not the same level as the mind, which can be just negative, and we can notice this distinction very easily once we get the hang of it.
So, when praying for rain – or anything – instead of allowing our mind to try to keep tabs on “Is this working.?” “Why hasn’t it rained yet?” just remind yourself that you are under no obligation to listen this voice. Prayers can take time. Communication with the beings of nature doesn’t always go according to our desired time frame. Our mental demands are not helpful; only our love and reverence for the sacred spirits of the universe and nature — and God — are beneficial and helpful.
When we are on the path of walking within the mystical reality of being, of being in touch with the leaves of the trees, the mist in the mountains, and the creatures of the earth, we just need to keep walking, resolutely and unwaveringly. If we have been slowed down somehow or even stopped, or if we find we have fallen off the path and ended up in the brush down a ravine somewhere, then we need to get up, get back on the path, and walk on – not turning aside, and never, ever, giving up.
God (in whatever way we may see Her or Him) always answers prayers. It’s not our job to figure out how or when – only to be in alignment with the beauty of the universe – to stay on the path, in reverence, trusting in grace, grateful for the Presence that walks with us.
© Sharon St Joan, July 2021