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PRAYER |
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Q: RAYSON, a few months ago in a private session we talked about prayer, and you talked to me about a shift from a negative to positive tone and attitude. And I'm still not clear that why praying to be more loving is not also praying for myself. Because as you said, and as is in The Urantia Book, true prayer is always for others. I have a thread of understanding, and I wonder if you could expand on it a little bit? A: Yes. A very good question. (T/R) has also raised that question. When you pray for growth you are praying that you may do better the will of God. You are not praying for yourself. You are praying for God. You are praying that you can do the will of God. And so, even though you are - in one sense - praying for yourself, the prayer is not to benefit yourself but to benefit The FATHER, and you know that The FATHER has you and your welfare on His mind, that you are of importance to Him and that he will watch over you. And so, when you pray, and you pray to do the will of God, eventually you will as time goes by more and more be able to do the will of God, and whatever you do will reflect that, for God will so fill you that you will not be able to contain this love, and will give unto others what you have gained from God. Is this the answer that you have been wanting? Q: Yes, I think so. It still feels - because I benefit so much, it feels as though I am praying for myself still. And you talked also at that same time about, that I was close to crossing that positive-negative line. Would it be appropriate for you to comment as to whether that had occurred or not? A: Yes, I think you have crossed the line. Remember when you pray that in wanting to do the will of God and in praying for it, there will come an answer on which you must act. And this process of acting - in doing the will of God - will sometimes seem that it is for your own benefit. And sometimes it will not. But in either case you must do this because it will be the will of God. And as you act and live out the truth that you have gained from praying, you will more and more learn exactly what is a selfish thought or a selfish act and what is a thought or an act that is the will of God. The FATHER wants the best for you. Sometimes you do not know what that is, and sometimes you do. Just because what you want for yourself coincides with what God wants for you does not mean that you are selfish. In fact, there are things that you may not be able to accomplish on your own regarding self-mastery. You must try and try but at a certain point it is quite all right for you to pray for this to be done. It is quite all right for you to pray for self-mastery because self-mastery is the will of God. But you must also endeavor to try your best in accomplishing this worthwhile deed. (11/22/92) Q: RAYSON, I have a question which is the inverse of that. Now I know that the teaching mission edict is strictly on a spiritual level. We have people that never think of God in their day-to-day activities. There are schools of thought, especially in current metaphysical thought, that we create our own reality. Consequently, some people who are very active in visualizing and praying for very selfish goals, and for their abundance, and for their situations. Those people sometimes seem to have an effect on their world. I believe that we are of this world and we didn't create anything in it. And yet whether someone is spiritual or not, things still happen in their lives, situations manifest, both positive and negative. My slant on this in the sense of more in a positive way. I understand the concept of prayer for somebody else - as we have - is the proper spiritual definitions in The Urantia Book. And yet, our selfish desires and wishes seem to manifest sometimes, as well as our visualizations, as well as our hopes and desires; sometimes better. It seems to me that there is a benevolence that to some degree gives us what we want. Are we co-creating with that? Is that hand of God? Or is it something that would happen to us? What it is this - it’s a long-about way - JESUS said “take no thought for your life.” And that to me is one of the hardest things to do, the action of inaction in terms of our day-to-day physicality. And yet there are people that are very active in seemingly to achieve their goals. And I wonder if you can comment on that kind of thinking that I have regarding manifestation and why things happen? A: (S), that is a very large subject. The realms of wealth, happiness, love, pain, of fortune, are affected by various mechanisms, systems, beings, patterns, and other factors. There is chance, bestowals of wealth as in lotto, inheritances. People are born with talents, which make them able to attain greater wealth than others. There is the inner drive, the determination and capacity for enduring effort. There are also spiritual factors, but they do not necessarily have to do with material wealth, although it may to some extent. When one puts in a great amount of time, effort, as well as other contributions to the work of The FATHER, rest assured that that person would not be forgotten. He may not be given money or material gifts, but the opportunities for him to grow and to be fulfilled will be there. There are people who gain wealth but are no better for it. Sometimes they grow unhappy and do not grow spiritually. Others may gain wealth and use it for fulfillment of God's work. They use it as a tool to go about doing the work of The FATHER. People are diverse and varied in ways of attaining wealth and happiness. For many a specific person that you can mention and their circumstances will be better for me to comment upon. Q: In general, I know what you are saying and I appreciate that answer. I think I formulated a different angle on it while you were answering that. Which was, are we co-creators in our day-to-day lives? I was wondering about does the universe respect our personal energy and intent with regard to our personal manifestations and wishes that are not of a spiritual matter. I know that the book says that angels will use your conditions and situations, whatever you choose, to try to point out lessons of spiritual import and nature. And I understand that one person will use wealth a certain way and another person will get wealth a certain way. Regarding our day-to-day existence, does the celestial, spiritual energy hierarchy of the universe respect our individual personal self-wishes, or is it in essence cosmic masturbation? Will stuff happen for us anyway if we are inactive mentally? Is it futile to visualize for things that we want personally? Does the universe respect that energy? Does it respect that intent? Are you working with your angels when you are visualizing? Or are you just alone in your room with your eyes closed? A: From the beginning of mankind, from Andon and Fonta, newer and better techniques have been thought of, invented - to try to have a better grasp of the universe and to shape it according to your mind. These techniques are still being developed. Your techniques of building, farming, of creating a government of culture, your technology, is an outworking of all this. There is more. Visualizations are on the cutting edge in your country for developing the power of the mind. Yes, these things are not just respected by the celestial beings, they were inspired by them. Q: So then, lets say, you asked me to make it specific, lets say I am trying to open up to you as a teacher, personally, alone, not in a group situation. Then in my quiet moments, its efficacious for me then to visualize, or to make it actual for myself as real as I can in some type of technique, and that is effective because I am using the power of my mind? Or because my intent is pure? And therefore it is bestowed upon me. Do you understand the difference? Am I having an effect - A: Yes, it is not just your intent or your motivational force. Technique has to do with knowing what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Not all new techniques are effective. Some will fall by the wayside, the ones that are effective will not. You must weed out the ineffective techniques by experiment. Q: In summation, though, you would agree with the concept that we are co-creators with spirit in terms of our physical manifestations. A: Yes, definitely. (11/22/92)
© 11:11 Progress Group. "Michael est toujours au Volant." (Michael is always at the Steering Wheel.) |