“Praying ensures the maintenance of the connection with the luminous heights and the opening of oneself to holy streams of power for earthly application. It compels our mind to turn away from the earth upwards…Prayer therefore is of profound seriousness and he who cannot approach it from an inner urge, with his intuition should refrain from doing so”
THE ESSENCE OF PRAYER
These few lines from the work “In the Light of Truth, The Grail Message” sum up the meaning and practice of prayer. Prayer occupies an important place in man’s spiritual development and existence here on earth. Many of us sense the need to pray but do so as a matter of habit. While it is true that many concern themselves with prayer, we have not formed the real and true conception of prayer that will enable us pray aright and enrich our existence. We are still in doubt as to how to form our prayers especially when it seems we do not get the desired answer.
The essence of prayer is not to extort benefits for self and loved ones, sometimes without complete awareness of the Majesty and Sublimity of the Lord we thus approach. It should not be a program to attend, a ritual to carry out or a schedule to meet. Nor should it be an obligation to parents or religious leaders, nor even a refuge – a last trump to play when we have exhausted our ingenuity.
Prayer should define a personally willed approach to the throne of the Eternal One, a deliberate turning of our intuitive perception towards the luminous heights. It is an expression of the intrinsic ability of the spirit to connect or act as a bridge between the Spiritual Creation, the Kingdom of God and The Material Spheres. If rightly understood, therefore prayer is an expression of our origin as spiritual beings in Creation. Prayer is a source of strength, guidance and purpose for our ordained path in Creation, which is to subject the World of Matter to the Will of God. Periods one may liken to recharging of our spiritual energies; when we allow holy streams of power from above to flow in. It is one of the most personally edifying things a human spirit can and indeed must achieve.
Thus, there can be no form of prescription in terms of timing or content for prayers. Indeed, as the Grail Message further emphasizes “the best foundation for a prayer which may be expected to have effect lies in those moments of spontaneous thankfulness arising out of great happiness or of deepest pain resulting from heartfelt grief. In such moments, a person is filled with one particular intuitive perception, which dominates all else”. Such deeply felt moments represent the best forms of prayer. Frequently at such intense moments speech deserts us and we cannot even articulate our need or joy, for spiritual experiences do not need words. All earthly organs are side tracked and our innermost being opens to the ever-present Love of God. Locked away from the world we offer our prayers in the secret place, as the Lord Jesus enjoined, and the Eternal Father, who sees and hears all, hears the silent cry from the inner seclusion of our being. The secret place, the Lord talked about is the sacred altar within the individual, the hearth of our thoughts, the intuition.
When properly understood, therefore, prayer is seen to be a very personal activity that must arise and be conducted in the privacy of our inner sanctum, irrespective of the external circumstances prevailing at any particular time. Whether in the most public of places or amongst a group of worshippers, prayer must remain an inner experience. We must free ourselves from the prevailing practice of externalizing prayer.
It is our spiritual core that communes
Genuine prayer in whatever way it starts or progresses must be an expression of our innermost spiritual movement. The core of man is spirit which is then cloaked with physical and non-physical bodies, the outermost of these cloaks being the physical body. It is the spirit that animates the bodies, and through the necessary experiencing in the world of matter, the spiritual core develops to become a human being or a child of God. It is thus not everybody with the human form that may be regarded as a human being or child of God, but only those that adjust to His Will in Creation.
The spirit arises as a pure volition from the Holy Spirit, the Creative Will of God and is equipped with the intuitive ability as a special spiritual tool. The intuition, in its activity serves both like an antenna that enables man receive radiations from the Light (intuitive perception) as well as to transmit or express itself in the worlds around it (intuitive volition). Any movement of the intuition that is directed in the Will of God is an act of prayer. Therefore, man should be more of an intuitive human being.
From the Scriptures we learn that if we seek first the Kingdom of God, all we need shall be given to us in rich abundance. In effect therefore, if we live aright, with our intuition adjusted to the Will of God, there is never be any need for begging and petitioning. Our lives should only be an expression of gratitude and thanksgiving to the Most High, Who always showers us with His blessings. It is a profound recognition that the highest service to good is pure joy, which is why we are also enjoined to be like children, to live in the joy of existence, without worrying about tomorrow; without worrying about what to eat or what to drink, of what others think about you.
To seek the kingdom of God means to understand and align to the knowledge of Creation and its Laws, which express the Will of God. If we obey and live in accordance with the Will of God through our activities, Creation will automatically offer us all the blessings it contains. Only then are our lives a prayer. Only then are we truly human beings worthy of the name. Petitioning is not prayer and often is counter-intuitive.
There should also be no compulsion to pray. Since we are spiritual beings endowed with a free will, we must approach Him in prayers from a free choice. The Lord does not need slaves but free men and women to serve Him. If we do not want to pray, it does not make us sinners, in the sense of transgressors against the Will, but it may prevent us from receiving the help and guidance so necessary for our path in Creation. A life lived at a distance from the Source of All makes our path that much more difficult. The possibility to pray should therefore be seen as a support for our path that we are free to either accept or reject.
Many offer prayers because of societal, sectarian or other forms of external pressures. They want to be seen not only to be praying but also to be praying fluently and in an accepted order. It is a common practice in social gatherings of people who consider themselves religious, to ask someone to lead in prayers. This immediately introduces an obstacle that defeats the true essence of prayer. The one nominated to pray frequently wishes to be seen to be doing it very well, and almost unconsciously adjusts to what he perceives as the expectation of the company. The form of the presentation of the leader soon diverts the members of the group, even when they start initially with a sincere wish to humbly approach the Eternal One. They unconsciously begin to assess his ability to pray and his fluency. In less seriously minded groups, the request for someone to lead a prayer session is often merely a ploy to judge and if possible, embarrass him. In some cultures, people are actually assessed after each prayer, receiving either praise or less frequently censor as to the quality, verbosity, fluency etc. of their prayer. All these indicate, ever so clearly, that the prayer was essentially for the audience.
In other instances, people pray as an obligation to their sect, as a sign that they belong. If one fails to pray according to the prescribed format at the prescribed times, he is regarded either as less than full value or even condemned with non-conformers to hell. Such heavily sectarian prayers include the rosaries in Roman Catholicism, the prayer beads and formal prayers of Muslims and the casting and binding formula of Pentecostal Christians not to mention the ritualized prayers in most of the other less well-known religions.
When praying we must remember whose presence we are approaching. The grace permitted us to approach the steps of God’s throne should never be abused. If we take a leaf from the conduct of subjects before their earthly monarchs, we may perceive how arrogant all our actions before the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings and the Alpha and Omega are; how foolishly presumptuous. If we can but faintly perceive His Majesty, we will approach all prayers with humility, aware in contrition of our unworthy state and our poor garments.
Humility in Prayer
The voluntary subjection of our ego in humble recognition of His Majesty and dominion is the right approach to God. Prayer as I have tried to emphasize is a personal, self-searching and humble approach to the Supreme Being. It is a person-to-person connection to the Source of All. Yet there are many who pray to their ego, who with the best will in the world, cannot be passed as anything but hypocritical. Theirs are no different from the Pharisaic form of prayer condemned by the Lord.
There are many, often found amongst the non-aligned, who truly pray from an inner spiritual movement. They may not even recognise that they are praying and may vigorously resist the notion that they pray, but a deep abiding need arising from within them, represents a more effective prayer than the often-presumptuous approach of the self-acclaimed faithful.
If our circumstances are to be changed, we do not need to bring this about forcibly. We should first present our intuitively felt need to the Lord without presuming on how He should answer. Such humble prayer is followed by diligently applying ourselves to the purpose, while ensuring that we do not in the process go contrary to the Laws of Creation, especially the Law of Love. Even if it then takes longer and the paths involve much suffering and heartache, the ultimate granting of our prayers will find us mature enough for it, confident in our ability to use the new circumstance for our spiritual goals and for the glory of God. This is the meaning of trust and faith in God as a basis for prayer. In this context, we must remember that our primary goal in life on earth is spiritual and not material and that it is only what benefits the spirit that constitutes answer to our prayers. This will not always correspond to our wants and perceived needs.
We must mature into a life that confidently awaits God’s provision. Like David we must recognize that what we really need for our experiencing in the World of Matter is already fully provided without our having to petition, and will flow to us abundantly if we live in His Will. Confidently awaiting God’s provision however is not a passive waiting in an indolent manner – unimaginative, dull or lacking in self-confidence and intelligence – but a deliberate and decisive sublimation of all experiences in the certainty of a Father and a Lord that cares. In this certainty, we serve with a quiet but nevertheless inflexible determination, a determination that is all the more glorious because its ultimate reward and goal is not material.
Unfortunately, many persons of good will are just content to drift in a faint haze of wellbeing, observing the material sharks with an eye jaundiced by envy, with a vague hope that heaven will punish them. They are often even afraid of acting purposefully for the Light they purport to serve, ostensibly because they are not ‘sure’ of the Will of the Creator. They thereby fail to make maximum use of their ability to form matter to their comfort and progress, as the Love of God permits. Instead of living an abundant life in thanksgiving, they are perpetually petitioning for material things they do not need.
I am not advocating, and it is not wisdom, to turn our back on material things. As long as we are in Matter we must use material things and means to achieve spiritual goals. It is stupid to claim to serve God and yet ignore the tools in Matter, which He has provided for this service and which enemies of the Truth often use to work evil. These should be wrestled from them and used in pure service. We should not serve self or Mammon but we should turn them and everything that comes within our sphere of influence and activity into service to God.
The wealth of Creation in all its forms belongs to the Creator, our Father and by extension to His children. In His Love, our Father provides even for the unfaithful and we his children in love should be happy to share with all; but we must not leave everything to the destructive influence of those with evil volition. The simple key to all God willed development is genuine Love, not the vague representation of the concept that the world has adopted as a blindfold. The last Message from God, The Grail Message puts it succinctly: “The Law of Almighty God for you is: You are permitted to wander through Creation! Go in such a manner as to cause no harm to others in pursuit of your personal desires!” Earlier the Son of God, Jesus had commanded that we should Love our neighbour as we Love ourselves.
Let us arouse ourselves out of the stupor of misrepresented Christianity. Christ never taught us to walk the earth like frightened chicken, uncertain of what is required of us. On the contrary! We are meant to be leaders and conquerors. He gave us the sword of Truth and commanded us to victory. The light we received from Him should be taken to the very ends of the earth and like leaven, we must lift the whole of Creation to the Light of God. This is not a mandate that accepts compromise.
The Truth is both a sword and a shield and if we live in it and use it as a basis for our lives, the path required in the Will of God becomes open to us in all its beauty. Unfortunately, the Truth that Christ brought had been shrouded in a cloud of misunderstanding, deliberate misrepresentation and ambitious manipulations. This has made it difficult, but certainly not impossible, for genuine seekers to find the path. In spite of our failings, however, the Love of God cannot be suppressed and in the fulfilment of the promise of Christ, the Grail Message now tears the veil with which humanity had shrouded the Truth Christ brought. It frees this Truth in its immutable power and rallies us to victory in the power of victorious knowledge.
Once we stand in the Truth therefore, there is rarely ever any need for petitioning since everything is already provided. Every desire or wish that touches the intuition is fulfilled for us in the Laws of the Beneficent Lord, the Sustainer and Cherisher of the Worlds. All our prayers, all our inner expressions should, therefore, converge in praise, worship and thanksgiving.
Two main forms of Prayer
Although Prayer is a personal, deep intuitive, approach of the individual to his/her Creator, exceptional occasions arise when the individual human being is weak, such as during sicknesses and overwhelming experiences. In such circumstances intercessions as a special form of petition is efficacious, but this must be carried out in humility and subject to the Creative Will.
In addition, in a world where we are surrounded by evil and every activity, word and even thought tend to separate us from our Creator; we need to continuously turn towards Him, no matter how much effort is required. Prayer also achieves this forceful turning or concentration of our thoughts and effort to the presence of God in our life. In this form, prayer is a planned approach to His Eternal Majesty and deserves all the necessary preparation such Grace warrants.
Prayer therefore is of two major forms: 1. worship in the intuition of the moment (with every single experience of every single moment of life) i.e., spontaneous intuitive prayer and 2. a deliberate conscious approach i.e., formed prayer. The latter include petitions, intercessions, joint hours and sessions of prayer, etc. To be successful however, formed prayer must also involve a movement of our inner or spiritual being. Thus, all forms of prayer to be effective must originate in the intuitive volition or give rise to an intuitive movement.
The bringer of the Grail Message explains and clarifies the two kinds of prayer. “The one arises within you out of your intuition, without reflection, through the experiencing itself, which is therefore the strong intuition of some moment, and which while springing forth yet veils itself in words; and then the other kind, which in the process of reflection forms words beforehand, and in working backwards through the words it seeks only to set free the corresponding intuition, i. e., it wishes to fill the already formed words with intuition”. The Grail Message continues “It is not necessary to form words in order to pray. The words are for you, in order to grant you the support of your intuition, so that it remains more concentrated and does not become dissipated in many varieties… You still need the words as signposts and also as cloaks to keep certain types of your intuitions together, and to envisage more clearly through words whatever you wish to express in prayer. It is to this latter deliberate approach that most of petitioning and intercession belong.
Prayer whatever its form does not require seclusion or asceticism. It can be achieved and should be practiced everywhere and every time. No special qualifications are necessary and there is no prescribed format. It does not even need to be voiced out, or thought about. It is simply to live. It is to experience life and its ups and downs joyfully, with the conviction that “all things work out for good for all who have faith in God”.
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