Prayer and Worship

Back to Top

DELIVER US FROM ANGER 

By STEPHEN FINLAN 
San Francisco, California 

Let us compare the attitude toward anger of Jesus, and of that kind of modern psychology which focuses on self-fulfillment without a basis in spiritual growth. This kind of psychology emphasizes the expression of emotions instead of their transformation. It would agree with the principle that “Self-control is a better human policy of behavior regulation than extreme self-denial,” (UB 977C) but would probably not agree that anger is “mean and despicable – hardly worthy of being called human, much less divine.” (UB 57D)

This pop psychology concentrates on the mind and feelings while ignoring the spirit. It would have us learn to talk about our feelings, “share” them with others but it does not condemn anger. All emotions are considered natural and good. It teaches that emotional health comes from learning how to express your emotions. This kind of thinking would have had Jesus respond to Simon Zelotes’ anger at the Romans by saying: “Good, Simon! Don’t be afraid to express your>hostility. Get it all out, but don’t hurt anybody.” Had Simon gotten his anger out, you can bet he would have hurt a few Romans. Expression and action are linked.

But Jesus teaches that emotional health comes only from spiritual self-mastery: Anger is a material manifestation which represents, in a general way, the measure of the failure of the spiritual nature to gain control of the combined intellectual and physical natures. Anger indicates a lack of self-respect. Anger depletes the health, debases the mind, and handicaps the spirit teacher of man’s soul. (UB 1673B) Anger is a mental poison. (UB 1204B) And, as the old proverb says: “The fool gives vent to all his angry feelings, but the wise man subdues them…” or “controls them.” (Proverbs 29: 11)

One person, when angry at another, thinks, “how can I get even without getting into trouble?”
Another thinks, “how can I express my anger without hurting anyone?” But the Jesusonian thinks, “how can I treat this person as God would treat him, despite my angry feelings?” Irreligious psychology tries to nudge people from the first question to the second, but Jesus impels one to ask the third question. The first two are self-centered, the second representing a higher ethical consciousness than the first, but still unspiritualized. The third question is spirit-centered and offers the only possibility for actually transforming the emotions. Nothing the mind attempts to do with anger is of any use if it does not consult and obey the spirit. Unless this principle is foremost, all ways of “handling” anger fall into mental entanglement and self-delusion, a self-centered instead of a God-centered emotional life. And such mind-techniques are often a way of perpetuating a problem that should be bravely faced and overcome through an inner religious experience.

It takes a religious experience (whether fully conscious or not) to overcome the anger of a bruised ego. Jesus did not teach emotional freedom through expression of whatever is on your mind, but rather transformation through spirit-identification. (UB 1609:C)

How then do we overcome anger? – by our faith and the spirit’s transformation. (UB 1609 D)
Jesus said the only way to find deliverance from “outbursts of animal anger” is to let love dominate our hearts. (UB 1673 C) The indwelling spirit can actually change the underlying motives of the heart.

First, one must not base one’s self-respect on the respect bestowed by others, but rather on faith in God’s love. Once one’s self-respect is based on this faith. then one can seek God’s will and know that spiritual adjustment will follow. Recognize that your spirit is not really threatened by whatever is angering you, and that God loves and keeps you. Pray for whomever you are angry at. Believe in God’s transforming power and act as though it were already happening. Believe that God is present. This is both a lifelong process and a technique that can be applied in any specific case.

None of us is expected to be superhumanly superior to human emotions, and certainly God understands our lapses, but each of us is expected to always seek the spirit’s transforming influence. Jesus himself was subject to profound indignation when confronted with indifference or contempt of spiritual values, but never in defense of his own personal feelings. Not many of us are spiritualized enough to unfailingly recognize the difference between unselfish moral indignation and the anger born of injury to self. But all of us are capable of recognizing
this difference if we allow our minds to be repeatedly illumined by the spirit.

 

End

Back to Top

Prayer of Gratitude 

By Kathy Beckten

 

Prayers of spiritual aspiration and thanksgiving lead us up into worship and worship leads us to become like the one we worship. The following prayer is offered for that purpose. 

*****

Oh Father, we wish to thank you for this glorious and gorgeous creation you have made for us and for this life in the flesh you have given us to experience emotions and thoughts filled with free choice and spirit potential. 

We are truly, deeply thankful for your Son, Jesus Christ, the greatest expression of your love, gentleness and spiritual maturity. 

May we be your instruments of expression, reflecting your divine spirit of truth, beauty and goodness. 

And in our social service to our fellow man, may we come equipped with tact, wisdom of mind, tolerance and the charm of personality. 

With this grace, presented to our companions, may we also remember to be gracious to ourselves. 

In our memories may we hold fast a sacred trust, the strength-giving and worthwhile episodes of life, building a reserve of galleries of beauty, goodness and artistic grandeur. 

The most noble of these treasured memories are recollections of superb friendships. The most precious of these being the relationship with you in spiritual worship. 

May this give us strength and courage in our daily living and in our solving the problems of an ever-changing existence. 

Through our hands may your will be done.

Back to Top

Spirit Assisted Thinking and Living

By: Bill Cooper
May 2006

Spiritual living is living incorporating the assistance of the Spirit Within us. 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 for his universe. To be “religious” about anything is to be loyal, sincere, trustworthy, active, and enthusiastically committed. Reliably and intentionally following the leading of the Spirit constitutes religion of the Spirit and it is spiritual living. Religion of the Spirit is a unique path for each individual and it requires no priest, no church, no theology nor any rules made or interpreted by other humans.

Spirit Assisted Thinking 

Spirit assisted thinking should be an integral part of spiritual living and religion of the Spirit. It is a method for accessing and implementing our Thought Adjuster’s leading. Spirit assisted thinking is thinking aided by the Adjuster. It is a product of communion with one’s Thought Adjuster. It also includes attuning to the truth instincts of the cosmic mind. Spirit assisted thinking involves establishing habits and training and disciplining our minds to receive and use these spiritual / mindal instincts and leadings. The leadings and teachings of our Thought Adjusters need to be brought into our conscious minds in some way in order for us to make decisions and take action on them. Spirit assisted thinking is how we invite these superconscious leadings into our conscious minds. It 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 the Spirit’s suggestions. The kingdom (family) of God is within and that is where the Spirit of God resides and teaches the soul of each human. Spirit assisted thinking incorporates the Spirit of God into our thinking process and allows the inner kingdom to flow into our conscious mind.

Spiritual living is living your life by sincerely trying to follow the leading of your Thought Adjuster in everything you do and think. This connotes communion with your own Inner Spirit and loyalty to the way of love and service which the Spirit will suggest. Your Thought Adjuster is your source and authority regarding the will of God for your life.

This focus on “Spirit assisted thinking” was suggested by two references in The Urantia Book. One of these is found at UB 1213:1 /110:7.6. 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. Spirit assisted 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. It is our failure to connect consciously which prevents real thinking. Our Adjusters long to make direct contact with our conscious, choice making mortal mind and they rejoice when they are successful. 

Reality Response 

The second key reference is found at UB pp. 191-192 / 16:6. It says there is inherent in cosmic mind a quality which can be called the “reality responses”. 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 philosophical 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 incorporating reality responses into their thinking processes.

Spirit assisted thinking consciously subjects thoughts to these reality tests by sensing for reality or nonreality.

Religion of Jesus 

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. UB 2086:3 / 195:10.4. I presume the new revelation of Jesus’ religious life is delivered by the Urantia Book. The UB says Jesus’ personal religion was religiously following the leading of his Thought Adjuster.

We can look to Jesus’ practices as our model for spirit assisted thinking and for spiritual living. We have two good descriptions of Jesus’ technique of spirit assisted thinking. At UB 2089:0 /196:0.10 there is a list of what prayer was to Jesus. That list tells us how Jesus used prayer to work out answers to his life problems. At UB 1774-1777 / 160:1-2 the philosopher, Rodan, describes how Jesus used his contact with his Inner Spirit to do real thinking. Rodan was a Greek philosopher from Alexandria, Egypt who spent weeks carefully observing Jesus and learning his practices and his teachings from Jesus’ apostles. He was truly a great intellect. His writings have been lost but the Urantia Book recovers his observations about Jesus from the celestial records of our spiritual family.

At UB 1774-1777 / 160:1-2 Rodan 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: Jesus went off by himself. He communed with the Father. He appropriated spiritual energy for the solution of the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature. He thereby gathered strength and wisdom for the ordinary conflicts of living. Rodan observed that this worshipful problem-solving practice brings:

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.]

Rodan also observed that the relaxation of this practice of spiritual communion has wonderful consequences:

1. Relief of tension.
2. Removal of conflicts.
3. Augmentation of the resources of personality [The resources of personality unify spirit, mind and body and enable us to make value choices.] 

As Rodan analyzed it, 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 prayer / meditation / worship is a good model of how to do this. 

In his prayer time Jesus engaged in solitary surveys of the problems of living and sought new stores of wisdom and energy for meeting the many demands of social service. Jesus’ prayer practice quickens and deepens the supreme purpose of living by subjecting the total personality [everything you are] to the consequences of contacting divinity. In his prayer / meditation / worship practice, Jesus grasped for 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 this with an eye to consistency with God’s will. Rodan was really impressed.

Jesus’ Use of Prayer as a Spirit Assisted Thinking Mechanism

The following is the list from UB 2089 /196:.0.10 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 spirit assisted 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 to really understand and participate in each statement, I find I can understand them and can even create and enjoy examples of that application of prayer. But, I have to ask the Spirit a lot of clarifying questions in the process.

To Jesus Prayer Could be Any or All of These:

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 

Jesus’ style of worship / communion eliminates prejudice by completely opening to spirit and God’s way and by applying the virtues of God to his considerations. Prejudice is having your mind made up about someone or something before hearing the evidence and even regardless of the evidence. Eliminating or at least avoiding prejudice is important to spiritual thinking because prejudice blinds the soul to the recognition of truth. The only way to eliminate your prejudice is by sincere devotion of the soul to the adoration of a cause that is all embracing and all inclusive of one’s fellows. The kingdom / family of God is where the spirit of God leads the soul of man. It is the will of God in action and experience. It is service, love, forgiveness, tolerance, forbearance and much more. Extending the family of God is the worthy cause that is all inclusive. Extending and empowering the family of God is the adventure God invites us to join. It is God’s fond desire for us to be part of his adventure. 

Avoidance is a temporary patch on prejudice. One method of avoidance of prejudice is to admit that it might be involved and resolve to guard against its effects.

Exercises to Experience and Practice Spirit Assisted Thinking 

Relaxation and meditation technique used by Jesus and observed and recommended by Rodan.

1. Relax by being mindful of your breathing. As you inhale medium sized breaths, imagine that you are breathing in spiritual strength, vitality and optimism. As you breathe out, imagine that you are exhaling preoccupation, pessimism and physical exhaustion. When your mind is calm and focused, proceed.
2. Identify the joy or concern you wish to visit with Father about. Describe for Father the significance of the choices involved in the matter you are considering.
3. Carry out both sides of an imaginary conversation with Father.
4. The objectives in this are to make it easier for your Adjuster to register ideas in your conscious mind and for you to recognize 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 / discussion and worship / admiration.

Contemplation of What Prayer Was to Jesus

Relax, as in the preceeding exercise, and leisurely contemplate the individual statements of what prayer was to Jesus. Ask for understanding of how to use prayer in each of the ways Jesus used it. 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 present ministry. Discuss, adore, and pursue. Drift back and forth between prayer / discussion and worship / admiration. Meditate on what prayer was to Jesus and how prayer can serve you in that way. 

The term “Worshipful Problem Solving” is descriptive of this process. It means drifting back and forth between high prayer of sincere conversation with our Father about things that concern us and contemplation of the wonderful qualities and behavior of our loving, merciful, generous, forgiving, gracious, tolerant, faithful, and constant Father. The result is a mixture of thanksgiving and prayer for spiritual consequences mixed with worshipful adoration of God’s goodness. 

Direct Approach to Adjuster Communication

Thinking assisted by one’s thought Adjuster is probably less likely to be conscious because we need a fairly high level of spiritual achievement and personality balance to be able to handle such contact. So, the spirit shelters us until we are mature enough to maintain our balance during such conscious Thought Adjuster contact. But you might be ready and not know it. So here is a suggestion for direct approach to your Adjuster. At UB 1213:5 / 110:7.10 we can see part of what an Adjuster said to his human associate about their relationship. It seems safe to assume that your Adjuster would say similar things to you. Your Adjuster voluntarily assumed the task of leading you into realization and understanding of God’s love, mercy, tolerance, inclusiveness, generosity and other noble virtues. In short, to make God known to you. So here is what the Adjuster said, broken down into discrete comments for ease of consideration:

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

Now here is the exercise. Assume that what the Thought Adjuster said above was said to you. I want you to proceed through all the Adjuster’s comments one by one. Relax and meditate on each statement and request for cooperation. Are you ready to make a commitment to your Adjuster regarding 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 thinking and spiritual living. They know you have resistances and do not judge you for them. You can be absolutely honest with Father. There is no punishment for your imperfections.

Exchange Your Mind for the Mind of Jesus

At UB 553:7 / 48:6.16 “Even on Urantia…” we are told “The angels teach the everlasting truth: ‘If your own mind does not serve you well, you can exchange it for the mind of Jesus of Nazareth, who always serves you well’.” How you do that, what happens, and whether you notice a change are all interesting questions to me. I am sorry to say that my experience with this approach is limited and very recent. I am “sorry to say” because my limited and very recent experience of asking for and opening to the mind of Jesus has had surprisingly positive results. Invocation of this change in thinking required nothing special, just a straight-forward and sincere statement of “Yes, I would like to experience exchanging for the mind of Jesus.” The result was immediate and noticeable. It was less like new thoughts and more like the experience of being joined by a beloved companion. It was feeling rather than thought. I am not transformed by having the foreign thoughts of another mind. Instead, what seems to be my own thinking took on a notable advance in optimism and cheerfulness. My trust in the success of God’s will was enhanced. When I think about other people, my attitude is positive and generous. I care for them and I am interested in looking for the goodness in them. This feels like, in cooperation with spirit, there are real possibilities to be achieved. I feel calm, patient, and tolerant. I feel an absence of irritation. “If your mind doesn’t serve you well” doesn’t really require a completely faulty ability to reason. It includes your mind failing to experience truths. It includes even spotty failures among startling achievements. There is a lot which even a capable mind fails or even respectfully refuses to experience. That too is mind not serving you well and can be remedied by exchanging your mind for the mind of Jesus. 

These changes have persisted now for a few days and they are reinforced each time I affirm that I want my conscious mind to benefit from the mind of Jesus. Wow! This exchanging my mind for the mind of Jesus is a wonderful, worshipful experience. It could be transforming if allowed to run continuously. It moves in and puts down its own connections quickly.

End

Back to Top

Truth about Communicating with Spirit

By William Cooper 8-10-10. 

Introduction:

Every sincere effort to communicate with the spirit within has spiritual benefits for the person communicating. 

Popular concepts of what we can expect the Spirit to do in response to our requests for material rewards and miracles are so misguided(essentially magic), that they may have the ultimate effect of discouraging efforts to communicate because of disappointment.

It is experience of the spiritual consequences of communion with spirit that is important.  The spiritual consequences are joyful urges to be helpful, tolerant, unselfish, forgiving, encouraging, optimistic, generous, empathetic, etc.  

Communication with spirit is a tonic for health, focuses our attention on finding solutions to the matters we submit to the spirit and deepens the channels of our receptivity to spiritual blessings.  Sincere communications with the spirit are dispatched in faith that they are heard and answered, so the independent and substantial power of faith is also involved with the consequences of spiritual communion.  These are all benefits to the one who communicates with the spirit within.

Asking the spirit for spiritual benefits for another person expresses love for that person.  There is spiritual power in parental/brotherly love which flows to the soul, mind and / or physical energy of the intended beneficiary.  This spiritual power creates a spiritual blessing available to the intended beneficiary if they are willing and receptive.   

Children of the Spirit have a spiritual teacher to be listened to and followed.  The teacher is your personal inner spiritual mentor.    Close friendship with the inner Spirit is the most important thing we can achieve in this life and heartfelt communication is the best technique for pursuing relationship with the Spirit within.

Communication with the spirit within is the most potent spiritual growth stimulus. The Spirit answers our concerns by giving an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty and an augmented concept of goodness.  The spirit’s response to all requests is the gift of enhanced ability to bear (express) fruits of the spirit and then there are many beneficial consequences of bearing fruits of the spirit including better health, more energy, joy in living, optimism, charm, dependability and trust.  All of these generate positive power for success in all aspects of life.

Communication with the spirit gradually enables us to exercise more and more spiritual power (spiritual lure and attraction) arising from our characteristic attitudes and behaviors of loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance and enduring peace.  These are fruits of our connection with the Spirit within.  They are the consequences we can expect as a result of maintaining an inner communion with the Spirit indwelling the soul of each of us.  The experience of communication with the spirit establishes and matures the channels of receptivity to these spiritual gifts.

The Spirit is almost never going to fix things for us.  It will help us get through anything and everything that comes our way for whatever reason, even if our burdens are our own fault.  Sincere communication with spirit has many benefits other than getting our spiritual partner to fix things for us.  Conversation with spirit is a type of thought which helps us solve our own problems.   It has very valuable health and social benefits.  Spiritual communion enables the human ego to look both to self and to spirit for help.  For material help it initiates receptivity to the subconscious reservoir of mortal experience, memory and wisdom. For inspiration and guidance, spiritual communion encourages receptivity to contact with spiritual intelligence. 

Some petitions to spirit can be unethical, morally wrong.  A petition to spirit is unethical when the petitioner seeks for selfish advantage over his fellows.  Be fair in all your requests to the spirit.  Do not expect our spiritual Parent to love you more than his other children.  

Petitions to the spirit must never be a substitute for action.  All ethical spiritual communion is a stimulus to action and a guide for the progressive striving for idealistic goals.

Materialistic petitions to the spirit are destined to bring disappointment and disillusionment because humanity lives in a physical universe of law and order which the Spirit will not violate.  Selfish and materialistic petitions are beneficial only to the extent that they lead to human efforts and exertions that contribute to achieving the goals of those petitions.  Petitions to the spirit do not change the Spirit but they often effect great and lasting changes in the one who petitions in faith and confident expectation.  Spiritual communion is the ancestor of much peace of mind, cheerfulness, calmness, courage, self-mastery and fair-mindedness.

Only under very rare circumstances does petitioning the spirit have any direct effect on one’s physical circumstances.  The zone of effectiveness of requests to the spirit relates most directly to the spiritual and psychological attitudes of the person communing. 

Requests to the spirit will not cure real and organic diseases but they contribute enormously to the enjoyment of abundant health and to the cure of numerous mental, emotional and nervous ailments.  Even in bacterial disease, petitions to the spirit often add to other remedies. The sincere petition in faith is a mighty force for promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress and spiritual attainment. 

Spiritual communion is an efficient technique for approach to the realization of the reserve powers of human nature stored and conserved in the unconscious realms of the human mind. These include insight, experience, custom, education and wisdom.  Communion with the spirit is a sound psychological practice even aside from its spiritual significance. 

   Problems are learning opportunities our spiritual Parent will use for our benefit. The Spirit is not absent, passive, overburdened or distracted.  He is actively and constantly involved in every aspect of every person’s life.  He uses the problems we face as opportunities for our character development.  While it is not appropriate to ask the Spirit to make your problems disappear, it is appropriate to ask the spirit for help in learning the available lessons and for calm and reassurance in the midst of the turmoil.

Words, posture and attitudes:

Spiritual communion is intentional communication with the Spirit.  Most people use words silently or out loud most of the time, but words are not really necessary.  You can communicate in feelings or images or music so long as you are communicating from your soul/heart your sincere longings, goals and desires for good, your love of truth or your appreciation of beauty.

Communing with the spirit with faith, hope and trust brings expectations of divine assistance which encourages personal effort and thereby makes the desired result more likely.  One who steps out in faith and takes the risks is sometimes successful even in the absence of divine intervention.  One who does not act has no opportunity to succeed.

Spiritual communion can be the personal and spontaneous expression of your soul toward the Spirit.  Communicating with the spirit should be a communion of the child with the spiritual Parent and the expression of fellowship.  Spiritual communion, when from the soul, leads to personal cooperation in the spiritual progress of one’s self and others.  The ideal communication is a form of spiritual communion (intimate spiritual sharing of thoughts and feelings) which leads to intelligent worship.  True spiritual communion is the sincere attitude of approaching the spirit within for the inspiration and attainment of your ideals.  

Spiritual communion is the way we make contact with our souls. This benefit of bringing the content of our souls to our conscious attention should motivate us to be persistent in our attempt to ascertain the Spirit’s will.  The answers to our questions about spiritual reality are in our souls.  The Spirit is a willing and generous giver of spiritual blessings and spiritual power. Persistence is not to change our spiritual Parent’s attitude but to change our preconceptions and prejudices so that our conscious minds may be receptive to the Spirit’s blessings.  Persistence gives spiritual insights repeated opportunities to drop into place.

When we commune with the spirit, we exercise too little faith.  Faith is more than belief.  It is trust in the Spirit to do its part in achieving its goals.  Genuine faith will remove mountains of material difficulty which may be in the path of soul expansion and spiritual progress. 

Commune with the spirit honestly, unselfishly, with fairness and without doubting.

Just talk things over with your spiritual Parent in a purely personal way. Do it often and regularly. Don’t be afraid to talk to the Spirit, but don’t undertake to persuade or change your spiritual Parent. 

Words are irrelevant to prayer. The Spirit answers the soul’s attitude, not the words.  Attitude does matter.  Our attitude should be faith filled and trusting.  We should sincerely believe in the Spirit’s good and loving wisdom in answering.  We should have no withholds in truly wanting our spiritual Parent’s will, not our own, to be done.  His will is the best of all possible outcomes.

The earnest and longing repletion of any petition when sincere and uttered in faith, no matter how ill-advised or impossible of direct answer, nevertheless always expands the soul’s capacity for spiritual receptivity. The soul’s spiritual capacity for receptivity determines the quantity of heavenly blessings (fruits of the Spirit, consciousness of the Spirit’s presence, peace, joy, etc.) which can be personally appropriated and consciously realized as an answer to our petitions.

Petitions to the spirit are heard and answered:

Opening the human end of Spirit-man communication makes the ever flowing stream of divine ministry immediately available.

The sincerity of any spiritual communion is the assurance of its being heard.  The spiritual wisdom and universe consistency of any petition is the determiner of the time, manner and degree of the answer.  The Spirit will not give us the requests of our foolish petitions.  While spiritual communion does not change the spirit’s attitude, it does change our attitude toward our spiritual Parent.  The unselfish motive of a spiritual communion gives it right of way to the divine ear.

Sincere communications of the longing of the heart are always answered.  Sometimes the answer is greatly delayed while the spirit world devises a better answer to meet the needs of the spirit of man.  Sometimes prayers are so vast they can only be answered later in our progressive spiritual growth; sometimes only when we reach Paradise.

Petitions are addressed to spiritual beings and must be answered in spiritual terms and all such answers must consist in spiritual realities.  Spirit beings cannot bestow material answers to the spirit petitions of even material beings.  Material beings can commune effectively only when they commune in the spirit. 

All spirit born petitions are certain of an answer.  Full personal reception of the answer may be time delayed.  The answer is seldom exactly what you asked for but the answer is never “No!”  The answer will bring comfort, calm and reassurance of personal spiritual safety.  It will be something spiritually and emotionally beneficial.

What to ask the Spirit to do:

Guard against the great danger of becoming self-centered in your petitions.  Avoid petitioning the spirit for yourself.  Ask more for the spiritual progress of your brethren.  Avoid materialistic requests.  Communicate in the spirit and for the abundance of gifts of the spirit.  Petition the spirit for the sick and afflicted but don’t expect this to replace the benefit of loving and intelligent ministry to their needs.

The most important request to the spirit is for knowledge of the will of the Spirit.  The next most important request to the spirit is for guidance over the pathway of earthly life.  This in reality is a request for divine wisdom.

Material things are not the province of requests to the spirit. 

The truest communication with the spirit is in reality a communion (intimate spiritual sharing) between man and the Spirit within. 

Spiritual communion is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth even in the face of conflict.  Ask for insight into values, not things; for growth, not for gratification.

Ask for the welfare of family and friends and others but especially petition the spirit for those who curse you and make loving requests to benefit those who persecute you. It is easy to petition the spirit even for those who misuse you to bear fruits of the spirit.  After all, what you are asking for is for the desire to do good for others to take hold in their lives and to transform them.  This feels right and good for either a friend or an enemy.

When and where to commune with the spirit:

When should you commune with the spirit?  Commune with the spirit whenever the indwelling spirit moves you to express your inner relationship with our spirit Parent.  Any time or any circumstance is appropriate.  Commune when in trouble but not just then.  Commune also when all is well.  

Your real petitions, your personal, intimate declarations and requests should be in secret. Declarations of thanksgiving are appropriate both in personal communion with the spirit and group spiritual communion.  Petitions of the soul are a personal matter (secret).  All believers should ask sincerely for extension of the kingdom of heaven.  The kingdom of heaven exists when and where we encourage and allow the spirit within to lead us in doing the will of our heavenly Parent.

Laws of prevailing petitions

1.  Sincerely and courageously face the problem.
2. Industriously exhaust human capacity to adjust.
3. Surrender everything to the transforming embrace of spiritual growth.  (Expect insights into truth, beauty, goodness, meanings and values.)
4. Wholeheartedly desire the Spirit’s will.
5. Dedicate yourself to action to do the Spirit’s will.
6. Ask only for divine wisdom to solve specific human problems in the Paradise assent.
7. Have Faith that your petitions will be answered.

There is quite a variety of types of spiritual communion including:

Expressions of pure gratitude and thanksgiving

Petitions for help

Communion – intimate spiritual sharing of thoughts and feelings with the Spirit

Consecration of self to the Spirit’s way

Consultation with the Spirit – thinking (inner dialog) with the Spirit

Communing with spirit to elevate thoughts to a higher and more spiritual level

Requests to the spirit for clarification of view point

Requests to the spirit for faith, optimism, hope, courage

Petitions for healing of mood, attitude or body

Requests to the spirit to make spiritual goals and means more vivid

Requests for inspiration and guidance to resolve the matters you are praying about

Petitions to the spirit for wise leadership

There are many good reasons why we commune with the spirit including:

We communicate for the comfort, reassurance and courage communing with the spirit brings to face life and to fight the battles against evil and doubt.

We petition the spirit to feel like we have done something.

We commune with the spirit because it elevates our mood.

We commune with the spirit because we feel the comforting love of our spiritual Parent.

We commune with the spirit because it reduces a burden or shares a joy.

Spiritual communion is an all-important practice.  It stimulates greater receptivity to spiritual gifts and it is the most potent spiritual growth stimulus.

There are a lot of material requests to the spirit which are not going to be answered in the terms requested. But there are also many consequences of spiritual communion which are highly beneficial and are insufficiently appreciated as answers to our petitions to the spirit.  These include:

Spiritual communion relieves stress.

Communion with the spirit elevates your mood and attitude.

Spiritual communion brings inner peace.

Communion with the spirit clarifies and corrects confusion about meanings and values.

Spiritual communion focuses your talents and mental and material assets on your problems, enabling you to answer your own petitions.

Communion with the spirit brings comfort, reconciliation and acceptance of what cannot be changed.

Spiritual communion relieves loneliness.

Communion with the spirit reinforces optimism, steadfastness and dependability.

Spiritual communion helps you reach for anything you value.

Communion with the spirit enhances self-control.

Communion with the spirit helps you value and love others.

Spiritual communion helps you feel valued and loved.

Spiritual communion improves your decision making ability.

Communion with the spirit and faith together cure many emotional and psychological illnesses.

Communion with the spirit often makes medical remedies more effective.

Spiritual communion builds hope, confidence, expectation and trust.

Communion with the spirit supports action and achievement.

Communion with the spirit stimulates spiritual growth.

The ideal form of communion with the spirit is a personal communion of fellowship with our spiritual Parent.  Communion with the Spirit is simply an event of intimate spiritual sharing of our inner life of aspirations, hopes, fears, loves and feelings.  Imagine the Spirit’s presence.  Imagine the Spirit’s responses.  Expect it to suggest in all circumstances how you can express loving and unselfish motivations.  Actually what you are imagining is true.  Your spiritual Parent is in fact present and hearing and responding to your concerns in a guiding, nondirective way.

Back to Top

Adventures in Spiritual Living – Prayer Project

Written by William H. Cooper at Arlington, Texas. Included in Bill’s Book on Prayer

Introduction:

I have spent considerable time debating with myself whether I should tell you only what you need to know about prayer or what I want you to know about prayer.  There is a difference.  I want you to know much more about prayer than you need to know.  Prayer will do its work (if you pray) even when you know very little about it.  So what you need to know is very little.  There are risks in my saying too much.  Some of the things I want you to know may conflict with what you believe about prayer and may disappoint you and even discourage you from praying if you do not value what prayer really does.  The last thing I want to do is discourage you from praying because every serious and sincere prayer has spiritual benefits for the person praying.

On the other hand, I am concerned that popular concepts of what we can pray for and expect the Spirit to grant are so misguided and so corrupted with expectations of material rewards and miracles that they will have the effect of ultimately discouraging prayer because of disappointed expectations.  Wrong expectations will not be met.  Disappointment will lead many to lose faith in prayer and even in the Spirit.  Your prayers are heard and prayer does work but most often in unexpected and unrecognized ways.  My conviction and my experience is that if we know how to pray, what to pray for and what to expect; then we will recognize the answers to our prayers and our faith and our desire to pray will grow.  I am further encouraged to tell you more rather than less about prayer because I am concerned that if you do not know how to pray, what to pray for and what to expect, then you may conclude that your prayers are not heard or answered, that no one cares and even that the Spirit does not exist.  None of these possible conclusions is true.  You are heard.  You are loved.  All of your prayers are answered – with spiritual blessings.

Objective:

What follows is a fairly lengthy essay on prayer. It is intended to do more than tell you the facts about prayer.  It is my fervent hope that as you read and contemplate, you will experience confirmation of the truth in what I am saying.  Much of what I have written, you can confirm in your soul and embrace.  In affirming, you will actually be participating in a prayer for these qualities.  Sensing the truth in anything makes it relevant, real and alive.  I want you to have prayer experiences while reading this essay which will leave you wanting more contact with your spirit Parent through prayer.  It is your experience of the spiritual consequences of prayer that is important.  The spiritual consequences of prayer are joyful urges to be helpful, tolerant, unselfish, forgiving, encouraging, optimistic, generous, empathetic, etc.  The extent of your knowledge about prayer matters very little unless you use that knowledge to encourage yourself and others to pray for spiritual consequences.

I want you to recognize, appreciate and enjoy truth and pursue it in prayer.  Truth is not mere fact.  Truth is the way all things fit together according to the spiritual laws of love and mutual unselfish service.  The experience of brotherly love is the core of all reality and it is the proof of the Spirit’s truth.  Many experiences harmonize with love and therefore with the Spirit’s truth.  Mercy, forgiveness, service, tolerance, justice, beauty, goodness and fairness are only a few of these love related values which resonate harmonically with love in your soul.  You can sense this resonance if you try.  I sometimes sense it as a calm conviction of the Spirit’s will.  At other times I sense it as a pleasant lightness or flutter just below my heart.  It brings a sense of being treasured, of being included and of being connected.  It is a bit like the joyful feeling of being in love.  As you read what I have written, I hope you will feel for the truth of what is being said.  Open your heart and feel the harmonies in your soul.  Emotions, feelings about events, circumstances and thoughts are where we experience life.  I hope what I write will tune you into your own higher emotions of love, trust, faith, forgiveness, tolerance, generosity, hope, unselfishness, loyalty, etc.

About Prayer: 

Jesus wanted his followers to pray, especially for others.  Why pray?  Who benefits from our prayers?  We benefit physically because prayer is a tonic for health.  We benefit psychologically because prayer focuses our attention on finding solutions to the matters we pray about.  We benefit spiritually because prayer deepens the channels of our receptivity to spiritual blessings.  (Spiritual blessings include capacities and desires for loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance and enduring peace.  These blessings all relate to righteous behavior because the Spirit’s will for each of us is that we lead a life of action motivated by our personal attunement with the Spirit who indwells each of us personally.) True prayers are dispatched in faith that they are heard and answered, so the independent and substantial power of faith is involved with the consequences of prayer.  These are all benefits to the one who prays.

Benefit to others prayed for:

When we pray for others, what benefit do they receive if they do not know they are being prayed for?Praying for another person expresses love for that person.  There is spiritual power in parental/brotherly love which flows to the soul, mind and / or physical energy of the one prayed for.  This spiritual power creates a spiritual blessing available to the one prayed for if they are willing and receptive.  Our prayers for another enhance their capacity to receive spiritual blessings.

Spiritual power manifests as energy and motivation to love and serve others and to love the Spirit and become like it.  Spiritual power motivates us and gives us faith and energy to live according to what has meaning and value to us.  It does this by influencing our emotions and our process of thinking.  It has the ability to transform a person from within by confirming rightness and by bestowing warm spiritual pleasure as a consequence of righteous desires and behavior.  It works in at least three circumstances:

1. When a person chooses to do unselfish good for others, that opens a channel from spiritual sources that empowers the person to express spiritual blessings such as tolerance, faith, forgiveness, service, etc.  These behaviors and attitudes simply seem more appropriate and become easier.
2. When a person is present where another is expressing spiritual blessings, spiritual power causes an attraction or lure for the observer to live that way too.
3. When one person prays for spiritual blessings for another, spiritual power touches the mind and soul of the other person and causes these blessings to become more easily available to the other person and the other person is helped to realize that they have choices to live more spiritually, more fully and more joyously.

Love for others, unselfish attitudes and behavior, has attractive and motivating power associated with it which is a reliable lure to more unselfish behavior.  Potentially, it attracts and motivates anyone exposed to it.  Spiritual power comes from spiritual sources and is experienced as a joyous and affirming emotion.  This power of spiritual attraction spreads like a benign virus which infects the souls of all observers thereby encouraging them to be of service to others and this spreads the virus again by example and experience.

As children of the Spirit, we are given modest spiritual power so that we can learn to use and to appreciate it.  We are given the spiritual power associated with dependability, loyalty, fairness, love, doing the Spirit’s will, righteous living, loving service and faith.  The power that flows from these attitudes and actions is deity power we are given to exercise because we are growing children of  the Spirit.  It is given to be used, not merely preserved.  As we learn to manipulate spiritual power, more will be given until in the far distant future, all will be given.

Prayer is a spiritually powerful technique for self transformation of the one who prays and then those inner consequences have social and cosmic consequences through our attitudes, actions and service to others.

Prayer energizes the spirit life. Prayer is like recharging the spiritual batteries of the soul.  Worship is like tuning the soul into the universal broadcasts of our spiritual Parent.

Prayer is a technique of detachment from daily routine.  It is an avenue of approach to spiritualized self-realization and individuality of intellectual and religious attainment.

Prayer is an antidote for harmful introspection and this is a beneficial ministry to the soul.  There is benefit to praying for one’s fellows.  Jesus usually prayed in the plural, not in the singular and he almost never prayed for himself.

Prayer is:

*The sincere and longing look of the child to its spirit Parent

*A psychologic process of exchanging the human will for the divine will

*Part of the divine plan for making over that which is into that which might be

Inner Teacher: 

Children of the Spirit have a spiritual teacher to be listened to and followed.  The teacher is one’s personal inner spiritual mentor.  We must learn how to listen for the Spirit’s leading and how to assess the truth of what we “hear” or sense.  Do our insights bring us to the Spirit and the Spirit to us?  Do they portray the love and the mercy of our spiritual Parent?  Do they enhance our understanding of truth, beauty and goodness?  Relationship with the inner Spirit is the most important thing we can achieve in this life and prayer is the best technique for pursuing relationship with the Spirit within.

What to Expect:

Genuine prayer is a spontaneous outburst of Spirit-consciousness.  It adds to spiritual growth, modifies attitudes and yields that satisfaction which comes from communion with divinity.

One who prays can effectively and immediately approach the threshold of the realm of contact with their inner Spirit.  Meditation often favors contact with the Spirit within but wholehearted and loving service is even more favorable to such contact.

Prayer is the most potent spiritual growth stimulus. The Spirit answers human prayers by giving an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty and an augmented concept of goodness.  The deity response to all prayer is the gift of enhanced ability to bear (express) fruits of the spirit and then there are many beneficial consequences of bearing fruits of the spirit including better health, more energy, joy in living, optimism, charm, dependability and trust.  All of these generate positive power for success in all aspects of life.

All sincere praying done in faith makes the praying person more and more receptive to spiritual blessings which in turn manifest spiritual power.   Prayer gradually enables us to exercise more and more spiritual power (spiritual lure and attraction) arising from our characteristic attitudes and behaviors of loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance and enduring peace.  These are fruits of our connection with the Spirit within.  They are the consequences Jesus told his followers to expect as a result of maintaining an inner communion with the Spirit indwelling the soul of each person.  Prayer is the technique for maintaining that inner communion.  Prayer digs deeper channels of receptivity for these spiritual gifts.

The Spirit is almost never going to fix things for us.  It will help us get through anything and everything that comes our way for whatever reason, even if our burdens are our own fault.  We should recognize and accept that sincere prayer has many benefits other than getting our spiritual Parent to fix things for us.  It is the most potent spiritual growth stimulus.  It does a lot to help us solve our own problems.   It has very valuable health and social benefits.  Prayer enables the human ego to look both to self and to spirit for help.  For material help it initiates receptivity to the subconscious reservoir of mortal experience, memory and wisdom. For inspiration and guidance, prayer encourages receptivity to contact with spiritual intelligence.

Some prayers can be unethical, morally wrong.  A prayer is unethical when the petitioner seeks for selfish advantage over his fellows.  Selfish praying transgresses the spirit of all ethics founded on loving justice.  Be fair in all your praying.  Do not expect our spiritual Parent to love you more than his other children.  When a prayer seeks nothing for one’s self or for others, then such an expression of the soul’s attitude tends toward true worship.  Egoistic prayers involve confessions and petitions and often consist in requests for material favors.  Prayer is somewhat more ethical when it deals with forgiveness and seeks wisdom for enhanced self control.

Prayer must never be a substitute for action.  All ethical prayer is a stimulus to action and a guide for the progressive striving for idealistic goals.

The unselfish type of prayer is strengthening and comforting but materialistic praying is destined to bring disappointment and disillusionment because humanity lives in a physical universe of law and order which the Spirit will not violate.  Primitive, selfish and materialistic praying is childish.  Such prayers are beneficial only to the extent that they lead to human efforts and exertions that contribute to achieving the goals of those prayers.  But the real prayer of faith always contributes to augmentation of the technique of living even if the petitions are not worthy of spiritual recognition.  Therefore it is important to be cautious in discouraging unworthy prayer.

Prayer does not change the Spirit but it often effects great and lasting changes in the one who prays in faith and confident expectation.  Prayer is the ancestor of much peace of mind, cheerfulness, calmness, courage, self-mastery and fair-mindedness.

Only under very rare circumstances does prayer have any direct effect on one’s physical circumstances.  The zone of effectiveness of prayer requests is very limited and relates most directly to the spiritual and psychological attitudes of the person praying, but this is not equally true of the faith of those who pray.  Faith has spiritual power of its own.

Prayer will not cure real and organic diseases but it contributes enormously to the enjoyment of abundant health and to the cure of numerous mental, emotional and nervous ailments.  Even in bacterial disease prayer often adds to the efficacy of other remedies. Expectant and faith dominated persons who are under the immediate and inspirational influence of a strong, positive and beneficent personality whose ministry banishes fear and destroys anxiety, may experience transformations of mind and spirit which cure illness in apparent miracles.

The sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress and spiritual attainment.

Prayer is an efficient technique for approach to the realization of the reserve powers of human nature stored and conserved in the unconscious realms of the human mind. These include insight, experience, custom, education and wisdom.  Prayer is a sound psychologic practice even aside from its religious implications and its spiritual significance.

Don’t ask the Spirit to solve your difficulties but don’t hesitate to ask for wisdom and spiritual strength to guide and sustain you while you resolutely and courageously attack your problems.    Problems are learning opportunities our spiritual Parent intends to use for our benefit. The Spirit is not absent, passive, overburdened or distracted.  He is actively and constantly involved in every aspect of every person’s life.  He uses the problems we face as opportunities for our character development.  While it is not appropriate to ask the Spirit to make your problems disappear, it is appropriate to pray for help in learning the available lessons and for calm and reassurance in the midst of the turmoil.

Words, Posture and Attitudes:

Prayer is intentional communication with the Spirit.  Most people use words silently or out loud most of the time, but words are not really necessary.  You can pray in feelings or images or music so long as you are communicating from your soul/heart your sincere longings, goals and desires for good, your love of truth or your appreciation of beauty.

Jesus prayed silently and in the spirit – in the mind and in the spirit.  In the mind probably involves words.  In the spirit is probably wordless.  In the spirit might be feelings or love related emotions such as acceptance, inclusion, empathy, forgiveness, patience, peace, harmony, appreciation…

Praying with faith, hope and trust brings expectations of divine assistance which encourages personal effort and thereby makes the desired result more likely.  One who steps out in faith and takes the risks is sometimes successful even in the absence of divine intervention.  One who does not act has no opportunity to succeed.

Pray in spirit and in truth – sincerely and in accordance with your enlightenment – wholeheartedly and intelligently – earnestly and steadfastly.

Neither ornate repetitions, eloquent phrases, fasting, penance nor sacrifice add effectiveness to prayer.  Jesus counseled his followers that there was too little thanksgiving in their prayer and worship.  Jesus did not consider recitation of set prayers to be real praying.

Prayer to Jesus was the personal and spontaneous expression of the soul toward the Spirit.  He taught that prayer should be a communion of the child with the spiritual Parent and the expression of fellowship.  Prayer, when from the spirit, leads to personal cooperation in the spiritual progress of one’s self and others.  The ideal prayer is a form of spiritual communion (intimate spiritual sharing of thoughts and feelings) which leads to intelligent worship.  True praying is the sincere attitude of reaching heavenward for the inspiration and attainment of your ideals. 

Prayer is the way we make contact with our souls. This benefit of bringing the contents of our souls to our conscious attention should motivate us to be persistent in our prayerful attempt to ascertain the Spirit’s will.  The answers to our questions about spiritual reality are in our souls.  The Spirit is a willing and generous giver of spiritual blessings and spiritual power. Persistence is not to change our spiritual Parent’s attitude but to change our preconceptions and prejudices so that our conscious minds may be receptive to the Spirit’s blessings.  Persistence gives spiritual insights repeated opportunities to drop into place.

Jesus observed to his apostles that when they prayed they exercised so little faith.  Faith is more than belief.  It is trust in the Spirit to do its part in achieving its goals.  Genuine faith will remove mountains of material difficulty which may be in the path of soul expansion and spiritual progress.

Pray as Jesus taught his disciples – honestly, unselfishly, with fairness and without doubting.

No prayer can hope for an answer unless it is born of the spirit and nurtured by faith.  Pray prayers of spirit longing.

Just talk things over with your spiritual Parent in a purely personal way. Do it often and regularly. Don’t be afraid to talk to the Spirit, but don’t undertake to persuade or change your spiritual Parent.

Words are irrelevant to prayer. The Spirit answers the soul’s attitude, not the words.  Words can have benefit because they are self-suggestive in private devotions and they are socio-suggestive in group devotions.  Therefore, words lead to solutions from human sources.

Jesus liked to pray in nature among the small creatures, so I expect he often prayed with his eyes open.  Jesus prayed in Gethsemane lying prostrate.  In other circumstances he sat.  Posture probably doesn’t matter unless it matters symbolically to you.  Attitude does matter.  Our attitude should be faith filled and trusting.  We should sincerely believe in the Spirit’s good and loving wisdom in answering our prayers.  We should have no withholds in truly wanting our spiritual Parent’s will, not our own, to be done.  His will is the best of all possible outcomes.

Jesus often went apart by himself to pray and commune.  He could be seen praying long and often but his prayers were silent.  He would spend entire nights in prayer and worship.  His apostles sometimes could see rapid changes in his face indicating inner experience and they were very curious about the nature of his prayers.  When Jesus spent whole nights in prayer, it was mainly for his disciples and particularly for the twelve.  Jesus rarely prayed for himself but he engaged in a lot of worship of the nature of understanding communion with his spiritual Parent.   

Jesus taught the twelve always to pray their personal prayers in secret in the quiet of nature or in their rooms.  Jesus gave his followers the Lord’s Prayer because his apostles petitioned him for a prayer to teach the multitudes.  John the Baptist had a simple prayer that his apostles taught the crowds.  The Lord’s Prayer was for group prayers and was intended as a form or guide rather than as a set prayer to be recited.

Jesus taught that to be effective, prayer must be:

Unselfish – not for oneself alone

Believing – according to faith

Sincere – honest of heart

Intelligent – according to one’s light

Trustful – in submission to our spiritual Parent’s all wise will

Jesus taught that the earnest and longing repletion of any petition when sincere and uttered in faith, no matter how ill-advised or impossible of direct answer, nevertheless always expands the soul’s capacity for spiritual receptivity. The soul’s spiritual capacity for receptivity determines the quantity of heavenly blessings (fruits of the Spirit, consciousness of the Spirit’s presence, peace, joy, etc.) which can be personally appropriated and consciously realized as an answer to prayer.

Prayers are Heard and Answered:

Opening the human end of Spirit-man communication makes the ever flowing stream of divine ministry immediately available.

Our sins are forgiven by our spiritual Parent even before we ask but our experience of having our sins forgiven is conditioned on first forgiving our fellows of their transgressions.  It is a basic law of justice that the unselfish glories of Paradise are not possible of reception by a thoroughly selfish creature of the realms of time and space.  It is another basic law that you cannot have more respect for yourself than you have for others.  [1740:1]

The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard.  The spiritual wisdom and universe consistency of any petition is the determiner of the time, manner and degree of the answer.  The Spirit will not give us the requests of our foolish prayers.  Prayers in accordance with the will of the Spirit are answered.  While prayer does not change the divine attitude, it does change our attitude toward our spiritual Parent.  The unselfish motive of a prayer gives it right of way to the divine ear.

Sincere prayers of the longing of the heart are always answered.  Sometimes the answer is greatly delayed while the spirit world devises a better answer to meet the needs of the spirit of man.  Sometimes prayers are so vast they can only be answered later in our progressive spiritual growth; sometimes only when we reach Paradise.

Prayers are addressed to spiritual beings and must be answered in spiritual terms and all such answers must consist in spiritual realities.  Spirit beings cannot bestow material answers to the spirit petitions of even material beings.  Material beings can pray effectively only when they pray in the spirit.

All spirit born petitions are certain of an answer.  Full personal reception of the answer may be time delayed.  The answer is seldom exactly what you asked for but the answer is never “No!”  The answer will bring comfort, calm and reassurance of personal spiritual safety.  It will be something spiritually and emotionally beneficial.

What to Pray For:

Guard against the great danger of becoming self-centered in your prayers.  Avoid much praying for your self.  Pray more for the spiritual progress of your brethren.  Avoid materialistic praying.  Pray in the spirit and for the abundance of gifts of the spirit.  Pray for the sick and afflicted but don’t expect this to replace the benefit of loving and intelligent ministry to their needs.

A prayer from Psalms which Jesus liked was “Create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit in me.  Purge me from secret sins and restrain me from presumptuous transgression.”  He also liked “Prevent my careless and offending speech.  Help me speak with tolerance and mercy.”

The most important prayer is for knowledge of the will of the Spirit.  The next most important prayer is for guidance over the pathway of earthly life.  This in reality is a prayer for divine wisdom.

Material things are not the province of prayer.

The truest prayer is in reality a communion between man and the Spirit within.

True prayer always stands for man’s communion with a personal and superior being.

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth even in the face of conflict.  Pray for values, not things; for growth, not for gratification.

Pray for the welfare of family and friends and others but especially pray for those who curse you and make loving petitions for those who persecute you. It is easy to pray even for those who misuse you to bear fruits of the spirit.  After all, what you are praying for is for the desire to do good for others to take hold in their lives and to transform them.  This feels right and good for either a friend or an enemy.

When and Where to Pray:

When should you pray?  Pray whenever the indwelling Spirit moves you to express your inner relationship with our spirit Parent.  Any time or any circumstance is appropriate.  Pray when in trouble but not just then.  Pray also when all is well.

Your real petitions, your personal prayers, should be in secret. Prayers of thanksgiving are appropriate both in personal prayers and group prayers.  Prayers of the soul are a personal matter (secret).  All believers should pray sincerely for extension of the kingdom of heaven.  The kingdom of heaven exists when and where the believer encourages and allows the spirit within to lead the believer in doing the will of the heavenly Parent.

What prayer was to Jesus and can be to you:

Jesus never prayed as a religious duty; never because he ought to or because it was prayer time.  His prayer/communion was frequent and lengthy, essentially constant because he employed it to lead his unified material, emotional and spiritual life.  Prayer/communion was the way Jesus managed his emotions, his decisions and his life of unselfish service.

Prayer to him was his sincere expression of spiritual attitude.

He committed his soul loyally to service of his heavenly Parent’s goals.

He reaffirmed his personal devotion to the Spirit.

He expressed his thanksgiving.

He applied prayer to relax and to avoid emotional tension.

He used prayer to prevent and resolve inner and outer conflict.

He enlisted prayer to elevate his thinking to the highest spiritual meanings and values level.

He used prayer to align his desires with truth, beauty and goodness. (To ennoble his desires)

He used prayer to test and confirm the rightness and reasonableness of his moral decisions.  (Morality is your rules for how you treat other individuals.  ”Love one another and do good to everyone in all circumstances” is the ultimate moral rule.  But applying the rule wisely benefits from a lot of prayer.)

He used the inspiration received from prayer to enrich his thoughts.

He employed prayer to add strength and energy to his higher inclinations.

He used it to convert his worthy impulses into worthy spiritual purposes and objectives.

He used prayer to achieve clarification of his viewpoint.

In prayer, he declared and molded his faith in the Spirit and man to expand it and to make it wiser.

In prayer he surrendered his will on a spiritual level to adopt the Spirit’s will.

He used prayer to assert his confidence in truth, beauty and goodness at the highest spiritual level.

He used prayer to discover and reveal courage.

He would tell his inner Spirit about his discoveries.

In prayer he would admit and describe his complete devotion.

In prayer he would feel the rightness of his consecration and draw power from this.

He used prayer to sort thru and adjust difficulties.

He used prayer to mobilize his combined soul powers to withstand all human tendencies toward selfishness, evil and sin.

He did all these repeatedly and repetitiously.

The secret of Jesus’ unparalleled religious life was his consciousness of the presence of the Spirit.  He achieved this consciousness by intelligent prayer and sincere worship – unbroken communion with his spiritual Parent.

Laws of Prevailing Petitions

1.  Sincerely and courageously face the problem.
2. Industriously exhaust human capacity to adjust.
3. Surrender everything to the transforming embrace of spiritual growth.  (Expect insights into truth, beauty, goodness, meanings and values.)
4. Wholeheartedly desire the Spirit’s will.
5. Dedicate yourself to action to do the Spirit’s will.
6. Pray only for divine wisdom to solve specific human problems in the Paradise assent.
7. Have Faith that your prayers will be answered.

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 the Spirit

Consecration of self to the Spirit’s way

Consultation with the Spirit – thinking with the Spirit

Praying to elevate thoughts to a higher and more spiritual level

Praying for clarification of view point

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

There are many good reasons why we pray including:

We pray for the comfort, reassurance and courage prayer brings to face life and to fight the battles against evil and doubt.

We pray to feel like we have done something.

We pray because it elevates our mood.

We pray because we feel the comforting love of our spiritual Parent.

We pray because it reduces a burden or shares a joy.

Prayer Project Assumption:

If we fail to pray, we forfeit the substantial spiritual, psychological and physical benefits our spiritual Parent has arranged to flow from our sincere praying in faith for spiritual blessings for others.

Bill’s personal conclusions

Prayer is an all-important practice.  It stimulates greater receptivity to spiritual gifts and it is the most potent spiritual growth stimulus.

Since we are encouraged to pray unselfishly in secret for groups of others, there must be benefit for them in our prayers.  I like to think there is some influence on the people lovingly prayed for that will help them to be of good cheer or good character and loving in attitude and behavior.  I think of this like electrical inductance where electricity flowing in one wire causes there to be potential for flow in an adjacent wire.  In the case of prayer for others, the inductance might take place through mind circuits or spirit circuits which we all share.  But even if this is not so, prayer in faith for others has tremendous beneficial results in the life of the praying person.  Better physical, psychological and emotional health as well as spiritual growth and maturity are essentially guaranteed to the praying person.  The Spirit has so designed us that it is spiritually beneficial for us to pray even when our prayers are primitive, selfish or material.

There is a lot of material praying we develop in our childhood and youth which is not going to be answered in the terms requested. But there are also many consequences of prayer which are highly beneficial and are insufficiently appreciated as answers to our prayers.  These include:

Prayer relieves stress.

Prayer elevates your mood and attitude.

Prayer brings inner peace.

Prayer clarifies and corrects confusion about meanings and values.

Prayer focuses your talents and mental and material assets on your problems, enabling you to answer your own prayers.

Prayer brings comfort, reconciliation and acceptance of what cannot be changed.

Prayer relieves loneliness.

Prayer reinforces optimism, steadfastness and dependability.

Prayer helps you reach for anything you value.

Prayer enhances self-control.

Prayer helps you value and love others.

Prayer helps you feel valued and loved.

Prayer improves your decision making ability.

Prayer and faith together cure many emotional and psychological illnesses.

Prayer often makes medical remedies more effective.

Prayer builds hope, confidence, expectation and trust.

Prayer supports action and achievement.

Prayer stimulates spiritual growth.

The ideal form of prayer is a personal communion of fellowship with our spiritual Parent.  Communion with the Spirit is simply an event of intimate spiritual sharing of our inner life of aspirations, hopes, fears, loves and feelings.  Imagine the Spirit’s presence.  Imagine the Spirit’s responses.  Expect it to suggest in all circumstances how you can express loving and unselfish motivations.  Actually what you are imagining is true.  Your spiritual Parent is in fact present and hearing and responding to your prayers in a guiding, nondirective way.

Ultimately, it is a colossal spiritual mistake not to pray and commune with the Spirit frequently.  The benefits are too great.

Appendix of Qualities and Attitudes to Pray About

Rodan’s List:

Rodan, the Greek philosopher of Alexandria, who was an early follower of Jesus, noted many qualities in Jesus which he identified as qualities of a spiritually mature person.  These qualities make an excellent list of spiritual growth opportunities to pray for to benefit ourselves or others.  As you read these, ask your inner Spirit to help you really understand them and to affirm in your heart that you want these qualities.  In this way you will be praying for them.  Since this list is long, I have divided it into parts so that you may study it in manageable pieces.

Rodan A

1. Talk to the Spirit about wisdom of mind and charm of personality to deal lovingly with life.
2. Ask to develop talent for persuasiveness with your fellows.
3. Talk to your spiritual Parent about tact and tolerance.
4. Pray for strength, energy, interest and enthusiasm to solve the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature.
5. Pray to recognize and to seek to satisfy your hunger and thirst for true righteousness.
6. Pray for insight regarding the problems of living.
7. Pray for wisdom and energy to spend in service to others.
8. Talk to the Spirit about your desire for consciousness of contact with divinity.

Rodan B

1. Talk to the Spirit about new and better methods of adjusting to the ever-changing situations of living existence.
2. Ask for reconstruction and readjustment of personal attitudes.
3. Pray for enhanced insight into everything worthwhile and real.
4. Pray for the Spirit’s will to be done.
5. Pray for relaxation and mind renewal.
6. Pray for illumination and soul inspiration.
7. Pray for courage to face problems.
8. Pray for self-understanding to cope with overpowering emotions (such as sadness, guilt, fear, hate, revenge, jealousy, envy, lust or greed.)

Rodan C

1. Talk to the Spirit about experiencing consciousness of union with divinity.
2. Pray to achieve inner assurance of kinship with our spiritual Parent.
3. Pray for courage/confidence to dare to be like the Spirit.
4. Pray for more constant communion with the Spirit within.
5. Pray to relieve tension.
6. Pray to remove conflict.
7. Pray for augmentation of the total resources of personality.
8. Pray to remove prejudice.

Rodan D

1. Pray to recognize truth wherever it is found.
2. Pray to experience unselfish thoughts and actions.
3. Pray for dedication to the service of a worthy cause/goal.
4. Pray for abandonment of self-seeking.
5. Pray for joy in the search to discover and experience the nature of our spiritual Parent.
6. Pray for pleasure in the progressive attainment of divinity.
7. Pray for realization of values that are the highest and most real.
8. Pray for acceptance/awareness that the goals of destiny grow and progress.

Rodan E

1. Pray for stability of personality.
2. Pray for eternal, Paradise and divine goals.
3. Pray for spiritual guidance and to be an intelligent follower of spiritual guidance.
4. Pray to grow a personal religion of spiritual experience in your soul.
5. Pray for enhancement of insights.
6. Pray for elevation of ideals.
7. Pray for eternal adventures in service.
8. Pray to have friendships and associations of mutual affection.

Rodan F

1. Pray to have friends with whom to share noble thoughts.
2. Pray for modest recognition and appreciation.
3. Pray for character development – loyalty to living expression of fruits of the spirit.
4. Pray for the love of a home.
5. Pray for a good friend to share life with.
6. Pray to augment spiritual values from the shared insights of others.
7. Pray for respect for others to avoid distortion of vision, prejudice of viewpoint and narrowness of judgment.
8. Pray for avoidance of fear, envy and conceit.

Rodan G

1. Pray for contact with other minds.
2. Pray for enthusiasm for living.
3. Pray for courage to fight the battles (with spiritual weapons of love, forgiveness, tolerance, service) necessary to ascend to higher levels of human living.
4. Pray for enhancement of the joys and triumphs of life.
5. Pray to suffer, if necessary, without sorrow.
6. Pray to endure hardship without bitterness.
7. Pray to enhance beauty.
8. Pray to exalt goodness.

Rodan H

1. Pray to quicken and enlarge appreciative capacities.  Give thanks.
2. Pray for stimulation of imagination.
3. Pray to have friends and associates who are conscious of wholehearted devotion to the common cause of loyalty to the Spirit.
4. Pray for righteous exercise of spiritual power.
5. Pray to live for the welfare of others.
6. Pray for a glimpse of the circle of eternity.
7. Pray for inspiration to achieve one’s best and utmost.
8. Pray for a glorified social structure.

Rodan I

1. Pray for civilization based on mortal maturity.
2. Pray for peace on earth.
3. Pray for goodwill among all mankind.
4. Pray for strength giving and worshipful habits.
5. Pray for spiritual maturity.
6. Pray for humility and readiness to learn.
7. Pray for avoidance of fanaticism.
8. Pray for adaptability to change.

Rodan J

1. Pray for good physical and emotional health.
2. Pray for clear and clean thinking.
3. Pray for skill in doing something well.
4. Pray for ability to withstand defeat.
5. Pray for spiritual enlightenment, meaningful experience and wisdom.
6. Pray for sufficient wealth.
7. Pray for wise planning.
8. Pray for honest achievement.

Rodan K

1. Pray to produce something useful.
2. Pray to remember worthwhile episodes of life.
3. Pray to fail gracefully and lose cheerfully.
4. Pray not to fear disappointment.
5. Pray to admit failure freely.
6. Pray to face failure and adjust to defeat.
7. Pray for experience with spiritual realities.
8. Pray to do something excellently/expertly.

Jesus’ Teachings about Prayer

Here are some suggestions from Jesus about what to pray for.

Jesus A

1. Pray for faith in the love and goodness of the Spirit and their ultimate success in transforming everyone.
2. Pray for love for one’s fellows.
3. Pray for skill at revealing goodness.
4. Pray to be an evangel of true inner religion of communion with the Spirit.
5. Pray to balance the ideal with the practical.
6. Pray to resist holding grudges.

Jesus B

1. Pray to withstand brooding when confronted with deep sorrow.  [Brooding is thinking deeply about something that makes you unhappy.]
2. Pray for righteous thinking and righteous doing in the face of defeat, mistreatment or danger.
3. Pray for avoidance of unnecessary social misunderstandings.
4. Pray for emotional adjustment.
5. Pray to accept love freely and to give love freely.
6. Pray for brave endurance.

Jesus C

1. Pray to be unafraid of life.
2. Pray to be uncomplaining of inescapable hardship.
3. Pray not to weary of well doing because of being thwarted.
4. Pray to be undaunted.
5. Pray that difficulty will whet your ardor.
6. Pray to feast, fatten and enthuse on the spiritual growth opportunities of adversity.

Jesus D

1. Pray to be taught by the Spirit.
2. Pray for the spiritual progress of yourself and your fellows.
3. Pray for knowledge of our spiritual Parent’s will.
4. Pray to have attention and energies directed away from temptations.
5. Pray for a growing love of truth – the Spirit’s way of love, forgiveness, mercy, etc.
6. Pray to overcome evil with good.

Jesus E

1. Pray for growth in faith, love and devotion to truth.
2. Pray for a wholehearted desire to find our spiritual Parent and be like him.
3. Pray to forget one’s mistakes.
4. Pray for a long distance view of destiny.
5. Pray for your spiritual longings and purposes.
6. Pray for moral power and spiritual energy to be an advocate for good.

Jesus F

1. Pray to demonstrate an endless, unselfish, outgoing bestowal of love.
2. Pray to increase a whole soul belief in the triumph of righteousness.
3. Pray to be undoubting of eternal salvation.
4. Pray to engage in frequent worshipful communion.
5. Pray to discover, adopt and master a positive and constructive technique of meeting all vicissitudes and harassments of mortal living.
6. Pray to enjoy living your life spiritually.
7. Pray consistent with your knowledge of the established laws of spirit, mind and matter.

End

Back to Top