"Please God, get me out of this and I'll do anything!"

It is said there are no atheists in foxholes. Must we face the end to discover the magical nature of effective prayer? If we can understand what it is and how it works, we can learn to use it. The dichotomy of this intimate experience is why the rain dance works and begging doesn't.

What is prayer? Is it real? If it is, what's the mechanism? Various studies using meditation and ritual suggest something out of the ordinary happens when people focus on others, in fact the more the merrier. To understand prayer, we must understand some basics about the universe.

We could use either the String or Plasma Universe Theory to extract the understanding of prayer but the Quantum Theory is widespread and helpful. Within the theory is the idea of multiple universes. Think of a freeway with innumerable lanes. The cars next to you follow a similar line and experience much of the same things. Conversely, those far away are probably driving in a completely different environment, let alone how their direction of travel resembles yours. Each line represents one possible universe with its own quantum signature, its own unique sound, its own access code. The distance between lanes corresponds to the distance in choice. The lanes next to you are tiny, unconscious choices like the exact rate of breath. Those far away are substantial like whether to have this baby.

Every single energy body from quark to quasar burns its individual path along the freeway of possibilities, what quantum physics calls the Observed Universe. We define our reality by observing it. In quantum physics, anything can happen and does. Electrons appear and disappear as they cross the universe in a single moment of intention. What happens inside atoms makes no common sense. It seems magic is mundane at the microscopic level. Why not at the macroscopic?

If we could add all these minute, seemingly insignificant points of nanometer-sized mystery together in our favor, we'd create one big change: a miracle. What other use for prayer is there? Surly, if we had a course of action, we'd take it. No, prayer comes into play when the macroscopic world has us cornered. So the question becomes: how do we contact this energy conduit? How do we access the unique code for our desired reality? How do we get the universe to listen and change lanes? Feelings.

Let's get specific. My friend Julie's father was dying in the hospital of a rare, incurable complication after recent surgery. Despite this reality, in the universe of possibility, both life and death remained valid lanes. No matter how slim the official medical opinion's margin was between her father and death, until observation settled the score, hope existed, more than hope, a miracle. She was armed with effective prayer. She could still do something in a world drained of actionable options.

After gathering the family, she expressed the idea of effective prayer. There is a dichotomy of possibility: life and death. One feels horrible, the other, joyful. The line of separation is feeling. In one universe or lane on that highway, he lives while another he dies. How do they move heaven and earth to observe the lane they want? Harmonic resonance is the key that fits the chosen dimension's exclusive, quantum lock. What is harmonic resonance? A simple example: a soprano sings and the glass breaks. Her voice resonates at the same frequency the silicon molecules vibrate. The merging of similar patterns becomes the conduit of energy transfer.

Our hearts are associated with a relatively high degree of electromagnetic [EM] energy when compared to the brain. Its rhythm expresses the mind's emotions. The heart's subtle rate is the primary physical mechanism, the nexus of prayer's effect. The Chaos Theory answers the question: why does it rain in China because a butterfly flapped its wings in New York? It also suggests how a tiny change in this muscle's EM field creates harmonic resonance with its surrounding environment, how all those little points of possibility can turn your way. When our heart sings the quantum sound, in tune with the desired parallel universe, it pulls the body towards it like a spiritual tether.

Julie led her family in a group prayer. Instead of defending themselves from the horror by emotionally controlling the situation with pleas, they became vulnerable, joyful. They thanked the universe for their father's life. They resigned themselves to reality. Their energy bodies no longer bounced from lane to lane but collectively reinforced one. They felt love and acceptance. Their combined energy resonated with an acceptable, loving outcome. Her father miraculously recovered. They changed lanes and observed life instead of death.

Indians dance for rain. They do not complain. They do not beg. They do not control. They dance in celebration for the rain they feel on their faces and in their hearts. Then it rains. When one forces control over the universe, one finds a universe demanding forced control. Prayer is not something we do before we face God in a foxhole. Prayer is something we are doing right now. Effective prayer is a state of mind: vulnerability. It takes strength to be vulnerable. Destructive prayer is a state of mind: control. The weakness of fear demands control. When misery finds you and you follow it, you are miserable. Prayer is a conscious act. Prayer is the effort it takes to change the way you feel and subsequently what you observe.

How do we change the way we feel? Is it possible? Many believe we are what we are, that being yourself is the whole point. Being yourself is facing what you want and what you are willing to do to get it. Being yourself is not being tossed around an emotional roller-coaster. We command our emotions through a psychological discipline known as Cognitive Therapy - the recognition and refinement of perception. This is not positive thinking but emotional integrity. When we take time to consider the accuracy of our fears, we generally see the mountain made from the molehill. We calm down. We're more reasonable which makes stupid decisions less likely. If prayer is nothing else, it is the ability to constructively focus the mind and heart.

There exists a magic word, a single idea, a state of mind with the power to control your emotions with or without a PhD at your side: thanksgiving. The vulnerability of acceptance undoubtedly springs from the emotion of thanksgiving - the universal key to a harmonious road. Find something to be thankful for and, like a grand wizard, you rework the neuro-chemical mixture of your mind. You feel different, vulnerable, ready to tackle the very dimensions of the universe. Those who direct their emotions direct their course.

What is prayer? Your state of mind. What is the mechanism? Your heart's EM field. And how does it work? Harmonic resonance merging quantum lines of possibility through emotional intention. Prayer does not happen in the mind but the heart. Prayer is not a thought but a feeling. Prayer is always at work. When we learn to work with our emotions, we wield effective prayer.