How to Pray Effectively and Connect With God

➡️➡️ This article is a bit of a departure from my typical content, yet I felt that it was important to share this significant aspect of my life with you. It came to the point where NOT sharing it felt inauthentic and a little stifling. Those of you who know me well might already know this side of me, but in all honesty, I was really hesitant and a bit nervous to put this topic “out there.” However, we all have doubts and fears about being vulnerable, and now you can say “Steve Rizzo – he’s just like us!”

The Fundamentals of Prayer

I think we can all agree that there are countless things that can go wrong in our lives. Perhaps, you are presently experiencing difficult times as you are reading this. That’s why it is crucial that you start your day with prayer. As far as how to pray effectively and connect with God, prayer simply brings an inner peace that surpasses human understanding. 

When I pray, I feel as if a special grace is bestowed upon me. I am confident that, no matter what the day brings, a higher force within me can meet any challenge head-on. I know with certainty that I will be blessed, learn from the challenge, and become empowered.

There are those who think that prayer is only necessary when they want to achieve or manifest something in their lives. If you are one of those people, I challenge you to shift your way of thinking. Yes, it is true that prayer is crucial to obtain inner peace and the things you desire, but one should also pray to give thanks every day for the blessings that already exist in their world.

Why? Because continuous thoughts of gratitude eventually lead to a state of gratitude, which in turn places you in a state to receive more from the Universe. It’s the law of Attraction in Action! A mindset of gratitude is the door to abundance. It’s like a magnet that attracts more of what you appreciate to manifest in your world. This key when we look at how to how to pray effectively and connect with God. Which brings me to my next point.

How to Pray Effectively and Connect With God: The Problem

The biggest challenge that people have when they pray is not knowing the crucial role their thoughts, beliefs, feelings and attitude play. The issue isn’t that prayers go unanswered; it’s that people don’t realize how important their mindset is. In other words, people don’t know the fundamentals of prayer, which, by the way, is dependent upon the vibrational energy they are radiating. Allow me to explain.

It’s important to understand that even though we all may be from different backgrounds, worship different religions, pray to different Gods and practice different rituals, there is also a unique bond that unites all of us. No matter which religion you adhere to, or which higher power you pray to, there is something we all share. We communicate to our God or higher power on a vibrational level. What I mean is that beyond the specific prayers and rituals, there is an underlying connection we all share with the universe through energy.

This entire universe, including your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, emotions, and attitude, are made of energy that moves at specific vibrational frequencies. Everything you experience in your life is attracted to you because the universe responds to the thoughts and emotions you are putting out there. 

Simply stated, you attract to your life anything you give your thoughts, focus, feelings, intention and attention to – whether you want it in your life or don’t want it in your life. What you think about and say out loud are what you create, and what you radiate is what you get back.

Calling Forth More Positive Outcomes

What you consistently think or focus on is bound to expand. If you are always focusing on the negative, you will call forth more negativity. If you consistently focus on the positive, you will call forth more positive outcomes. Your thoughts, words, beliefs, along with the emotions they elicit, all produce different kinds of vibrations. Positive thoughts are high-energy. They have a high vibrational frequency, which means they move at a faster rate. Negative thoughts have a low vibrational frequency that move at a slower rate.

In a way, you’re like a human magnet, attracting everything you want in life, but here’s the thing dear reader. You can’t just occasionally think and feel positive and expect to attract the things you desire. It takes a continuous series of high-powered thoughts, feelings, emotions and intention over time to attract the things you want to manifest in your life. This is not only spiritual law, but science. Your brain’s job is to be focused and efficient. Only you can make that happen. You want to create well-worn pathways through your neurons to travel faster to Universal, or God’s energy field. The more you think and feel similar thoughts and feelings, the more emotionally charged you get, and the more powerful the magnet becomes. This is where prayer comes into play.

How to Pray Effectively and Connect With God: Let the Conversations and Prayers Begin

The thing is…when you pray, you are inviting the very essence of who your God is, to enter the very essence of who you are. It’s absolutely a waste of your time to say, ‘Hey, God, I’m asking for a prayer to be answered, but you know what, I really don’t want to take the appropriate action or change my habits, thoughts, attitude and belief about anything.’ Remember, Universal Law is always working. Universal Law doesn’t show favorites. It simply works in accordance with what you are thinking, how you are feeling and what you honestly believe. And God will never intervene in how you think and the effects your thoughts have on you. Never! That will always be your choice.

That’s why you must always go into prayer in spirit from the higher part of yourself, which is pure energy. This is how to pray effectively and connect with God. It’s not what God must do for you. It is what you must do for yourself to enable God to work through you so God can work for you. And it’s your responsibility to make the connection.

Answered prayers or miracles are your right, no matter what you want to call them. But you have to cleanse yourself. You have to work at throwing out the garbage in your mind in order to make the connection. Once again, a prayer has to go through you – your consciousness – in accordance with how you think, believe, feel and the overall mindset you have. When you pray, you must leave doubt out of the equation. Doubt is the great nullifier! 

How to Pray Effectively and Connect With God: Pre-Prayer

It would also be wise of you if you took a few moments to prepare yourself before you pray. I call it pre-prayer. I have learned that to the degree that I make myself present to God, is the degree that God will make himself present to me. It’s all about your focus, intention and the energy you are radiating. 

Use the power of your imagination and allow yourself to get into your sacred space, realm, or inner room. Know that in this sacred space lies a World of Infinite Possibilities. This is where you can choose together with your Higher Power to fulfill what you desire. Make sure there are no interruptions, take a few deep breaths and relax. When you’re ready, reveal what’s on your mind, speak your truth, allow yourself to be vulnerable, and always speak from your heart.

Also, (And this is a difference maker!) when you begin your communion with God, I highly suggest that you do more than just talk to God. When I pray, I often talk with God. Yes, that’s right, there are times when I actually have a conversation with God. Trust me, the benefits from this can be astonishing! 

A Silent Voice

Just so you know, dear reader, it’s not an actual voice that I hear when I’m conversing with this Higher Power. It’s more like a feeling…A silent voice from within. You could say that it’s the Human part of me having a conversation with the Higher part of me…the God part of me. Trust me when I say that it’s an exhilarating, energizing, experience! 

When you indulge in having a conversation with God, it makes God more relatable. You know, more accessible, easier to talk to. For the most part, when people talk to God, they have a preconceived idea that God is some place far away. Nothing can be further from the truth! 

When I’m having a conversation with God I actually feel that this Higher Power is within me, which it is, it is a part of who I am. I feel as if I’m talking to a friend, who is always with me and truly listening. This type of mindset is crucial if you expect your prayers to be answered. This is crucial when it comes to understanding how to pray effectively and connect with God.

Here’s how it all started.

My First Conversation with God

My conversations with God began at one the lowest points of my life. I’ll spare you the details of my downfall. Just know the worst was wading through the stages of a divorce after 30 years of marriage. 

I not only allowed myself to crack open the door to The Negative Zone, I barged right in. That’s absolutely the worst thing that could happen to someone who makes a living teaching people how to be successful and happy regardless of their circumstances. I’m looked upon as an expert in my field. I’m supposed to have it together. That’s a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly. In my mind I kept thinking that if anyone in life needed to walk the talk, it would be me.

Trust me when I say that an internal war was stirring up between my past, present, and future, between the known and the unknown, and between the negative and positive forces that were battling for control. I was ready to do whatever was needed to make sure the good guys won.

I Was Determined

So, I decided (with a little help from a Higher Power) to move from my house in Long Island, New York to a rented apartment in Marina Del Rey, California. I was determined to find out who the real Steven Francis Rizzo was. I was also wanting to find the courage and fortitude to allow inspiration to guide me down a different path.

To relive the internal pressure that comes as a side effect from major life challenges and changes, I took long, early morning walks along Venice Beach. With my feet in the sand and the ocean water washing over them, I began to connect with some sort of energy that was outside of my ego, my mind, and my being.

So often on those walks, I would fall into deep thought, contemplating where I’ve been and where I was going. Sometimes I would allow myself to feel my pain and let the tears fall. Other times I would vent my frustrations and anger, cursing out loud to the Universe, and scaring the crap out of seagulls. But the most profound thing began to happen. I found myself constantly engaged in an unusual inner dialogue. (Talking to oneself on Venice Beach isn’t all that unusual. The difference is that I wasn’t clutching a plastic bag full of empty bottles and cans and wearing only one roller skate.)

It all started one morning with two questions I blurted out loud to the sky after an emotional outburst: “What the hell am I doing here? What the hell is wrong with me?!” Within a few seconds came a response, calmly and silently, from within. “You know why you’re here. You know what’s wrong. You’re just too caught up in your own drama to receive the answer.”

“Wait! What?” 

In that moment a serious shift took place. A powerful surge of energy was flowing through my entire body. I took another step and asked another question, and within seconds came another response, and so on. At one point, I stopped and turned around, ran to the parking lot, got in my car, and drove to my apartment. I sat at my desk, with my hands shaking, and began typing on my laptop. Once again, I typed in a question, and once again came an answer.  Before I knew what was transpiring, a conversation was taking place between myself and something or someone on my screen. (Gee…I wonder who that someone was?) I kept asking questions and the answers kept coming.

Deep inside I knew what was transpiring but I just couldn’t muster up the courage to acknowledge it, until I finally blurted out loud. “Oh my God! I’m having a conversation with God!”  And the response was, “Yes you are!” It was at that moment that I realized that God…The Universe…this Higher Power, is within me. And that realization affected me in a most profound way!

My early morning walks became ritual, and the dialogue took on a life of its own. Almost without even realizing it, my book, Conversations with Bob was writing itself. By the way…Bob is God. How does God get the name Bob. Well…You have to read the book to find out. www.yourinnerbob.com 

A Dialogue With Your High Power Within

If you do read the book, hopefully, you will realize that you too can engage in your own dialogue with the Higher Power within. This is instead of rather listening to the part of you that spews negativity. But I digress…

When you’re having your conversation with God, it’s crucial that you speak not so much with words. You need to speak in the language that God…The Universe recognizes and understands. Know (and this is important) that God hears what’s coming from your heart…not your words. If you can speak from your heart…You can speak God’s language. You do this by evoking high energy thoughts and ideas of elation…and marrying those thoughts and ideas with the emotions they elicit. Allow me to break this down and clarify this with you in a way that you can understand.</p>

The Energy of Your Heart’s Desire

It cannot be stressed enough that God’s energy field does not recognize your inner voice or spoken words nearly as much as it recognizes the energy of your heart’s desire. Words, thoughts or ideas without exhilarating feeling and emotion to support them are bland. They simply do not have enough bandwidth to connect to God’s frequency. They dramatically slow down – stifle – the transmission process to the Universes energy field.

When you allow high-powered-thoughts…ideas and words of elation…to merge with the emotions they elicit…they become one potent-euphoric-force within your heart. When this happens…you create a surge of high-powered-euphoric feelings throughout your entire body. Those high-powered-euphoric feelings of confidence and certainty are the language that God recognizes and responds to. Again, this is how to pray effectively and connect with God.

How to Pray Effectively and Connect with God: Feel it!

So…not only do you have to communicate with high powered thoughts and ideas that create feelings of positivity. But when you ask for something in prayer, you must not only see it in your mind’s eye, but you must feel it from your heart with utter certainty that the prayer is answered, that you already have that which you desire. Give heart-felt thanks for it as if it has already manifested! This is crucial dear reader…Feeling is the prayer! Being profoundly thankful that your prayer has already appeared your world is key! In the Universal scheme of things, this mindset of gratitude is the emotional signature that the event has already occurred! 

It’s the “Ask and you shall receive kind of thing.” Once again, (I really want you to get this!) In order to receive, you have to become enveloped by your idea and your desire. And do so with unshakeable faith and trust…as if it already happened, without judgment…without ego. You must believe and feel that the thing you are asking for is already a fact…that it’s there in existence, even though you can’t see it or touch it in your physical world.

A Few Caveats for You to Be Aware of When You Pray

1) You have to trust that it will happen in the Universal scheme of things. Not when you think it will or should happen. Most people are impatient. They have a tendency to wait a few days, or maybe even weeks, before asking, ‘When is it going to happen?’ When you respond like this, you’re sending a message to the Universe that you haven’t arrived at the place of trust and that your desires are already an eventuality waiting to happen.

In other words, you’re questioning the status of your desires. You are actually slowing down the transmission, the process of their fulfillment, because you’ve allowed your ego to dictate a time of arrival. Not to mention the doubt and other negative stuff that evolves as you’re waiting. This is counterproductive. You’re setting up resistance instead of just allowing the universal mind that uses God’s energy field to bring you what you desire at the appropriate time.

2) Quite often when people pray, they are unknowingly attracting the very things they don’t want. In other words, by praying for what you want you could also simultaneously (and unconsciously) be thinking that you don’t have it yet in your world, which signifies lack. Remember, every thought you have is transmitted into the universe. Everything!

Negative Energy Causes Conflict

For example, if you’re focusing on wanting to move to a better neighborhood, and as you’re praying, you’re thinking to yourself, “I wish I could move to a better neighborhood, because my idiot brother-in-law Harry, just moved to a beautiful place, and I deserve at least that much too. The place I’m living in now is a dump.” That negative energy is also being delivered to the universe. And what that does is cause conflict within the universe’s energy field, and it slows down the transmission process, depending on what you’re focusing on most-the new neighborhood or the dump you’re still living in.

It’s important to know that this entire transmission and manifestation process affects every aspect of your life. In other words, the more you focus on your lack, the more of that you’ll get back. The more you focus on what isn’t working, the more your life won’t work and the more hectic it becomes. When you focus on what is working and what you’re grateful for, life becomes easier, and opportunities begin to flourish. The more you…well…I think you get my point.

Don’t Worry About the How

3) Another common human reaction that slows down the manifestation process is when you predetermine how your desires will come to pass. Not only does it wreck your ability to live in the moment, it screws up your chances to recognize when great, future, unknown opportunities and moments are presenting themselves. It’s generated by the ego’s yearning to control the outcome. The problem with this is that the ego is incredibly limited. It only knows the range of what you know and experience, which doesn’t even begin to compare to the vast possibilities that are way beyond your imagination.

Always keep the faith going dear reader. Faith is the intangible force that always comes to the rescue, when your beliefs begin to falter. Every day, be enveloped by what you desire. See it in your mind’s eye and feel it in your heart, as if it’s already happened! I often wonder how many people have given up on prayer and quit pursuing their dreams just when they were so close to making them happen.

How to Pray Effectively and Connect with God: Look for the Serendipity

Be very aware that answered prayers and miracles will often come to you as an idea…a creative impulse. Always be on the lookout for serendipitous events that will no doubt occur when you are on track and tuned into the universe’s frequency. These events often take place in subtle ways. Especially after you have those casual conversations with your God and you’ve asked questions that begin with How come…? Or How can I…? or What if…? Be aware, because the answer can come at any time and from anywhere. There are countless ways that serendipity can take place. No matter what form it comes in, it’s all part of the miraculous process. This is how to pray effectively and connect with God.

About the Author: Steve Rizzo is the Mindset Adjuster. You can’t attend one of his keynote speeches, seminars, or read his books and leave with the same mindset. He’s a personal development expert, entertaining keynote speaker, comedian, and best-selling author. It’s no surprise that Steve is also a Hall of Fame Speaker Inductee, an honor bestowed upon fewer than 300 speakers worldwide since 1977.