Prayer / Treatment

“Through prayer , life can become a continuing experience of health, happiness, success, joy, and abundance.”
-Ernest Holmes

Prayer. It is the primary tool we use in New Thought to change our lives. In my branch of New Thought, Religious Science, we use an odd sounding term to refer to prayer. We call it spiritual mind treatment. In the teaching a common test question for students is, “Are prayer and spiritual mind treatment the same thing?” It is, of course, a loaded question. The answer is both yes and no.

To understand it is probably easier to explain how treatment differs from prayer… but it also depends on your understanding of prayer (which may be different from some assumptions we make). I am going to consider the most common understanding in alignment with a standard definition of prayer. That definition: the act or ceremony of speaking to God or a god, esp. to express thanks or to ask for help (thank you to the online Cambridge Dictionary). That seems pretty straightforward, right? It is, but it is not exactly in alignment with treatment.

In prayer we may believe in a supplication approach. This is implied in the “asking for help” part of the definition above. As we descend to our knees and place our hands in “prayer position” is there any possibility we are subconsciously (or even consciously) begging? The approach is from a belief in the negative.

Also, are we speaking TO God? The definition specifically indicates that in prayer we are doing just that… speaking to God (or a god).

The part of the definition that is completely in alignment between prayer and treatment is thankfulness. We do express gratitude in treatment… every single time we utilize treatment.

Treatment differs from this well established understanding of prayer in that we are not begging or supplicating, we are announcing. Also, we are not speaking TO God, we are speaking AS God. That is how treatment is different from prayer.

So what IS treatment?

Treatment is a method of praying affirmatively and constructively. When first learning the method of spiritual mind treatment it can be challenging to move away from the idea of what prayer has always been for so many of us. Again… the more we do it the more it becomes easy. Every master was once a novice. You can master the technique.

Now I am going to quickly outline the steps spiritual mind treatment. This is something that is normally taught to new thought students over the course of many weeks of class. If you want to master the technique, look into classes in your area at a local Religious Science center or Center for Spritual Living.

The technique is in five steps: Recognition, Unification, Declaration, Gratitude and Release.

First recognition. God is all there is. That’s it. Recognition is to align consciously and actively with this understanding of Divinity.

Second is unification. Simply put… if God is all there is, and we are a part of all that is, then we must be some part of God. While the term unification is the most common word used to describe this step, I lean more toward using the term, Identification. In this step of treatment I am identifying myself as the Divine presence.

Third is Declaration, also referred to as Realization. In this step we are affirming what it is we require. This is our announcement. Remember yesterday’s blog and podcast on affirmations? You can use those affirmations in this step.

The fourth step is something I’ve already mentioned as present in all treatment, Gratitude. In gratitude, we are not necessarily saying “thank you” (after all, if we are speaking AS God… whom are we thanking?), but rather acknowledging the feeling of gratitude as it fills our heart and soul.

The fifth and final step is Release. There are two aspects of Release that I like to embody in this step. The first is the energetic letting go of the claims I have made in the steps prior. I energetically let go from the point of view of faith, that as I have spoken the words of treatment they become the law and expression of my life. The second part of release is to let go of HOW I think the answer to my treatment should show up in my life. Although I am specific and direct in the expression of my requirement, I step back in faith that there is infinite possibility in the expression of my requirement. I don’t get in the way of that expression.

In my tradition we end each treatment by saying, “And so it is.” That’s a statement of finality if there ever was one. We are not saying, “And so it may be, someday, if I am really good and deserving.” Nope. And so IT IS!

Just a side note, you can say, “amen” at the end of treatment. The word amen means “so be it.” Looking at the etymology of the word it traces back to Hebrew meaning “truth, certainty.” It’s all good… and I am certain that is the truth.

Have a great day!