06/02/2025
A Past Master’s Thoughts
Why is prayer so powerful and important within Masonry?
Well, the first thing we are taught about this useful tool in our tool back is this. “No man should ever enter into any great or important undertaking without first invoking the blessings of the deity.”
Notice it says deity and not a specific deity. Mainly, because Masonry does not hold to a specific God. That is left to your own spiritual path. Within Masonic ritual there is only one time you are ever asked your faith. Even then it is only asked, in who do you put your spiritual trust. Your answer defines your next steps. God, Deity, or a specific name of a deity are all acceptable. Much else could get you removed from the temple room and your evening over.
When you take your obligation, you are not swearing to deity, but to yourself and the Lodge. You are asking Deity to bear witness and give strength to uphold your promise. This is based on your relationship and understanding of the Divine. By the way I am a firm believer that there is one “Divine Source” and everything else is an aspect of that based on our understanding.
So back to prayer. If you have something you are facing and would like to do. The first thing we are taught to do is invoke and ask the GAOTU/Deity/The Divine to bless your work. This does not mean we are not strong enough to handle the task. But we are seeking guidance, and we are doing XYZ thing for the right reasons. To gain some insight in our work and for a prosperous and beneficial outcome.
Sounds easy enough right? Not always. While we sometimes pray with the most “flowery of speech” have you ever thought of the most powerful prayer?
I can tell you in one simple word. HELP
In the Hiram story we see the wisest man of biblical times King Solomon, in a moment of weakness. Hiram had died and he was distraught and with the help of his trusted advisor trying to get Hiram to a better place to be laid to rest. It did not matter what he did and tried he was failing. Finally, out of hope and options he asks his advisor. What can I do? He heard one simple word, Pray.
In our ritual Solomons words were rather long and elaborate. But what was he really saying in all those words? He was just saying the simple word, Help. He was laying his heart on the altar, open and honest. He was lost and did not know how to fix his situation. He had done everything he knew to do, and it just wasn’t working. So, he asked for Divine Guidance.
But what else did King Solomon do? He paused. When he was done with his prayer he stopped for a moment, took a few breaths and rose up. His next words were “My mind is clear”.
I wonder if sometimes we pray so much that the Divine just kind of sits there and thinks. Ya, ya, ya. Get on with it, please. I am not saying this to be rude. But, if we do all the talking we are doing very little listening.
There are all kinds of sayings for this. “Speak ye little, listen much” and Epictetus said “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” I know for those that read my thoughts, I should revisit that last point, lol.
The point being in all this “flowery speech”. How often do we stop and take the time to quite our minds and listen to what the divine may be telling us? Now, here is the kicker. We tend to want the big “cosmic billboard”. The hand out of heaven and the parting of the red sea. It just does not work like that. It is the soft still voice you may hear, or an opportunity may present itself and you have this unknown urge to do something.
We hear the divines voice sometimes in the most subtle of ways. We just have to be open to hear it.
I love you and may we govern ourselves accordingly.”
-Duane A. Johnson
