Spiritual Exercises

Prayer Practices Questions

How and when did you learn to pray? Did you ever wonder if you were doing it right? What have you done to improve your prayer life? What do you expect from your prayers? How effective are your prayers at achieving your goals? Are you satisfied? What do you pray for? What do you request? Do you pray other than to make requests? How solid is your faith that your prayers are heard and answered? How often do you pray? How long do you pray? Do you pray because you want to, because you need to, because you enjoy and benefit? Do you pray when everything is running smoothly? Do you ever sincerely pray for God’s wrath or punishment to fall on another person or group? Do you pray for your enemies and those who misuse you? How often? Do you observe habitual prayer times or occasions? (meal times or on going to bed) Do you pray for knowledge of God’s will? Do you pray for God’s will to be done? Do you pray for God’s guidance in making your decisions and in taking action? Do you pray to clarify the guidance you receive Back to Top

Pray for Spiritual Power

I would like for you to make a journey into your soul to converse with your Thought Adjuster about spiritual power. Spiritual power is the ability to ignite or activate spiritual consequences in one’s self or others principally through the energy of attraction. I want you to visit with your Adjuster about developing your skill at manifesting spiritual power through spiritual fruits, spiritual weapons, faith and righteous living. Think, ask, dialog, hot pen. Righteous living is living loyal to the meanings and values God stands for. Faith is trust in God to do his part in making truth, beauty and goodness victorious over evil. Spiritual fruits arise from our association with the Spirit of God residing in our souls and have a power from the Spirit to lure and attract. Spiritual fruits are: Loving service Unselfish devotion Courageous loyalty Sincere fairness Enlightened honesty Undying hope Confiding trust Merciful ministry Unfailing goodness Forgiving tolerance Enduring peace Spiritual weapons are a gift of the spirit of Jesus which also inhabits our souls. These are the weapons Jesus wants his followers to use to establish the kingdom of God’s love and mercy in the hearts of men. The spiritual weapons are: Unfailing forgiveness Matchless goodwill Abounding love These weapons are to be applied to overcome evil with good, to vanquish hate and anger by love and to destroy fear with a courageous and living faith in truth. Always are Jesus’ followers to be active and positive in their ministry of mercy and in their manifestations of love. Back to Top

Rules for Successful Prayer Petitions

There are guidelines and spiritual laws for successful prayer petitions. Guidelines to prayer attitudes for all prayers including petitions

Unselfish – not for one’s self alone
Believing – according to faith
Sincere – honest of heart
Intelligent – according to one’s light
Trustful – in submission to the Father’s all wise will

The laws of prevailing petitions are:

Sincerely and courageously face the problem.
Industriously exhaust human capacity to adjust.
Surrender everything to the transforming embrace of spiritual growth. (Expect your prayer to be answered with insights into truth, beauty, goodness, meanings and values.)
Wholeheartedly desire God’s will.
Pray only for divine wisdom to solve specific human problems in the Paradise assent.
Have faith that your prayers will be answered.

Assignment: Now pick a subject and pray a prayer that satisfies all these guidelines and laws. How does such a prayer feel Back to Top

Habits to Foster Spiritual Growth

Fostering the following habits in yourself will favor spiritual growth. Cultivate sensitivity to divine values. Recognize religious living in others. Meditate reflectively on cosmic meanings. Solve problems with God’s help in worship. Share your spiritual life with others. Avoid selfishness. Refuse to presume on divine mercy. Live as you are in the presence of God.

A Few Words on Worship

Worshipful meditation is the greatest of all methods of problem solving. Worship brings relaxation, illumination, courage, self understanding, consciousness of union with divinity, relieves tension, removes conflict and mightily augments the total resources of the personality. Worship-communion augments energy to do spiritual work. It transforms weakness to strength, fear to courage, mind of self to the will of God. Worshipful practices, when persisted in, become habits. Habits become character. Character becomes maturity.

Prepare the Path

Story of Kaye, Mom and compassion: About 3 years before my mother’s death, she was hospitalized with an electrolyte imbalance and when she got out of the hospital, all of a sudden, she was showing signs of dementia. I really had trouble with this turn of events. I hated the way I was responding to the onset of my Mother’s dementia. I was frustrated, exasperated, exhausted, overwhelmed by the responsibility, and most of all, fearful that all of my goals and ambitions were going to fall by the wayside with the increased demands on my time and energy. Using what Sharon Lanier had taught me, I realized that what I needed was to remember the wonderful person my mother had been to me all those years of my life. I could use that memory to call up compassion for the problems she was having. I cultivated compassion and put it in my path into the hall that led toward her room. The next time I walked down that hall, I opened myself to the compassion I had put there. And my negative, resisting feelings were transformed into compassion (concern for mother’s suffering and desire to help). Preparing the Path: Preparing the Path involves selecting values that you will need in the coming day or for a specific event that is approaching and then projecting those values into the future time. Preparing the Path is done when you have time alone to prepare for the day or for the event. It involves setting your intentions and projecting those intentions into your own future. Preparing the Path puts your own mind, body and spirit on alert. It is a commitment to Spirit that you will be especially receptive to spiritual guidance and support at the time you are planning for. It is almost a physical thing you place in your day at a certain point. You make a commitment and dedicate yourself to your intention. This allows you to enter the situation with poise and ease. You may already have a good idea of what value will be most important at that time. But as you are Preparing the Path, you may also discover values that will benefit you. New values may just float in like feathers settling to the ground. If you will open to Spirit, you will be guided. Preparing the Path for our work: In fact, when Sharon and I are going to meet to work on our retreats, one or both of us will Prepare the Path repeatedly in the days before we meet. We are especially vigilant about asking for receptivity to spirit. We always want to be led. Here is what I wrote in my journal before one meeting: “Receptive: Open to Spirit. Open to each other. Trusting in our inner leading. Trusting in the beauty we create together. No fear. Resting in faith. Imbued with faith. Living in faith. Following in faith.” Choose an event to prepare for: In a minute we are going to try Preparing the Path, so right now please think over the next week or so of your life. Is there an event, a problem you anticipate, a challenge you will face that you can Prepare the Path for? Pause I’m going to explain how to Prepare the Path and then I will lead you through it. Ways to Prepare the Path: Projecting a value into a future time involves first of all cultivating the value—getting a really good sense of what the value is, allowing the value to fill you vividly. Then you imagine what it will be like when you are living the value. Do not see yourself from the outside, but be in the situation. Experience yourself expressing that value. How will you behave? And very important, how will you feel when you are living your value? Get a really good feeling of experiencing your value. The final touch in Prepare the Path is to send the value you want to place in the situation on a stream of your spiritual energy to the point in your future where you will need it. You beam it into the time and place where you will need it. Get your journal and pen. Think of the situation you chose earlier. Jot that down very briefly in your journal or on your paper….

Exercise

RELAX AND LET’S BEGIN Slip into Spirit. Slip into Spirit….Breathe and rest in your heart…Feel your gratitude begin to grow. Feel your appreciation grow and grow…. Allow time. Cultivate a Value: Now, think about the value you chose. Get a really good sense of what the value is. What does it mean to you?…… Now, breathe the value in; allow it to fill you vividly; feel that value in yourself. Become that value……..Next, live the value. Imagine yourself in the situation you chose, expressing the value you chose. How are you behaving? What are you saying? …….. And very important, how are you feeling as you live your value? Get a really good feeling of experiencing your value. Feel it grow strong and sure……….Take a little time here to feel the satisfaction of living your value. ***Allow time. Project: Now from your heart send a stream of your spiritual energy; send that value on your stream of spiritual energy to the point in your life where you will need it. Beam the value into the time and place. Allow time.

LET’S COME BACK TO THE GROUP

Share: any comments or questions? Do you see places in your life where you can use Prepare the Path? Allow sharing. ***Receptivity: In some cases you may not be able to discern what value you need. In that case, the value you project or rehearse is receptivity—openness to Spirit. It could actually become a standard beginning to your day, unless you have identified a specific need. How It Works Intellectual Effects: Prepare the Path is a type of Pre-Event Visualization, similar to what is used in sports all the time. Pre-Event Visualization involves visualizing yourself successfully practicing your sport. Studies of it show that visualizing successful practice can be more effective at improving your ability to play the sport than literal practice. So when you imagine yourself living your values, you are using a highly effective technique. Remember to imagine yourself from the inside, as if you are experiencing the event and living the values. That experiencing element was crucial in the sports studies. Physical Effects: You get the same physical effects we discussed in Cultivating Values—a physical trail in the brain that makes you more likely to live the value. Except that with Prepare the Path you are expending more time and energy on the process. Spiritual Effects: Spiritually, Prepare the Path seems to have a multiplier effect because you are focusing on the specific place, time and people that can be your cues to shift into the value. Review: Prepare the Path is a phenomenal method of infusing your life with true values. As you begin to actually live out some of the values you have been cultivating, their beauty, their practicality, their power will make you fall further in love with them. Back to Top

Soaking in Values

Bill 12-2011

The idea of soaking in a value derives from the comfort and therapy that comes from soaking your entire body in a hot mineral bath. The idea is to imagine yourself soaking in a hot bath of a concentrated value-laden liquid. Your body relaxes and the minerals are absorbed to remedy deficiencies. Start by imagining the room containing the tub. It is pleasant and warm and well lighted. Mentally prepare the bath by filling the tub with pleasantly hot water. Then take one of the large jars marked with the name of an interesting value off the shelf beside the tub. Take two hand fulls of the salt in the jar and spread it on the surface of the water. It will dissolve completely as it settles but stir the water a little with your hand anyway. Use only one value at a time. You are already in your bathing attire. When you are ready, step carefully into the tub, sit down and slide your whole body under the water Now focus your attention first on the warmth and wetness of the water and then on the sensations you get from being engulfed in the value, completely enveloped by a value like courage or generosity or trustworthiness. When you are immersed, you become part of that value. Relax and allow your mind to register the feelings you get from the value. For as long as you can, remain receptive and very attentive to the feelings, impressions and insights you have regarding this value. See it being exhibited by you and by others. Experience being in its presence. Feel what it feels like to be with this value. Your cells are absorbing the value and your soul is gathering power to motivate you to express the value in your attitude and action. This is happening spiritually. It is almost not tangible but it is real. Play with the value a little in your imagination. What happens when you share it with a friend? Imagine sharing it by talking about it, by demonstrating it and by explaining the feelings it brings. What does it feel like when you notice a friend exhibiting this value back to you? Imagine soaking a wash cloth with this value and giving it to a stranger. How is the stranger likely to react to experiencing the refreshment of this value? What has been your experience with this value in your life? Does it result in good or bad to have lots of this value expressed in your life? Now, imagine yourself becoming this value. How does it feel to achieve what the value achieves? Don’t just see yourself observing the value, become the value, feel the achievement of doing what it does. Values foster and improve relationships. How does it feel to be the connection in a friendship or in a peacemaking opportunity or in a loving relationship? Now just soak in this value and in your feelings and thoughts about it. Just soak and enjoy. A few values to soak in: Gratitude Patience Generosity Loyalty Love Courage Service Trustworthiness Forgiveness Mercy Tolerance Honesty Back to Top

Spiritual Practices Sharon Lanier at 2^nd Joyful Living

Belton, TX 2011

Spiritual practices are anything you do intentionally to help you grow spiritually. The following list of useful spiritual practices was generated at a Joyful Living retreat at Belton, Texas in 2011.

Enjoy spiritual poetry. Read, write and memorize.
Enjoy inspirational music.
Pray for spiritual progress for yourself and others. Imagine how that progress would change motives and actions.
Adore God’s qualities. Desire them deeply for yourself and others.
Meditate for receptivity to spirit.
Read spiritual teachings.
Memorize sayings or “scripture”.
Schedule time for spiritual focus.
Journal (write) your inner feelings and thoughts.
Nature walk to observe and reflect.
Commune with nature. Feel more than think. Appreciate.
Make a habit of looking for good in others.
Pray silent, brief prayers in the moment of need or gratefulness.
Clear bad feelings by counting blessings.
Apply creativity to imagine what would be best.
Produce inspirational art or music.
Garden as cooperation with the spirit of life.
Commune with your spirit within.
Engage frequently in conversations with your inner spirit.
Think of spirit as unseen but real, and contactable.
Treat everything as sacred.
Contemplate the spiritual impact of what you do.
Spend some “porch time” daydreaming and letting ideas drift in freely.
Think deeply on the meaning/purpose of life and its activities.
Cultivate values.
Contemplate values for the meaning they add to life. Why does it matter to you if you care about others?
Prepare the path with spiritual values to be used in the future. (See Activities – Prepare the Path.)
Listen and respond with spiritual motivation (kindness.)
Go about giving mental love hugs.
Serve others unselfishly.
Physically dance while imagining the spirit to be your partner.
Move with music while communing with spirit.
Practice intentional empathy. Empathy is understanding how another is feeling.
Practice intentional compassion. Compassion is sympathy for the suffering of another and a desire to help.
Greet your new day with joy and optimism.
Acknowledge the involvement of celestial persons in your life.
Explore spiritual living by thought, feeling and action.
Express your gratitude to spirit for life’s gifts and opportunities.
Make a commitment each day on awakening to find and express goodness in that day’s events.
Enjoy gentle and polite humor.
Visualize spiritual reality.
Trust and have faith in spirit.
Engage in spiritual speculation.
Love, respect, appreciate yourself and others.
Let God love you. Feel his presence.
“Soak” in values.
Engage in intentional forgiving.
Predict spiritual consequences.
Act on your service urges.
Seek spiritual guidance, listen and respond.
Contemplate the immensity and the miracle of the cosmos.
Spend some time in rapt attention to what you are experiencing. Mindfulness of what you feel physically and spiritually.
Let go of what is bothering you, especially guilt.
Review and contemplate a list of spiritual practices.
Surrender control to spirit.
Celebrate spiritual success and insight.
Look for and plan service opportunities.
Contemplate the meaning of love repeatedly.
Play with spirit.
Soak in spiritual practices.
Trust and confide in others.
Feel your soul and the spirit within.
Share your goals and sense of purpose.
Remind yourself and others “Whatever you do in this world matters.”

Soak in Service

Bill 12-2011

This activity is based on an exercise from the Joyful Living program created by Sharon Lanier and Kaye Cooper. Soaking your whole body is comforting and therapeutic. Let’s see what happens when you actively imagine yourself soaking in a bath of comfortably warm water infused with the concentrated salt of loving service. This salt of service will infuse you with the desire to be of assistance to others. It is the raw material of the chemistry of forming friendships and community. Service is the giving of your effort, assets or influence for the benefit of others and it is unselfish. It is done to give, not to get. When recognized, it is universally appreciated by its recipients. You are in a private, well lighted and warm room. There is a large bath tub filled with hot water in the room. You are in your bathing suit. On a shelf in front of you is a large jar of Service Salts. Take two hand fulls of the salt and spread it in the water. Stir it with your hand. Feel how soothing and warm the water is. Now step into the tub. Feel the heat of the water and the soothing calm of the salts on your feet and legs. Sit down and notice the slight tingle in your body. This is your soul’s response to the energy of service in the salts. Ease yourself down until the water covers your whole body. The salts begin to provide you with thoughts and feelings of serving and being served. Feel how wonderful it is when someone does something for you that you want done. Remember the feeling of receiving a massage or of having someone come to your assistance in lifting a heavy load or of having someone help you care for an ailing parent. Recall that special feeling you get when you realize someone has done something specifically to benefit you. Let this feeling expand. Feel the friendliness, the attractiveness of this. Feel your appreciation for this gift and for the person giving it. Now shift your imagination just slightly to feel what it is like to serve and to have your service appreciated. This giving side of service is a wonderful, magical experience too. The experience of service is a joy to both the giver and the receiver. Smell the fragrance of service. What is it like? Is it sweet, fresh, clean? Taste a drop of the water. What does it taste like? Does it taste salty or is it sweet like fruit? Soak in the smell, the taste, the warmth and the pleasure. Soak up the pleasure of serving and being served. Feel the urge to serve others arise in you and gently release any hesitation you may feel. Now shift slightly again to imagine being service – not the server or the one served – but service itself. As service, you effectively link people together in friendship for one another and in gratitude. Soak for a moment, feeling the magical power of service to cause people to be connected and appreciative of each other. Allow the service motivation to soak into you. Fill all the spaces within and around the atoms of your body with the desire to serve and with gratitude for being served. Now soak. (Long Pause) Thank you. That is an experience of soaking in the value “service”, a Joyful Living exercise, and I hope you will choose to continue to soak in service….. for the remainder of eternity. Back to Top

Working on Forgiving

These comments are derived from a Truthseekers activity. Forgiveness is more certain to benefit the forgiver than the forgiven. Consequently, it is worth some effort to forgive. Forgiveness is dealt with in more detail in Bill’s Book of Values pp. 30-34. There are a number of things you can do to be intentional about forgiving.

Go to your heart. Going to your heart means seeking calm and access to your inner wisdom. A way to seek inner calmness is to breathe a little slower and a little deeper and feel agitation and tenseness dissolve. The place you have prepared for yourself in your heart is a place of refuge and peacefulness that you can retreat to whenever you need to. No one else even needs to know you are there. It is also a place where you have instant access to your values. In your heart, you can tap into strength, courage, tolerance, forgiveness, peacemaking, patience, respect or any other value you recognize. All you have to do is ask and trust that the next step for the revelation of what you need will be revealed to you. In that way your heart is a place for the beginnings of miraculous transformations.
Gently restrain your wilder emotions. You are unlikely to be your best person when you are under the power of anger, dread, fear, guilt, etc. In your heart, you have available resources to quiet these screeming emotions. They have their purposes but our lives should be under the control of our higher values, not our basic survival emotions. Going to your heart is a great intervention tool to avoid confrontation and to prevent it from escallating into violence.
While soaking in the calm and wisdom of your heart you can consider the event you need to forgive. In this circumstance, many offenses don’t seem big or important and they can be dismissed as just stuff that happens as imperfect people interact with one another. Everybody is a jerk sometimes and that just has to be tolerated with minimal consequences. When you have reached that point, you have forgiven the offense.
If the short cut to forgiveness doesn’t resolve your feelings of hurt or anger, you need to respect your feelings and explore their causes. I said respect your feelings, not trust them or be controlled by them.
Seeing with new eyes involves going to your heart and considering with charity and good will what alternative and justifiable assumptions might have caused the offense. When you access the situation more charitably, it is easier to let go of anger and hurt.
You may need first to act to right an injustice to yourself or another.
You may need to act to control the damage or end the threat.
You may need to talk through the offense with the offender.
Whatever action you decide to take, be sure to stay connected to your heart and treat the other person with respect and caring. Whenever memory of the offense arises, remind yourself of your decision or desire to forgive.

Respond to Your Thought Adjuster

Relax and meditate on the Thought Adjuster requests for cooperation at 1213:5. Consider each request or assurance. Are you ready to make a commitment to your adjuster regarding any of his requests? If that is not comfortable, reflect on why not. Ask your mind and your Adjuster to provide insights and help to remedy your withholds and enable your commitments. Remember, your Adjuster and Father’s entire universe are interested in helping you master your resistances to spiritual living. They know you have them and do not judge you for them. You can be absolutely honest with Father. There is no punishment for your imperfections. Your Thought Adjuster says to you: You are the subject of my solicitous devotion.

- I would never intend to over chastise or discourage you.
- I plead that you more faithfully give me your sincere cooperation.
- Please more cheerfully endure the tasks of my emplacement.
- More faithfully carry out the program of my arrangement.
- More patiently go through the trials of my selection.
- More persistently and cheerfully tread the path of my choosing.
I ask you more humbly to receive credit accruing as a result of my ceaseless endeavor
I bestow on you the supreme devotion and affection of a divine spirit.
I will function with wisdom and power until the very end, until the last earth struggle is over.
I will be true to my personality trust.
I exhort you to survive. Do not disappoint me. Do not deprive me of the reward of my patient and intense struggle.
On the human will my achievement of personality depends.

Meditate On What Prayer Was To Jesus

Relax and leisurely contemplate the individual statements of what prayer was to Jesus. Ask for understanding of how to use prayer in each of these ways. Ask for insights. Talk to Father. Ask him questions. Restate whatever relevant thoughts come to you. Be sure to listen. Thank Jesus for revealing each purpose, use and value of prayer. Thank him for his bestowal and constant ministry. Discuss, adore, pursue. Drift back and forth between prayer and worship. To Jesus prayer was:

Sincere expression of spiritual attitude
Declaration of soul loyalty
Recital of personal devotion
Expression of thanksgiving
Avoidance of emotional tension
Prevention of conflict
Exaltation of intellection
Ennoblement of desire
Vindication of moral decision
Enrichment of thought
Invigoration of higher inclinations
Consecration of impulse
Clarification of viewpoint
Declaration of faith
Transcendental surrender of will
Sublime assertion of confidence
Revelation of courage
Proclamation of discovery
Confession of supreme devotion
Validation of consecration
Technique for adjustment of difficulties

A Model For Real Thinking – Spiritually Assisted Thinking

*Relax by being mindful of breathing in spiritual strength, vitality and optimism and breathing out preoccupation, pessimism and physical exhaustion. When your mind is calm and focused, proceed. *Identify the concern you wish to visit with Father about. Describe for Father the choices involved in the decision you need to make. *Carry on both sides of an imaginary conversation with Father about your concern. The objectives in this are to make it easier for your adjuster to register ideas in your conscious mind and for you to register reality responses and to use them both in making decisions. Remember that the voice of the Adjuster is still, small, suggestive and not powerful or demanding. So, permit the silence to linger and listen into it for your Adjuster’s quiet responses. These are likely to be questions which call for decisions based on values, meanings and truth. Drift back and forth between prayer and worship. Back to Top

Worshipful Problem Solving

The term “worshipful problem solving” is descriptive of the process. It means drifting back and forth between (1) high prayer of sincere conversation with Father about problems and solutions and (2) contemplation of the wonderful qualities and behavior of your loving, merciful, generous, forgiving, tolerant, faithful and constant Father. The result is a mixture of thanksgiving and prayer for spiritual consequences mixed with worship. The list at 2089 of what prayer was to Jesus is a good indicator of the purposes for which this process is applicable. Back to Top

Cultivate a Value – Adventure

10-25-11 Taos Retreat

“Cultivating a Value” is a Joyful Living exercise for personal spiritual growth. It was developed by Sharon Lanier and Kaye Cooper. This is an example of what following the instructions for Cultivating a Value might produce. This exercise was done on the value of “adventure” but the pattern is applicable to any value. The person who did this was impressed with the apparent responsiveness of spirit and with the benefits to him of the insights. The effect was to make him more enthusiastic about adventure and more likely to pursue it. Keep in mind that the objective here is not to teach about adventure. It is to teach how to cultivate a spiritual value and how to conduct an inner dialog which intentionally invites spiritual input. Instructions: Choose a Value to Cultivate: “Adventure” Go to your heart. Relax, breathe and feel grateful. Open to love and feel your heart respond. Let your soul fill with the feeling of affection for everything. Ask spirit to give you understanding of “adventure.” Experiencing this particular inner dialog: What is the meaning of “adventure?” Ultimately the adventure is self-mastery. Each increment of self-mastery is itself an adventure of discovery, excitement and commitment to good habits and good character. Adventure has elements of risk, courage, fear, faith and optimism. Adventure involves being attracted sufficiently to make the effort, take the risk and explore the experience and its value and meaning. The adventurer loves action, change and progress sufficiently to pursue a string of events or impressions with enthusiasm and expectation. What does “adventure” look like? It looks like curiosity, action, risking failure but most often only risking looking and feeling silly. But persisted in, adventure eventually brings maturity and wisdom. How does it feel to be having an “adventure?” It can be frightening at first, like a roller coaster ride. Eventually though, you realize the roller coaster is safe and the ride becomes thrilling and even sought after for the thrill. The thrill of adventure is a plus but the victory to be achieved is the discovery of new truth and that discovery can be blocked by fear if you permit it. What insights should I take from this cultivation of the value “adventure”? Your comfort with adventure should grow because adventure will deliver new truth regarding self-mastery, sense of cosmic safety, sense of worth, love, trust and service destiny. Does spirit really relate to me in my inner life? Have faith that I am active in your inner life. Allow me to lead you into adventure. Spiritually all roads lead home. Often-times apparent failure gets you where you didn’t know you wanted to be and faster than success would have. Adventure and grow. Bill’s Book of Values has lengthy lists of values you can cultivate. Back to Top

Varieties of Prayer

There is quite a variety of types of prayer including:

Prayers expressing pure gratitude and thanksgiving
Petitions for help
Communion – intimate spiritual sharing of thoughts and feelings with God
Consecration of self to God’s way
Consultation with God – thinking with God
Praying to elevate thoughts to a higher and more spiritual level
Praying for clarification of viewpoint
Praying for faith, optimism, hope, courage
Praying for healing of mood, attitude or body
Praying to make spiritual goals and means more vivid
Prayer for inspiration and guidance to resolve the matters you are praying about
Prayer for wise leadership

Assignment:

Consider each type of prayer and understand what each would sound like.
Compose and experience each of the following types of prayer.

Prayer of consecration of self to God’s way
Prayer to elevate thoughts to a higher and more spiritual level
Prayer for clarification of viewpoint on war, assisted suicide, abortion, capital punishment, social equality…
Prayer for faith, optimism, hope, courage …
Prayer not to win but simply to do your best

Trust and Confide — Friendship

UB paper 193.3.2 : page 2055:2 Jesus’ Final Appearance “And I wish that you would love and trust one another. Judas isn’t with us because his love grew cold and he refused to trust you. It is not good for man to be alone. He who would have friends must show himself friendly. I sent you out to teach by twos so that you would not become lonely and fall into the miseries and mischief of isolation. In the flesh I did not permit even myself to be alone for long periods. I always had two or three of you at hand or close by at all times, even when I communed with the Father. Trust, therefore, and confide in one another.” UB paper 160.2 : page 1775:5 Rodan Personal affection is the spiritual bond that holds social groups together. Some degree of recognition and a certain amount of appreciation are essential to the development of human character. Many noble human impulses die because there is no one to hear their expression. Association with one’s fellows is essential for renewal of the zest for life and is indispensable to the maintenance of the courage to fight those battles necessary to achieve higher levels of human living. Friendship enhances the joys and glorifies the triumphs of life. Loving and intimate human associations tend to rob suffering of its sorrow and hardship of much of its bitterness. The presence of a friend enhances all beauty and exalts every goodness. One of the crowning glories of human friendship is the power and possibility of the mutual stimulation of the imagination. Great spiritual power is inherent in the consciousness of wholehearted devotion to a common cause, mutual loyalty to a cosmic Deity. Personality association and mutual affection is an efficient insurance against evil. Difficulties, sorrow, disappointment and defeat are more painful and disheartening when borne alone. There is positive strength in the knowledge that you live for the welfare of others, and that they likewise live for your welfare and advancement. Instructions for One-on-one exercise Select a partner for this exercise who is not your best friend or mate, someone you don’t know that well. Find a place for just the two of you to visit. Divide your time equally to get to know each other. Disclose yourselves in terms of your spiritual goals, your fears of life or death, your philosophy of living in relationship with others, the health, emotional or psychological challenges you are facing, your spiritual assumptions and expectations and/or what you pray for. Do not seek to convince, convert, teach or plan. We are reaching for the experience of an intimate sharing. You are trusting and confiding in one another. There is no agenda except to share your genuine self, including your stubborn imperfections. Consider making these practices an intentional part of many of your social interactions. Back to Top

Spiritual Power

So what is spiritual power and how does it arise?

It is the transformative effect of experiencing or witnessing righteousness being lived. Righteousness is the process of discerning and living the will of God. It is not perfection. The will of God is that we should be unselfish servers of all persons with, perhaps, special obligations to live for the benefit of others who practice personal fellowship with God.
Spiritual power is the transformative power of love, loyalty, forgiveness, tolerance, tact, forbearance, sincerity and faith (trust) in truth. It works in the souls of all who value these qualities.
Spiritual power is available for us to exercise through our actions and attitudes. It is a gift but we must mature spiritually to progress in our ability to receive it. Prayer and worship are the technique for spiritual growth.
The religion of Jesus, the religion of going within to consult with the spirit and then following that leading, is the most unifying influence on the planet and that is a variety of spiritual power too.

Spirit of Truth brought spiritual power. 194.3.11:2064:3-4 The arrival of the Spirit of Truth at Pentecost brought to humanity a new endowment of spiritual power. It brought to all who are sincere of heart the potential to overcome evil with good, to vanquish hate by love and to destroy fear with a courageous and living faith in truth. Jesus’ followers are supposed to go forth using these new talents as their only weapons to conquer the world. Nothing else will win the hearts of humanity and winning the hearts is the only way to really change the world for the better. The new abilities are the power to forgive personal injuries, to keep sweet in the midst of the gravest injustice, to remain unmoved in the face of appalling danger and to challenge the evils of hate and anger by the fearless acts of love and forbearance. Jesus wants his followers to be aggressive in applying good to crowd out and overcome evil. The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. Letter to Jesus During the next twenty minutes we are going to write a letter to Jesus. He started telling me yesterday how much he was looking forward to this. I want you to tell him how you feel (not what you think or what you should think ) about having his Spirit of Truth in your heart encouraging you to love God, to love and serve your fellows and aggressively to assault the world with love, goodness and courageous faith in truth. Use the hot pen technique of continuous writing. Don’t think and then write. Let the contents of your emotional mind and your soul flow freely with as little correction by your logical mind as possible. Just start writing “How do I feel about…” and then jot down whatever flows into your consciousness. Letter from Jesus Now complete your thought and write a letter back from Jesus using the same hot pen technique. He has a lot to say to you about your spiritual life and your loving relationships. Back to Top

Spirit Assisted Thinking and Living

By: Bill Cooper May 2006

Spiritual living is living life in accordance with the leading of the Spirit Within. Our Thought Adjusters are the Spirit Within us and will lead us according to God’s will for our lives. Loyally following the leading of our Thought Adjusters is religion of the Spirit. It is the religion Jesus practiced and the religion he taught and modeled for his Urantia followers and his universe. To be religious is to be loyal, sincere, trustworthy, active and enthusiastically committed. It is reliably and intentionally following the leading of the Spirit which constitutes religion of the Spirit and spiritual living. Religion of the Spirit is unique in each individual. It requires no priest, no church, no theology nor any rules made or interpreted by other humans. What does real thinking have to do with spiritual living and religion of the Spirit? Real thinking is the method for accessing and implementing our Thought Adjuster’s leading. Real thinking is thinking aided by the Adjuster. It is high quality, spiritually enhanced thinking. It is a product of communion with one’s Thought Adjuster. It is also attuning to the truth instincts of cosmic mind. It is training and disciplining our minds to receive and use these spiritual / mindal instincts. The leading and teaching of ones Thought Adjuster needs to be brought into our conscious mind in some way in order for us to make decisions and take action on them. Real thinking is how we register these leadings in our conscious mind. Real thinking is precisely the kind of thinking that a child of God who is trying to follow the Spirit’s leading should do. It is talking with and listening to the Spirit to get its suggestions. The kingdom (family) of God is within. This is where the Spirit of God resides and teaches the soul of man. Real thinking incorporates the Spirit of God into our thinking process and allows the inner kingdom to flow into our conscious level of mind. Spiritual living is living your life by sincerely trying to follow the leading of your Thought Adjuster in everything you do. This connotes communion with your own Inner Spirit and loyalty to the way of love and service which the Spirit will recommend. This attention to “Real Thinking” was suggested by two references in the Urantia Book. One of these is found at 1213:1. It says that few mortals are real thinkers and this is a great handicap in reception of the Thought Adjuster’s spiritual pleas translated from the universal broadcasts of love proceeding from the Father. Real thinking requires us to spiritually develop and discipline our minds to the point of favorable connection with our Thought Adjuster. Our animal mind is almost completely dominated by chemical and electrical forces inherent in our physical natures. Therefore, we must train our minds to control these forces in order to be receptive to Thought Adjuster leading. Adjusters are constantly communicating to us. They long to make direct contact with our conscious, choice making mortal mind and rejoice when they are successful. The second key reference is found at 191 -192. It says that there is inherent in cosmic mind a quality which can be called the “reality response”. It is what saves will creatures from being helpless victims of the assumptions of science, philosophy and religion. Cosmic mind unfailingly responds on three levels of universe reality. 1. Reality domain of the physical senses – differentiation of the factual and the nonfactual – reflective conclusions based on cosmic response. 2. Reality domain of morals in the philosophic realm – the recognition of relative right and wrong. 3. Reality domain of religious experience – personal realization of divine fellowship – recognition of spirit values – awareness of Sonship with God. These cosmic responses are innate in cosmic mind and the experience of living never fails to develop these cosmic intuitions. It is sad however that so few persons on Urantia enjoy cultivating these qualities of courageous and independent cosmic thinking. 2086:3 High gear spiritual performances await the new revelation of the religious life of Jesus and the more general acceptance of the real religion of Jesus. [I presume the new revelation of Jesus’ religious life is The Urantia Book. The UB says Jesus’ religion was religiously following the leading of his Thought Adjuster.] So what kinds of things will your Thought Adjuster say to you? Your Adjuster will lead you into experiences which will demonstrate God’s love, mercy, tolerance, inclusiveness, generosity, etc. Your Adjuster will also speak with you about your relationship with him. At 1213:5 we see part of what an Adjuster said to his human associate about their relationship.

- You are the subject of my solicitous devotion.
- I would never intend to over chastise or discourage you.
- I plead that you more faithfully give me your sincere cooperation.
- Please more cheerfully endure the tasks of my emplacement.
- More faithfully carry out the program of my arrangement.
- More patiently go through the trials of my selection.
- More persistently and cheerfully tread the path of my choosing.

I ask you more humbly to receive credit accruing as a result of my ceaseless endeavors.
I bestow on you the supreme devotion and affection of a divine spirit.
I will function with wisdom and power until the very end, until the last earth struggle is over.
I will be true to my personality trust.
I exhort you to survive. Do not disappoint me. Do not deprive me of the reward of my patient and intense struggle.
On the human will my achievement of personality depends. Rodan at 1774 – 1777Rodan says he learned the greatest of all methods of problem solving from Jesus. That method was Jesus’ practice of the isolation of worshipful meditation which was done as follows: * He communed with the Father * He appropriated the energy for the solution of the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature[Still Rodan] Jesus’ worshipful problem solving practice brings
[Still Rodan]
Jesus engaged in solitary surveys of the problems of living and sought new stores of wisdom and energy for meeting the manifold demands of social service. [This sounds to me like the consequences of liaison with his Thought Adjuster and (1) accessing wisdom from his Adjuster’s translation of the Father’s universal broadcasts of love and (2) gathering energy from the joy, peace and tonic effect of consciousness of contact with deity. This practice will also make it easier and more reliable to access the reality responses.] Jesus’ practice quickens and deepens the supreme purpose of living by subjecting the total personality [everything I am and have] to the consciousness of contacting divinity. In this practice, Jesus grasped for possession of new and better methods of adjusting himself to the ever changing situations of living existence. He effected those vital reconstructions and readjustments of his personal attitudes which are essential to enhanced insight into everything worthwhile and real and he did all of this with an eye to consistency with God’s will.

* He thereby gathered strength and wisdom for the ordinary conflicts of living
* Jesus went off by himself
We can look to Jesus’ practices as our model of real thinking for spiritual living. We have two good descriptions of Jesus’ technique of real thinking. At 1774 – 1777 Rodan describes how Jesus used his mind to do real thinking. At 2089:0 there is a list of what prayer was to Jesus. That list tells what communion / real thinking consists of. [Rodan was a Greek philosopher from Alexandria, Egypt who spent weeks observing Jesus and learning his practices and teachings from Jesus’ apostles. His was a truly great intellect.]
Relaxation that renews the mind
Illumination (spiritual insight) which inspires the soul
Courage to face your problems bravely
Self understanding which obliterates debilitating fear
Consciousness of union with divinity which equips you with the assurance enabling you to dare to be like God [Consciousness of union sounds a lot more intimate and a lot more permanent than just consciousness of contact.]
The relaxation of this practice of spiritual communion has wonderful consequences

relief of tension
removal of conflicts
augmentation of the resources of personality [the resources of personality unify spirit, mind and body and enable us to make value choices][Still Rodan] Jesus’ style of meditation combines meditation and relaxation. Meditation makes the contact of mind with spirit. Relaxation determines the capacity for spiritual receptivity. From the philosopher’s point of view, the meditative interchange of strength for weakness, courage for fear, the will of God for the mind of self constitutes worship. It becomes more urgent as society becomes more complex for God-knowing individuals to form protective habitual practices to conserve and augment their spiritual energies. Jesus’ style of meditation is a good model of how to do this.
Here is the list from 2089 of what prayer was to Jesus. It pretty clearly identifies what topics Jesus was communing about and suggests what he was saying in his prayers. His prayer life was the highest of real thinking. These are at the upper edge of what I am able to grasp but if I read them slowly, repeatedly and reflectively, with intent really to understand each statement, I find I can understand them and can even create examples of that kind of prayer. But, I have to ask the Spirit a lot of clarifying questions in the process. To Jesus prayer was:
[Still Rodan]
Jesus’ style of worship / communion eliminates prejudice. [Prejudice is having your mind made up about someone or something before hearing the evidence and even regardless of the evidence.] This is important to spiritual thinking because prejudice blinds the soul to the recognition of truth. The only way to remove prejudice is by sincere devotion of the soul to the adoration of a cause that is all embracing and all inclusive of ones fellow men. [Worship is passionate pursuit – adoration. The kingdom of God / family of God is all embracing and all inclusive of ones fellow man. The kingdom/family is where the spirit of God leads the soul of man. It is the will of God in action. It is service, love, forgiveness, tolerance, forbearance and much more.]

- Sincere expression of spiritual attitude
- Declaration of soul loyalty
- Recital of personal devotion
- Expression of thanksgiving
- Avoidance of emotional tension
- Prevention of conflict
- Exaltation of intellection
- Ennoblement of desire
- Vindication of moral decision
- Enrichment of thought
- Invigoration of higher inclinations
- Consecration of impulse
- Clarification of viewpoint
- Declaration of faith
- Transcendental surrender of will
- Sublime assertion of confidence
- Revelation of courage
- Proclamation of discovery
- Confession of supreme devotion
- Validation of consecration
- Technique for adjustment of difficulties
- Mighty mobilization of soul powers to withstand all human tendencies toward selfishness, evil and sin A Model For Real Thinking – Spiritually Assisted Thinking*Relax by being mindful of breathing in spiritual strength, vitality and optimism and breathing out preoccupation, pessimism and physical exhaustion. When your mind is calm and focused, proceed.*Identify the concern you wish to visit with Father about. Describe for Father the choices involved in the decision you need to make.*Carry on both sides of an imaginary conversation with Father about your concern. The objectives in this are to make it easier for your adjuster to register ideas in your conscious mind and for you to register reality responses and to use them both in making decisions. Remember that the voice of the Adjuster is still, small, suggestive and not powerful or demanding. So, permit the silence to linger and listen into it for your Adjuster’s quiet responses. These are likely to be questions which call for decisions based on values, meanings and truth. Drift back and forth between prayer and worship.
- Relax and leisurely contemplate the individual statements of what prayer was to Jesus. Ask for understanding of how to use prayer in each of these ways. Ask for insights. Talk to Father. Ask him questions. Restate whatever relevant thoughts come to you. Be sure to listen. Thank Jesus for revealing each purpose, use and value of prayer. Thank him for his bestowal and constant ministry. Discuss, adore, pursue. Drift back and forth between prayer and worship. To Jesus prayer was:
- Meditate On What Prayer Was To Jesus
- The term “worshipful problem solving” is descriptive of the process. It means drifting back and forth between (1) high prayer of sincere conversation with Father about problems and solutions and (2) contemplation of the wonderful qualities and behavior of your loving, merciful, generous, forgiving, tolerant, faithful and constant Father. The result is a mixture of thanksgiving and prayer for spiritual consequences mixed with worship. The list at 2089 of what prayer was to Jesus is a good indicator of the purposes for which this process is applicable.
- Worshipful Problem Solving
- Suggested Exercises to Practice Real Thinking
- Sincere expression of spiritual attitude
- Declaration of soul loyalty
- Recital of personal devotion
- Expression of thanksgiving
- Avoidance of emotional tension
- Prevention of conflict
- Exaltation of intellection
- Ennoblement of desire
- Vindication of moral decision
- Enrichment of thought
- Invigoration of higher inclinations
- Consecration of impulse
- Clarification of viewpoint
- Declaration of faith
- Transcendental surrender of will
- Sublime assertion of confidence
- Revelation of courage
- Proclamation of discovery
- Confession of supreme devotion
- Validation of consecration
- Technique for adjustment of difficulties Respond to Your Thought AdjusterRelax and meditate on the Thought Adjuster requests for cooperation at 1213:5. Consider each request or assurance. Are you ready to make a commitment to your adjuster regarding any of his requests? If that is not comfortable, reflect on why not. Ask your mind and your Adjuster to provide insights and help to remedy your withholds and enable your commitments. Remember, your Adjuster and Father’s entire universe are interested in helping you master your resistances to spiritual living. They know you have them and do not judge you for them. You can be absolutely honest with Father. There is no punishment for your imperfections.Your Thought Adjuster says to you:
- You are the subject of my solicitous devotion.
- I would never intend to over chastise or discourage you.
- I plead that you more faithfully give me your sincere cooperation.
- Please more cheerfully endure the tasks of my emplacement.
- More faithfully carry out the program of my arrangement.
- More patiently go through the trials of my selection.
- More persistently and cheerfully tread the path of my choosing.

I ask you more humbly to receive credit accruing as a result of my ceaseless endeavors.
I bestow on you the supreme devotion and affection of a divine spirit.
I will function with wisdom and power until the very end, until the last earth struggle is over.
I will be true to my personality trust.
I exhort you to survive. Do not disappoint me. Do not deprive me of the reward of my patient and intense struggle.
On the human will my achievement of personality depends.

Philosophy of Living Principles

In The Urantia Book (paper 100, Sec. 5, Para 1); a Melchizedek comments “Too few have learned how to install a philosophy of living in the place of religious authority.” So as one of our activities at the July 27-29, 2007 Spiritual Living Conference at Belton, Texas we undertook to start defining a philosophy of living which would guide our lives. The dictionary definition of philosophy is a beginning point. Philosophy is a system for guiding life, as a body of principles of conduct, religious beliefs or traditions. This definition could include inflexible theology, dogma and religious laws and rules. Since The Urantia Book advocates a personal religion of following the leading of the fragment of God who inhabits our soul, we can be certain that fossilized rules of righteousness are not part of the philosophy of living encouraged by the Melchizedek. Our personal philosophy of living can draw upon any source of wisdom. The Urantia Book is a good source but it is not the only source of truth. Ultimately the best sources of truth for your philosophy of living are the sources which the Spirit within can use to enlighten your mind and soul. A philosophy of living includes such things as:

How do you see the world and your place in it? (frightening, exciting, threatening, growing, dying, a contest, a school, a pointless game, material/emotional, spiritual?)
How do you view difficulties and challenges? (To be avoided whenever possible? To be faced with graciousness, goodness and charm as opportunities to learn good spiritual habits?)
How and what do you think of other people and even of yourself? (It is Godlike To forgive and to be tolerant, just and even merciful. Do you evaluate people in terms of the best they are capable of or of the worst?) Do You relate to other people for the purpose of benefiting yourself or do you seek to serve their real spiritual, emotional and material needs?
What place do wealth, power and prestige have in your philosophy? Is that as It should be?

We undertook to explore several Urantia Book passages and to extract philosophy of living principles as best we could; then we added some principles from unidentified sources. You could look at these principles and say these are just sayings or facts or even truths. This is correct because they do not become part of your philosophy of living until you give them that high status. The following children of God were attending and participating in this effort. Matt & Peter Callac Sharon & Ted Lanier Carol & Skip Weatherford Mitzie & Michael Dentler Jean-Pierre & Nickla Heudier Nancy Johnson Kaye & Bill Cooper Jeannie & Brad Wall Diana Drake Mary Huggins Thanks to Carol Weatherford for very promptly typing up our hand written principles. This is the report of what we came up with. No sources are specifically referenced because the authority for ones philosophy of living should be the Spirit of Truth, the Adjuster and the truth instinct of human mind. Ask yourself what would be the consequences in your life if you really believed and practiced these principles. In doing this I was brought face-to-face with a lot of my spiritual deficiencies. I think that is healthy. Love, Bill Cooper 2-8-2008 Philosophy of Living Principles Jesus’ commandments to his followers were 1) Love and worship God and 2) Love and serve your fellows. Your philosophy of living should adhere to these commandments. Jesus’ assessment of the value of anything was based on whether it brought man to God and God to man. He sought by prayer and meditation to determine God’s way and then to do it. It is God’s will that we should join him in building his family of the children of God. This life is the beginning of your eternal spiritual growth and education. It is a unique opportunity. Make the best spiritual use of it you can. The powers and possessions of material existence are meaningless unless they are used justly and unselfishly. It is the effort to be just and unselfish that has meaning, not the powers and possessions. Welcome and pursue the experience of dynamic religious living because it will transform you into a personality of idealistic power. Confide and trust in one another. Spiritual growth is mutually stimulated by intimate association with other religionists. Religion ennobles the commonplace drudgery of daily living. The chief inhibitors of growth are prejudice and ignorance. Everyone needs to grow his own individual religious experience. Children are permanently impressed only by the loyalties of their adult associates. Rules or even examples are not lastingly influential. All normal mortals have certain drives toward self realization and growth. The certain technique of fostering these is to maintain an attitude of wholehearted devotion to supreme values. Fostering the following habits in yourself will favor spiritual growth. Cultivate sensitivity to divine values. Recognize religious living in others. Meditate reflectively on cosmic meanings. Solve problems with God’s help in worship. Share your spiritual life with others. Avoid selfishness. Refuse to presume on divine mercy. Live as you are in the presence of God. Maintain a living spiritual connection with true spiritual forces. Bear fruits of the spirit – minister to your fellows of what you have received from your spiritual benefactors. Recognition of spiritual short-comings is good because it is a prerequisite of spiritual progress as is the desire to know God and to be like him. The capacity for spiritual development is proportional to the elimination of the selfish qualities of love. Deity attainment is adjuster attunement and is never ending. Eternal life is the endless quest for infinite values. The goal of self realization should be spiritual. The only realities worth striving for are divine, spiritual and eternal. Temporal securities are vulnerable but spiritual sureties are impregnable. The citadel of the spirit is absolutely unassailable for one who has dedicated the keeping of his soul to his indwelling Spirit. Religion is personal. It is an impulse for organizing the soul for dynamic service. It is the enlistment of the total self in the loyal service of loving God and serving man. Human likes and dislikes do not define good and evil. Moral values do not grow out of selfish concerns for rewards or satisfaction of your urges and appetites. The supreme value of human life consists in growth of values, progress in meanings and realization of the cosmic interrelatedness of both of these experiences. Such a realization is the equivalent of God consciousness. Evolution is a cosmic technique of growth. Living faith is the mobilization of the total of the powers of one’s personality. Religious living is devoted, creative, original and spontaneous. New religious insights arise out of conflicts which initiate the choosing of new and superior reaction patterns. New meanings only emerge amid conflict. There can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. Feast, fatten and enthuse on adversity because it is opportunity for spiritual progress. It requires effort to clarify spiritual vision and to enhance cosmic insight. The great problem of religious living consists in the task of unifying the soul powers of personality by the dominance of LOVE. The highest happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding. Love is only born of thoroughgoing understanding of your neighbor’s motives and sentiments. The pathway for loving another is: Sympathetically seek to understand his viewpoint, his reasons for his conduct. Understanding leads to tolerance. Tolerance leads to friendship. Friendship leads to love. Only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. Love is more contagious than hate when it is intelligent and wise. Being skillful, intelligent, expert, ingenious and quick of mind is no substitute for character and does not signify possession of spiritual capacity. You have great faith resources if you will keep unreasoned fear from constraining your faith. Inherent capacities cannot be exceeded. Personality bestowal brings relative creative consciousness and free will control thereof. Few mortals ever dare to draw anything like all of their personality credits established by nature and grace. The majority of impoverished souls are truly rich but they refuse to believe it. Difficulties stimulate true children of the Most Highs. It is appropriate for you to aspire for yourself and to grant to others: privilege without abuse liberty without license power without self-aggrandizement Celestial beings do not assist lower beings who refuse to act on their light of truth. There is no happiness without effort. Action achieves strength. Moderation eventuates in charm. Righteousness has far reaching consequences. The act is yours, the consequences are God’s. The weak resolve. The strong act. Tribulation is a blessing. It is the only process for the birth of wisdom. Give advice only when asked. Affectation seeks to cover up weakness. You cannot perceive spiritual truth until you feelingly experience it and many truths are not really felt except in adversity. You have not truly acquired any virtue until your acts make you worthy of it. Impatience is a spirit poison. Anger is like a stone thrown into a hornet’s nest. Anxiety must be abandoned. The evolving soul is made divine by what it strives to do. The acts of today are the destiny of tomorrow. Greatness lies in making wise and divine use of such strength as we may have. Knowledge is possessed by sharing, safeguarded by wisdom and socialized by love. Progress demands development of individuality; mediocrity seeks perpetuation in standardization. The argumentative defense of any position is inversely proportional to the truth contained. Strong character is acquired by converting from physical to spiritual motivations. Dare to pursue a life of adventurous art and uncertain logic, but make no mistake, you must expect to suffer the hazards of emotional casualties – conflicts, unhappiness and uncertainties. A mature person soon begins to look upon all other mortals with feelings of tenderness and with emotions of tolerance. You must have wisdom of mind and charm of personality. You must have tact and tolerance to gain the cooperation of your fellows. Worshipful meditation is the greatest of all methods of problem solving. Worship brings relaxation, illumination, courage, self understanding, consciousness of union with divinity, relieves tension, removes conflict and mightily augments the total resources of the personality. Prejudice blinds the soul to the recognition of truth. It is not good for man to be alone. Many noble human impulses die because there is no one to hear their expression. Some degree of recognition and a certain amount of appreciation are essential to the development of human character. Fear, envy and conceit can be prevented only by intimate contact with other minds. Isolation tends to exhaust the energy charge of the soul. Great spiritual power is inherent in the consciousness of wholehearted devotion to a common cause; mutual loyalty to a cosmic deity. Worship-communion augments energy to do spiritual work. It transforms weakness to strength, fear to courage, mind of self to the will of God. Worshipful practices, when persisted in, become habits. Habits become character. Character becomes maturity. All too often when we battle for the right, it turns out that both the victor and the vanquished have sustained defeat. Such defeat is to be expected when we resort to physical or legal force instead of tact, tolerance and love. Wisdom comes only from the experiences of adjustment to the results of one’s failures. Failure is simply an educational episode. For a God knowing and God assisted mortal, defeat is but a new tool for the achievement of higher levels of universe reality. To achieve courage requires dealing with hardships and disappointments. Altruism develops in response to situations of social inequality. There can be no recognition of hope without insecurities and uncertainties. Faith arises because you can always believe more than you can know. To love the truth and be willing to follow it, the contrasts of error and falsehood are necessary. Idealism and perfection hunger are fed by your realization that your environment of compromised goodness and beauty can be improved upon. Recognition of the possibility of betrayal and desertion are essential to the growth of loyalty. You can not meaningfully choose the divine life without the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. If happiness is desirable then you must live in a world where pain and suffering are possibilities. Evolving man must be fallible if he is to be free. Free and inexperienced intelligence cannot possibly at first be uniformly wise. Unreasoned fear separates us from the Spirit. Fear not. You can’t force more understanding, insight, etc. on a person (including yourself) than his current capacity. Give him what he needs now. As he grows so will his capacity. We have all the ability, strength, courage, etc. that we ever need. It is our lack of belief (education, faith) that limits us. We are able to overcome fear when we are spiritually connected and recognize our position as beloved children of God – heirs. The excellent civilization is marked by humility, self-control and equality. The high civilization enjoys the fruits of civilization without greed and selfishness. Many difficulties in our lives have their origin in our not acting on the truth we have. Happiness requires intelligent effort. Be of good cheer in all circumstances. Be full of grace. Speak and act graciously. Graciousness is the friendliness that comes from a love saturated soul. Saturate your soul with love. Goodness is effective only when it is attractive. It is universally attractive only when it is gracious. Goodness always compels respect but when it lacks grace, it often repels affection. Help those suffering and in distress. Don’t merely feel their pain. Be sincere in your feelings for another’s sorrow or hardship and let this lead you to help. Do not indulge over much in tender or sorrowful feeling or emotion aroused by the suffering, distress or misfortune of another. Act to help rather than fruitlessly feeling sorry for their plight. Be a keen observer and comprehend human need. Detect human longings. Never be in a hurry. Take time to comfort others as you pass by. Comfort others with faith – in themselves, in other persons, in success and in God. Make your friends feel at ease. Be a charming listener. Do not be a meddlesome prober into other people’s souls. Have great faith in others. Don’t direct, manage or follow up on others. Inspire profound self confidence and courage in others. Be severe when the occasion demands such discipline. Asking others for help elicits interest and appeals to the better things in human nature. The needs of the individual are more important than the message to the multitude. Do unselfish good as you go about your daily life. Accept and proclaim spiritual liberty. Encourage joy to those who live in fear. Heal the sick as God wills. Encourage those who are in distress. Do not forcibly resist injustice either by physical or legal resistance. Be willing to suffer injustice rather than to sue each other. Use spiritual weapons of love, not physical or legal force to transform your world. In kindness and in mercy minister to all who are in need. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who use you selfishly for their purposes. Do unto others as Jesus would do unto them. You are a son of God. Behave accordingly. Your task is to salvage men not to judge them. Show mercy to all. Discern the truth clearly. Live the righteous life fearlessly. Show just judgment and keen wisdom in whom you present the gospel to. By their fruits you can distinguish the true from the false and the good from the bad. In the spirit it is the motive that counts. God judges us by our inner longings and our sincere intentions. Strong character is derived from actually doing right not from avoiding doing wrong. Unselfishness is the badge of human greatness. The highest levels of self realization are attained by worship and service. The happy and effective person is motivated by the love of right doing not the fear of wrong doing. Fear and shame are unworthy motives for religious living. Without a worthy goal, life becomes aimless and unprofitable and much unhappiness results. Faith and love strengthen moral character and create happiness. Fear and anger weaken character and destroy happiness. Seekers after truth / God / spiritual wealth; do not have to wait into the distant future for their rewards. They are rewarded now for they find the kingdom of heaven within their own hearts. Only the humble seek for divine strength and crave spiritual power. Doing right is a pleasure, not a duty. Jesus’ righteousness is a dynamic (acting, alive, adapting) love. It is both Fatherly and brotherly affection. Genuine meekness is desirable. It is an attitude of man cooperating with God. “Your will be done.” It is motivated by an unshakable faith in a lawful and friendly universe. It masters all temptations to rebel against the divine leading. Purity of heart refers more to the faith a person should have in his fellows. It is the faith a parent has in his child. It need not pamper and does not condone but it is always anticynical. Fatherly love always looks for the best in man. To see God by faith is the acquisition of true spiritual insight and this enhances Adjuster guidance and ultimately God consciousness. In dealing with children, avoid deception and do not suggest suspicion. Wisely help them choose their heroes and select their life’s work. Being perfect as God is perfect is loving as God loves. Fatherly love is tenderhearted. It is sympathetic to the suffering and hardship of others. Loving kindness is active and dynamic. It is supreme Fatherliness. Inner peace is the peace of Jesus and results from wholeheartedly wanting to do God’s will. Personal peace integrates personality. Social peace prevents fear, greed and anger. Political peace prevents race antagonisms, national suspicions and war. Peacemaking is the cure of distrust and suspicion. Fatherly love can endure persecution and lay down life for the beloved child. Fatherly love delights in doing good in retaliation for injustice (returning good for evil). The good choice, the right action is recognized by the truth seeker and has spiritual ramifications in the Supreme. (in the universe) (far beyond the event) Don’t waste your efforts yearning, planning, resolving. You have only the present. Act – accomplish something! We need to do our day’s work so God has something to use in motivating our fellows to righteous living. Difficulties, even tribulations, are of great value. From them we learn wisdom. Enlightenment comes through pain processing, as well as from euphoric experience. Some things we only learn when we are in difficulty. Create an interest in truth so when a person asks for help, you can give what is needed. (Not just what you want to give or what you think he needs.) Let LOVE saturate your soul. I open myself to Father’s love. I have little talks with the Father as I pass by. Goodness gracious attractive practical sympathy I serve others respectfully. I listen to others. Appeal to the better things in human nature. Have faith in people. I believe in the inherent goodness of others. I focus on individual others in daily life. I love therefore I serve. I pour myself out like water to fill the empty spaces. God is each person’s individual Father. We have the tools to change the world, starting with ourselves. We find the good in others and ourselves. By loving God, we want to be more like him and we want to share that experience. Who you are = What you teach. We are social creatures, loving and confiding in others and growing in grace and love by sharing with those who love us. We should live in harmony with the destiny God has ordained for us. The spiritual forces we need to attain our destiny are truly within us as “soul – beloved powers of divinity and infinity”. The spiritual forces within us are slumbering, latent, and only potential, until they are awakened and activated by our choices to cooperate with them. Jesus’ good news of the family relationship among celestials and humanity presents us with strong incentives, new concepts of our eternal destiny, our life purpose. Worship is one of the best daily practices to gather spiritual energy to do spiritual work. Through worship we can both renew our energies and gain greater spiritual perspective. Willingness to cooperate with others (according to the pattern of sharing and cooperation established by God) is a manifestation of “maturity”. Developing tact and tolerance is part of the spiritually desirable attitude of cooperation. Mutual appreciation of values and acknowledgement of others is essential to the development of character. It is important to be in intimate contact with people different from you to augment spiritual values by gaining the insight of the other. Sharing of spiritual knowledge & experiences elevates spiritual values and advances love trust and altruism. There is spiritual power in working together for a common cause; God likeness. There is great spiritual power in working together for a common cause and acknowledging the individual’s contribution thereto. Remember, you are not alone in your trouble; your friends (mortal and celestial) lighten the burden. Selfless love is the key to committed, lasting relationships. Patience is exercised by immature individuals; true maturity transcends patience by a forbearance born of real understanding. Live your relationship with God to be a light for others. Bloom where you are planted. Protect each other like brothers and sisters. Nurture each other like mothers and fathers. Faith and love strengthen moral character and create happiness. Fear and anger weaken character and destroy happiness. Relish the knowledge of poverty in spirit for it leads you to be taught by the Spirit here and now. Love is a pleasure not a duty. Not my will, but God’s will be done. Always look for the best in other persons and love them with a fatherly as well as a brotherly affection. Being sensitive and responsive to human need creates genuine and lasting happiness. Show mercy to all of your brethren in the flesh. Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends. Responding as spiritual beings to the negative experiences of life allows us to create our own unique divinity. Love is the desire to do good to others. You are a child of God and he will gradually and gently lead you through every trial and hardship along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. Through darkness and light the Spirit of Truth will always speak saying “This is the way.” Reach for and use the highest concepts drawn from many different human sources and inspired / inner creative sources. You may be certain that your spiritual helpers will use your life situations to provide opportunities for spiritual growth. Learn to grow the values of cosmic or supreme loyalty. Always be open to enhanced values. Keep the door to the Spirit always open to receive inspiration. Hear and be open. Pray always for openness and tolerance. Seek to live a life true to the values that experience and the Spirit within present to you. Your real security lies in your inner self. Pray that you recognize that you are rich in spiritual realities. Gather and dispense strength, hope, courage, joy and support in your new world. Live in your real self, your values centered soul-self. My goal of attainment is spiritual, divine and eternal. My whole-hearted devotion to supreme values enables me to attend to my spiritual growth in overcoming non-spiritual tendencies. Failure, disappointment and conflict prepare the soil of my soul for spiritual growth. Let the spirit lead me to be a whole person as directed by God, to be balanced, to be open, curious. My hunger for truth, beauty and goodness leads to my spiritual growth. My true connection to God through worship results in my producing spiritual fruits which lead me to loving service. I must remain always open and teachable and aware that there is always much more to experience and know spirtually. Cultivate divine values and trust without doubt that spiritual growth is occurring. Nobility of cosmic growth is my goal! Be remotivated in life after a catastrophe, for it heralds the opportunity for a new and more noble level of universe attainment. To a God-knowing kingdom believer, what does it matter if all things earthly crash? The only realities worth striving for are divine, spiritual, and eternal. Selfish love must be eliminated to make room for the capacity for spiritual development. Maintaining a spiritual connection and continuous bearing of spiritual fruit are necessary for spiritual development. Humility and desire to be like God and wholehearted purpose to do the will of God are necessary for spiritual progress. Religious habits of thinking and acting contribute to spiritual growth, which is itself unconscious. Nobility of character is a result of cosmic growth attending from the accumulation of meanings and elevation of values. Religious experience is markedly influenced by physical health, inherited temperament, and social environment, but spiritual progression is not, as long as one maintains an attitude of wholehearted devotion to supreme values. Be loyal to your supreme values and spiritual growth and inspiration will result. Give every child an opportunity to grow on his own. His growth is evidenced by enhancement of ideals, appreciation of values, new meanings of values, and augmented loyalty to supreme values. We are all spiritual children. Take time for God. Listen and grow in wisdom. Avoid prejudice and ignorance. Be loyal to the best you know, always reach for the highest concept of wisdom in any life experience. The truth you perceive is not absolute truth. It is relative truth at best. Be tolerant and curious. Be open to understanding others. The wise, mature person pursues higher meanings rather than personal pleasure. The mature person is loyal to the highest concepts of life and cosmic relations. Do not be too busy to grow. Make time for growth. Guard against prejudice and ignorance because they inhibit growth. Spiritual growth is the purpose of life. Real growth leads to enhancement of ideals, increased appreciation of values, new meanings of values and augmented loyalty to supreme values. (Real growth focuses on ideals, meanings and values.) Living loyally to your supreme values brings spiritual growth to you and inspiration and spiritual opportunity to those who observe your loyalty to values. Religious growth involves these consequences which you are entitled to ask for in fair measure. Progressive self realization. Balance. Curiosity, adventure. Experiencing satisfaction Fear stimulus of attention and awareness. Wonder-lure. Humility – sense of smallness. Self criticism/conscience. Wholehearted devotion to supreme values assures spiritual growth despite physical, social and temperamental handicaps. Nobility of character like our Father is my goal. I aspire to manifest in my life: Sensitivity to divine values. Appreciation of religious living in others. Meditation on cosmic meanings. Worshipful problem solving. Avoidance of selfishness. Refusal to presume on divine mercy. Living as in the presence of God. Both worship/meditation and loving service are essential for spiritual development. Humility and desire to be like God are also essential. Selfish love stunts spiritual development. The only realities worth striving for are divine, spiritual and eternal. Look for the spiritual blessing arising from all events, even from material / emotional catastrophe. It is there. All things work together for the good of those who retain their focus on doing the will of God. The body will die. The spirit, mind and character will live. Invest yourself where it matters. Your anxieties and sorrows, trials and disappointments are part of the divine plan and are necessary to the development of strong, noble and experienced character. Feast, fatten and enthuse on these essential learning opportunities. Everyone who seeks will receive. Your Thought Adjuster must come to dominate and control every phase of your experience. It is your choice to permit this or to prevent it. Worship makes you like what you worship. Whenever you consciously and joyously recognize and acknowledge the truth and fact of your intimate and personal relationship with the creators, you are worshiping God. Many perplexities are in reality nonexistent. Many pressing troubles are creations of exaggerated fear and the offspring of augmented apprehension. Fear not. Abandon anxiety. Much of your sorrow is born of the disappointment of your ambitions and the wounding of your pride. Sincerely exert yourself and then cheerfully accept your lot and exercise ingenuity in making the most of what has fallen to your hands. Optimism encourages hope and action toward realization of your ideals. Pessimism undermines hope and values driven action. Take delight in cultivating courageous and independent cosmic thinking. Ignorance of the thought of your fellows breeds suspicion and suspicion is incompatible with the essential attitude of sympathy and love. Study and find opportunities to learn first hand what your fellows are genuinely thinking. Religion is genuine and worthwhile if it fosters in the individual an experience in which the sovereignty of truth, beauty and goodness prevails, for such is the true spiritual concept of supreme reality, and then through love and worship this becomes meaningful as fellowship with man and sonship with God. God will give me hills to climb and strength for climbing. We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. We must undertake something so great that we cannot accomplish it unaided. What would we do with ourselves if something did not stand in our way? A ship in harbor is safe but that is not the purpose a ship is built for. The search for God is the unstinted bestowal of love attended by amazing discoveries of new and greater love to be bestowed. All true love is from God, and man receives the divine affection as he himself bestows this love on his fellows. Love is dynamic. It can never be captured; it is alive, free, thrilling and always moving. Man can never take the love of the Father and imprison it within his heart. The Father’s love can become real to a human only by passing through that person’s personality as he in turn bestows that love upon his fellows. The love of the Father appears in the mortal personality by the ministry of the indwelling Adjuster. A soft answer turns away wrath. When light is not honestly received and lived up to, it tends to become darkness within the soul. The purpose of this life is the building of righteous character. The heart of righteous character is developing ever more worthy values, living loyal to those values and with reverence for truth, beauty and goodness. Give first priority to what is most important. Michael has been building Nebadon for 300 billion years. 300 billion years from now I am going to be a whole lot more like him than I am now. Superstition is man made and imposes bondage. Catastrophes of nature and accidents are not visitations of divine judgment nor dispensations of Providence. Avoid destructive criticism. Progressive evolution, not destructive revolution, is the way to positive change. The task of spiritual progression to God-likeness is eternal and often seems from your perspective to be hopelessly slow. But what you will surely achieve is beyond anything you can possibly imagine. Therefore strive with yourself to live according to your highest values, to seek meaning and to honor beauty in all its manifestations. Then have faith in the Spirit within to lead you and be patient with yourself and others. As a child of God, you are being educated. Your school is a vast and exciting place. Your heavenly associates want you to enjoy and be thrilled by your experience. Never fear, not once in eternity will your journey be boring once you learn to explore it for its spiritual consequences. Back to Top

Prayer Practices Questions

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Rules for Successful Prayer Petitions

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Exercise

Soaking in Values

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Spiritual Practices Sharon Lanier at 2nd Joyful Living

Belton, TX 2011

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By: Bill Cooper May 2006

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