Praying Backwards: Can Our Prayers Reach the Past?

Could it be that what we pray or hold intention for now has the power to affect the experience of others many years ago, such as relieving their suffering or willing that they are held in light through what became recorded as a perilous situation? In this episode, we ponder whether prayers and focused intention can affect past events. We compare perspectives from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other traditions, discuss ideas from quantum entanglement, and even mention of parallel universes and the multiverse, and discuss the limited scientific studies that have explored the effectiveness of retrospective intercession.

Whether our belief is that God or a greater power transcends time and space, or that quantum entanglement is unconstrained by time boundaries, we conclude that praying for the past is something that we might want to take seriously.

With this in mind, we contemplate the implications, and especially the important realisation that because we have the ability to pray and send intention with hindsight for some whose unfolding circumstances weren’t fully appreciated at the time, it's all the more important that we do so. Together with talking through our potential role as “prayer angels,” we suggest some good practice guidelines that we might want to bear in mind when holding intention retrospectively.

Suggested Intention Focus for this week

This week, as we reflect on the potential power of retrospective prayer and intention holding, we suggest holding as our main intention:

When praying or holding intention for events and people retrospectively, I resolve to honour the free will of those who are the object of my intention, recognising that I may not change history, but that my prayers can move hearts and minds.

Please join us in holding this.

Previous episodes mentioned in this episode:

Multiverses, Parallel Universes & Intention: Can What We Will For Span Other Worlds? https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-s3sy2-1952bc5

The Power of Collective Intention (Part 2): Science and Strangeness

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-n334p-16c3310

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