Copyright © 2024 by Heidi Smith

Interior and cover illustrations copyright © 2024 by Chelsea Granger

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First Edition: October 2024

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All illustrations courtesy of Chelsea Granger. All photographs courtesy of Heidi Smith unless otherwise noted here.

Print book cover and interior design by Susan Van Horn

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBNs: 978-0-7624-8577-2 (hardcover), 978-0-7624-8578-9 (ebook)

E3-20240822-JV-NF-ORI

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

I. INTRODUCTION

How to Use This Book

Grounding Exercise and Prayer Interlude

II: WHAT IS PRAYER?

Defining Prayer

The Universality of Prayer—And What We Can Learn from It

Language, Thought, Reality—The Neuroscience of Prayer

“Worrying Is Praying for What You Don’t Want.”

Negative Speech and Subconscious Saboteurs

Sacred Sound and Cymatics

Vibrational Medicine, Flower Essences, and Subtle Anatomy

Space Is the Place

Prayer and Quantum Mechanics

Physical Versus Cosmic Laws

Affirmative Speech and the Law of Attraction

Prayer as a Method of Liberation

Prayer Is Magic

Prayer for Presence Interlude

III: CRAFTING YOUR PRAYERS

Welcoming the Stillness

Psychic Hygiene and Protection

Psychic Hygiene and Protective Practices and Allies

Praying with All Our Parts

Aligning Words with Feeling States and Trusting Your Sixth Sense

Calling in Your Spirit Team

Accessing the Language for Your Prayer

Elements of Prayer and Templates

Basic Long-Form Prayer Template

Permission, Power, Pleasure, and Prayer

Praying from the Heart Versus Praying from the Ego

Clearing Soul Contracts

Prayers as Commitments

Cultural Appropriation of Prayer Practices

Divine Timing

Sample Prayers

Spell for the Opening Interlude

IV: WORKING WITH PRAYER

Prayer as a Co-Creative Healing Process

Creating a Sacred Space

Ideas as Spirits

Prayer as a State of Grace

Praying with the Elements

Prayer and Plant Medicine

Resourced for Resilience

Gratitude and Joy as a Practice

Restoring the Heart/Source Connection

Prayer for the New Earth

Acknowledgments

Discover More

Glossary

Notes

Image Credits

Advance Praise for "The Uncommon Book of Prayer"

Cover

Table of Contents

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For my Grandmother, Jane

In solidarity with my prayers for the Earth, I will be donating 10% of my royalties earned from the sales of this book to the National Resources Defense Council.