Practical Prayer

Carol asks about the difference between meditation and prayer. What is the expectation from meditation, and do I need both? Rev. Bill begins with a very short answer which expands to encompass the entirety of the New Thought teaching. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the classes and resou...

Rev. Bill is back from the INTA Congress with some concerns about Artificial Intelligence. Carol says it's just like every other technical revolution - until the idea of a spiritual leader reading a sermon written by AI comes up. Then the fun begins! Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the c...

Carol has noticed that sometimes Rev. Bill starts a Practical Prayer by refering to the Big Bang, or to darkness and void from the Old Testament, and now wants to know how they fit together. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the classes and resources to bring Practical Prayer, more fully i...

Many people believe in angels, spirit guides and other forms of input from outside ourselves. Carol is interested in the New Thought perspective, and how these ideas fit - or don't. Rev. Bill acknowledges that there is no specific framework, but it still fits easily into the teaching. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more infor...

Carol wants to talk about perspective, and the way that things change based on the way we look at them. Rev. Bill points out that good news can turn out to be bad news, and vice-versa depending on our point of view, or how the rest of the circumstances or story have changed. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information abo...

Technical difficulties leave Rev. Bill flying solo for most of the episode. He takes advantage of the situation to go into the fundamentals of doing Practical Prayer for others, and specifically the technique and effectiveness of working with a trained and experienced Practitioner. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more informat...

The discussion of Pride month continues as Carol and Rev. Bill dig into the twin topics of the cohesiveness (or lack of cohesiveness) in the gay community, and the safety of people in the trans community. The conversation quickly turns to Spiritual Principle, and the oneness we all have as part of the human community. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your fri...

An inquiry came in from a listener for Pride month... "How might trans people use practical prayer when they’re being attacked, law-wise and physically? Safety?" It included the observation that there’s a lot of division within the gay community itself, such as exclusion, bigotry, looking or acting a certain way. Carol and Rev. Bill discuss those ideas in the framework of New Thought spiritual pri...

Carol has observed that many people believe that the guidance from scripture, specifically Jeremiah 29:11, says that our lives are pre-ordained and God has a will for our lives. Rev. Bill digs into what we can discern from the translations and context of the scripture, and offers up ideas on what it means metaphysically. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your...

Some people are very specific and intentional with their words. Carol and Rev. Bill discuss how other people, including very highly trained experts, can have a tendency to use their words without regard to the creative power they carry, and inadvertently hypnotize or cast a spell on their listeners. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! The...

Carol and Rev. Bill mark two complete years of the Practical Prayer podcast with a conversation about gratitude - the attitude of thankfulness. It rapidly turns to the different perspectives between New Thought and more traditional religions. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the classes a...

Carol spent time with a group, talking about their wishes and greatest desires. The biggest reason most people have for not getting or doing what they most want is fear. Rev. Bill takes the discussion into judgement, self-judgement, and our fear of being marginalized for being different. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more in...

Carol explains the belief that we create our lives by force of will... by the strength of our determination and how forcefully we can focus on what we want. She and Rev. Bill discuss the nature of illusion, and that things can appear to be something which they are not. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the...

Carol wants to know if "Oneness" and "Non-duality" are the same thing. Rev. Bill has some ideas, so after some discussion about the nuance of language, Carol invites him to pontificate. He does so, with some real-world examples of the meaning. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the classes...

It's episode 100 of the Practical Prayer podcast, which brought up the idea of Celebration. Carol suggests that Celebrating is gratitude plus some work. Rev. Bill agrees, and points out the way that combination shows up in our lives every November. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the cla...

Carol has noticed that we never reach the end of learning, and get to "coast out" with everything we need to know. Rev. Bill agrees, and shares his experience gathering nuggets in a previous career as an example. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the classes and resources to bring Practica...

Carol wants to get back to fundamentals, and talk about the difference between Practical prayer and "conventional prayer". There are questions about how often to repeat a prayer, and tracking what we've prayed for so we can be aware of when they've worked. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and...

Carol has been reminded by the beginning of Spring, that change is at hand. There can be a feeling of "suddenness" when circumstances change. She and Rev. Bill turn to a deeper awareness of the jewels of growth and change that have happened while our attention has been elsewhere. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more informatio...

The word is "enlightenment". Rev. Bill has noticed that it means something different to different people. Carol's approach has been to study, investigate, and explore the different meanings. Together they explore the path of enlightenment. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the classes and...

Carol says that the idea of sin plays a huge role in traditional religion. It's all wrapped together with ideas of good, bad, judgement and supplication. Rev. Bill observes that sin is an inside job - more about the ways we judge ourselves and others. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information about the podcast, and the...

Carol observes that there's so much vying for our attention that we can easily lose focus on what's really important to us. Rev. Bill agrees, and points out that when advertisers and promoters and creators give us "free" content, we are actually paying for it with our attention. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information...

Carol and Bill have talked about karma in previous episodes, but Carol observes that there's still a lot to talk about. Together, they dive into the in-this-life karma of bringing experiences into our lives, and contrast it with the reincarnation karma suggested by some faiths. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more information...

Carol points out that we often have an understanding of the journey we're on, and an idea of the destination we have in mind. Then. something happens to make us question all of it. Rev. Bill goes global, suggesting that the question about "destination" probably doesn't need an answer. Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends to listen! There's more infor...

Carol has been considering the "aha moments" when the things we've been learning about suddenly start showing up in our lives. Rev. Bill takes the conversation into what we mean by "reality", and how our lives are lived through the influence of our thinking and experienced through the personal "filter" through which we see it. The production team experienced some technical challenges with the audi...

Carol wants to talk about Jesus in New Thought terms, and how the various branches of New Thought approach Jesus in a different way. Rev. Bill shares his perspective from his own branch of Religious Science, and how New Thought in general considers Jesus to be our "great example" rather than a "great exception". Thank you for listening to the Practical Prayer podcast - please invite your friends t...