Prayers, reflections, and poems gathered along the way
For my family and friends.
May these words spark in you a closeness with the Divine.
With love,
Altay
A little of how I came to be writing any of this down.
In my meditations, I often ask: what is your will for me? What shall I do with your day, God? And sometimes the answer I arrive at is to read, or write. It was these conclusions to this question that led me to begin writing about my meditations, my prayers, and my journey. So this is what I've set out to do — to write down the words that have given me strength and light, and to keep searching my heart for more. May they spark some spiritual curiosity for you to keep seeking closeness with the Divine.
"What are you? Christian? Muslim? Jew?"
I am a dedicated follower of God. I may not fit any of your conventional labels. I pray to the same God that Jesus prayed to — the same God as Adam, as Noah, as Abraham, Moses, and Samuel; the same God as David, as John the Baptist and Mary; the same God that Muhammad prayed to and that Jesus came for.
A man named Judah came, and the label Jew — yahud — followed. Jesus Christ came, and his followers of the Way were soon called Christians by others. Muhammad came and preached submission to God — in Arabic, islam, from the root s-l-m, "to submit" — and in time that act of submission hardened into a noun, a name: Muslim.
I pray to the God who existed before the words "Jew," "Christian," or "Muslim" were ever spoken by man — before the labels were invented. Abraham, Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, Melchizedek, and Enoch were all men of God who lived and worshipped Him long before any of these names were formed. Worship predates these labels, as does God and our relationship with Him. Let us pray to the same God as Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, as he begins: Our Father…
A collection of prayers — some I've been given, some I've read, and some I've written.
God, bless the believers with your love. May they find love for one another. May they find union and community. May they be your church here on earth. God, bless the believers. May your protection and strength be with them in this world. May their numbers multiply every day. May their light be a guide and a warmth for all. God, bless the believers. May they be your shepherds on this plane. Help to remove the blockage on ears, hearts, and eyes, so that the people may perceive you. Help them to feel your presence. God, bless the believers. Grow their faith. Help them to see your ways, that they may know you, in order to find favor in your sight. Open their hearts with your love. God, bless the believers.
Our Heavenly Father, please bless this day with your divine presence. May we measure and be measured by your spiritual scale. May we feel your guidance, wisdom, and discernment with us at all times. May you expand our chest and bless our speech with your word, so that we may speak freely in your way. Amen.
God, please deepen our faith. Bless us with the ability to perceive your greatness at work in this world and the unseen. We ask you from a place of humility to show us, in your way, the signs and energies that will deepen our faith in you. We welcome Christ, your Messiah, your holy spirit, your messengers, your prophets, your angels, your beloved ones, or any other signs and guides that you bless us with. I leave the how to you, God. And I know this is a two-way street — I commit to doing my part. I will pray, I will give to those in need, I will sit with you, I will love you, I will refrain from sin and follow the path of those you have blessed, in order to have clear eyes, clear ears, and a clear heart to perceive. Amen.
God, please help us to heal our physical and spiritual injuries. Help us to release our fears and traumas. Bless us with the knowing that, through your love and permission, spiritual success is guaranteed to us. May the knowing of this truth be the light upon our faces. May this light heal us and help us to heal others. Amen.
La hawla wala quwwata illa billah
There is no power nor strength except in God.
A few words to steady the heart — said when fear rises or courage is needed, returning every strength to its true source.
My Lord, expand for me my breast with assurance, and ease for me my task, and untie the knot from my tongue, that they may understand my speech.
The prayer of Moses — carried before any moment of speaking, when the words matter and the throat tightens.
Let it be You who everyone sees, and not I. Let it be You who everyone feels, and not me. And let it be You who everyone hears, and not I. I no longer want to live in this body — I want You to live in me, to help your lost sheep get closer to You. God, if it's Your will, use me to the maximum of Your infinite ability. I am here to serve You. Amen.
— given to me by EnriqueAll praise is due to God, the Lord of the universe, the King and Master of Judgment Day. To you alone we worship and to you alone we pray. Please show us your straight way — the way of those you have blessed, not the way of those who have incurred your wrath or lost your path. Amin.
Al-Fatiha, "The Opening," is the first chapter of the Quran and the most repeated prayer in all of Islam. It is recited in every unit of the five daily prayers, so a practicing Muslim returns to it dozens of times a day. It is held to be the essence of the entire Quran distilled into seven short verses — praise, surrender, and the plea to be kept on the straight path. To begin a day, or any prayer, with these words is to reorient the whole self toward God.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
The prayer Jesus gave his followers when they asked him how to pray sits remarkably close to Al-Fatiha. Both open by honoring God's name and sovereignty before asking for anything; both ask for daily provision — our daily bread, our daily needs; both close by pleading to be led away from temptation and evil, and kept on the path. Two traditions, one shape of devotion: praise first, then dependence, then the plea for guidance. As Jesus says, may our Father's name be honored through our actions.
Verses and sayings gathered from the Torah, the Gospels, the Quran, and the wise.
Please show me now your ways, that I may know you, in order to find favor in your sight. Exodus 33:12
These are the words of Moses, speaking with God after leading the people out of Egypt. Before he takes another step, he asks not for power or victory but for nearness — to truly know God's ways first, and only then to walk. It became my own refrain, and the heart of this whole collection: to know Him, in order to find favor in His sight.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15
By Time — indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, and encourage one another to truth, and encourage one another to patience. Al-'Asr
The whole surah turns on a single, sobering truth: this material existence is decomposing in time. Everything we can touch is already on its way to dust — our bodies, our wealth, our works, all of it sliding toward loss. Against that current, the verse names the only victory that exists: faith, righteous deeds, and calling one another to truth and patience. Spiritual awakening is the one gain that rises above the inevitable decay of the material realm, because it is the one thing time cannot take.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? … But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6
Whoever truly believes in God and the Last Day and does good — whether of the Muslims, the Jews, the Christians, or the Sabians — will have their reward with the Lord. There will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve. Al-Baqarah 62
This verse undoes the very basis of religious enmity. It measures a soul not by its label but by two things: faith in God and the Last Day, and good done in the world. Imagine if it were truly taken to heart. So much of the blood spilled across history has been spilled over the name on the door rather than the One inside the house. The closer each branch grows to the trunk of the tree, the closer the branches get to one another. A world that read this line honestly would not abandon its traditions — it would worship in union rather than division, recognizing one Father behind every sincere prayer.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6
The most important commandment is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12 · the words of Jesus
Beware lest you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8
I try to keep the spirit of this passage in my work and toil. So easily a career becomes a pursuit of self-validation and self-glorification — proving something to others, or to ourselves. This verse points to a deeper why. The strength to build, the capacity to create wealth, the doors that open — these are given, not self-made. Remembering that turns work from a monument to the self into an act of gratitude and service. There is a better reason to labor than to prove the self.
God is self-sufficient; it is you who are the needy. Muhammad 38
The surrounding verse is a call to give generously in God's way. The reminder lands hard: God gains nothing from our charity, our praise, or our worship. He lacks nothing. The need runs entirely in one direction — toward us. We do not pray because God is hungry for it; we pray because we are. Like an athlete reaching for water after a long game, the worship isn't a duty owed to a needy God, it's the quenching of our own thirst.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds. Philippians 4
Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil. 1 Kings 3:9 · the prayer of Solomon
God came to the young king Solomon in a dream and offered him anything he wished. He could have asked for long life, for riches, for the defeat of his enemies. Instead, newly set over a great people, he asked only for a discerning heart — the wisdom to tell good from evil. God was so pleased by the request that He granted the wisdom and then added the wealth and honor Solomon never asked for. It is a quiet lesson in what to want: ask first for discernment, and the rest tends to follow.
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May this collection be my love for God and people made visible.
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Things that came to me in prayer, in fasting, in meditation, and across a few good tables.
While driving to a lunch meeting at a local eatery, I'd been thinking how strange it is that people turn spiritual conversation into intellectual combat, trying to win ground. Is the goal of our path to become some litigious spiritual lawyer, locked in constant battle to edge out one another? Is that the spirit of God? Or is the spirit of God love, light, patience, and understanding? The most combative are often the least embodied believers.
Once my friend and I sat down at our table and began discussing our spiritual journeys and beliefs, a woman at the next table confronted us about the conversation we were having about God. We had been mentioning parts of the Quran and Islam, and she spoke up with the beautiful intention of upholding her own faith and beliefs. She was shaking — fear, anger maybe, or vulnerability. I didn't want her to feel I was against her, so I tried to listen and understand while letting her understand me. I didn't want her to feel she was in a debate with me. I wanted her to feel she had the pulpit, and that we were seeking wisdom in her words, because we were. She loosened. By the end she asked if she could say a prayer with us, and gave me a hug.
She asked hard, beautiful questions — about shame, and about who I pray to as a Muslim. I told her the same God Jesus prayed to; as Jesus is the best example of man, how could I not follow his worship? She asked whether there is an unforgivable sin, and I told her I'm in no position to put limits on God's forgiveness — God is the judge. She asked to whom I pray for redemption, and again I said: the same God that Jesus prayed to. I could feel a battle inside her, between wanting to argue and wanting to embrace what was being said.
I pray that we can all approach spiritual discourse in the spirit of seeking wisdom, rather than fighting to validate our own frameworks. That spirit makes space — space to share ideas, space for people to lay down the weapons of intellectual debate and pick up instead the embodiment of these paths. Love.
If we were to have the honor of hosting our Heavenly Father on earth, how would we do it? How would we honor such a guest?
I first think of presence. With such a guest honoring us with His presence, how could we not give God our undivided attention and full presence and love?
Next my mind goes to honoring Him with food, with comforts, with a party. But then I realize that God is more of the spirit than the flesh — so given this, what would be the food to bring God?
I think that it would be love. Love for God, love for one another. Demonstrating harmony with one another and His creation. Showing that we are recommending the way of truth and patience to one another. That we are nurturing each other on the way. That we are walking with generosity and compassion in our hearts. These are the platters of foods to bring God. Because every day we are hosting the ultimate guest in God. God is with us. Let's be present and intentional about the gifts that we bring to our guest, and the ways in which we honor God's everlasting presence with us, and the fact that He is in our home.
Don't forget that you have a guest in your house every day, every moment. What a dishonor that would be. What an inexcusable error it would be — especially since this guest is really the true owner of your home, and you're the guest.
We can spend our whole lives building up a persona — the house, the career, the skills, the money, the ego — and once it's built, we have to maintain it or grow it. The whole image can quietly become a prison we slave to keep alive, in our own mind and in the minds of others. In meditation a thought came to me plainly: don't be imprisoned by the role. Enjoy the role. Do God's work with the role. But you are more than the role — you are the one experiencing it.
I pictured a father and son who farm together all day. That isn't enough for a father and son. They are not just coworkers. They must sit with one another, be present, enjoy each other's company. Sometimes you need to lay down the plow and simply sit with your father. We work with God to do God's work — but we are more than farmers. We are His love, and He is ours. Find the time to sit with your Heavenly Father in love.
A friend once told me he admired how disciplined people of faith are. I told him the goal is for it to become something much greater than discipline. Discipline is often doing what you don't want to do but have committed to. There's a saying that discipline is doing what you hate as if you love it.
But would you call an athlete taking a drink of water after a long, hard game disciplined? No — the athlete is thirsty, so the athlete drinks. That's how I've come to see this. Maybe at first it took a leap of faith. But once you learn the thirst this path quenches, it stops being discipline and becomes a need. God is self-sufficient; He does not need our worship. It is we who are needy. So let's stay hydrated.
As we watch a sunrise or sunset, materially we're only watching light pass into night or rising into day. But spiritually, this is one of earth's greatest gifts. Why do we get the pleasure of it? Why are we so entranced by the smell of flowers — are we bees? The bridge between the dancing light, or the chemical aroma of flowers, and our perception of them as beauty is where God's gift lives.
For me, seeing Mila is seeing eternity in the mirror — she is eternity, and she is the mirror. Just as God gave me the gift of feeling a sunset in my soul, He gave me the gift of perceiving the divine in her, in all she does and all she is becoming. And if I had to choose between her beauty and every sunrise and sunset to come, I would freeze the heavens in day or night, because she is a fragment of God that fulfilled me in a way colors in the sky never could. Thankfully, I don't have to choose. God, Mila, sunsets, and sunrises. That's a great life. That's a great God.
Dear God, you are enough for me. Your love, your overwhelming presence, the tears I shed in remembrance of you being with me — it is more than enough. Incomparable to anything else. Your sunset, your sunrise, the love from my woman — more than enough. My animals greeting me with affection. My family hugging and kissing me, even bickering sometimes. Your abundant love in this world is more than I need, but please keep showering it, because it is more than enough. Feeling you with me. The calmness, the silence of the heart that comes with surrendering to your flow. This is more than enough. The knowing that my work here is in service to you — more than enough. You continue to bless me with more than I need. Your will is my action in this world. Your love is my nourishment.
This week, while fasting, I had a meditation in which I found myself imagining a time and a place before this life — so vivid it felt almost like remembering. Whether it was memory or only a vision, I can't say, but it moved something in me. It came as I let myself truly feel that this life is an experience, and that we are more than the experience.
In it, I pictured my consciousness, before entering this life, as purely spirit, soul, awareness. No body. Just present, and with God. And I imagined not wanting to leave Him — loving Him so much I didn't want to be separated — but having a purpose to enter the world. A mission. A duty.
It made me wonder whether the void we sometimes feel is simply not knowing who we miss so deeply. Not remembering how much we ache for our Creator. Not remembering that our spiritual umbilical cord may have been severed — and that we don't even know we ever had one. It's like missing someone more than anything, but being unable to remember who you miss: an unconscious yearning, an unnamed void. A kind of spiritual amnesia. Maybe, I thought, to understand the human struggle is to sense that parting. And if we don't know why the void and the yearning are there, it makes sense that we try to fill them through the flesh.
So in the meditation I asked Him, almost melancholically, "Why did you send us here?" And the answer that came was this: that we have a purpose. That each of us is a piece of all this creation — like a part to an engine, an organism to an ecosystem. That we are here to represent God through our own unique human expression. To be His shepherds on the earth. To demonstrate God's greatness, and our submission to it.
I think of how Satan challenged God over Job, questioning whether Job's faith would hold if he were tested — and of how Satan refused to bow to God's creation in man. Perhaps God demonstrates through us, to the fallen, that true submission and worship are attainable, and that this is the path to salvation and reunion with our Heavenly Creator.
However it came to me, here is what I want to hold onto: to remember who we might miss so dearly, and to see all the gifts and signs of His love along the way. The people, the animals, the places given to us feel like fragments of His love — a breadcrumb trail back toward the memory of what it means to be in His presence, and what it might mean again. I like to imagine that the cloud lifts from us all one day, in this life or the next; that we remember we came to this world in loving duty, and will return to our Creator in loving duty; and that a loving reunion waits in that place — the place before here. And that a form of that reunion is reachable even now. Let's get there, and show others the way.
A few that came when prose wouldn't do.
If you knew that you are now living the best days of your life, what would you do? Would you stop to embrace your blessing, or just keep speeding on through? You crossed a desert, thirsty and weak, to find yourself in this oasis of which the whole world speaks. Flawlessly flowing streams of wonderful water, endless for you to drink. Fat fruit trees with shade for you to meditate under and think. The freshest fish, the sweetest fruits, hardy vegetables with the strongest roots — come, come, let's enjoy the juice. Come, come, come, let's reproduce. Afterwards, let's go to sleep under the cover of nature's canopy, drunk on love, high on life — a fantasy turned reality. Take your time in this oasis engulfed by desert. Do not forget the serpentine sands that surround. Do not rush off and get lost without realizing that here, you are found. How foolish it would be to trek and leave this place in search of better. Are you looking for water that is wetter? This search could never end. Slow down. Don't miss this gift. Sit still and ascend. If from your desert paradise you leave and rush away, you might find yourself to say: "You remember the oasis — do you remember those good ol' days? If I only knew the heaven I was in, I would've sat and prayed, ran and played, slept and laid in that sacred shade, and I would've never strayed, never ever gone away. If I only knew that those were my good ol' days."
The sirens of the sea try hypnotizing me. They say: forget the world and be free. Swim with us into the ocean — this is your destiny. Their calls enchant with a sense of pride, but I know that if I follow them, I will die. This was the fate of every seagoer who came to the call of the sirens' song. The strongest of men could never resist — only the wise and clever Odysseus. So I must learn from this man's ancient tricks: out of sight, out of mind. Plug your ears, and quick. The best way to prevent temptation is right at the tip. Don't let it begin. Don't let it take over. Let temptation pass — just let it wash over.
Who fans your flames? Which flames do you want fanned? Do you wish to burn the forest and kill some of man? Or would you prefer to give laugh and warmth to the campsite children? Some fires want to burn bright, and some want to be broke. Your life has many types of fire — who is the fan, and who is the choke? Both can be useful, if you know your purpose of burning. Now find out: what is your smoke yearning?