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THIRTY-FIFTH
DAY
PRAYER
(2)
Ques. What is true Prayer?
Ans. True Prayer is the devotion of man’s
soul to his true interests, the earnest appeal by the soul for delivery from the
dominion of Sense, and for the vision of the permanent and enduring life which
is its Birth-right. Prayer for earthly blessings, for money, life, health, in so
far as all these are due to bodily causes, cannot appeal to the highest within
or without man; and if it appears to be answered, this is the result of
coincidence or else of the influence (more powerful than men dream of) it bears
over the minds and actions of those who are capable of answering it. It is the
result of a strong will over things of sense. The body and brain of man are made
use of in true prayer as the ministers to that within him
which endures.
In false prayer the within and everlasting is used to minister to the external
and evanescent, and the true order of evolution is reversed.
Ques. Is spiritual prayer answered?
Ans. Yes, if the soul cling resolutely to
her Origin. According to the sincerity and strength of this devotion is the
Origin of her being made known unto her, and she sees and knows truth.
(In answer to a question.)
The dream you speak of was of us. We would have you resign yourself into our
hands assured that we are your friends and Earth’s friends, faithful that no
evil shall come; yet proving afterwards all you write by
(p. 69)
earnest comparison, and earnest
seeking out with the understanding, of all that it contains of gold and all of
dross, separating the one from the other.
It is quite true that if your life were more in harmony with your ideal, we
could direct your mind more truly.
The friction, the inequalities, the struggle between your higher and your lower
self, the want of faith in the Celestial, are serious hindrances to our work,
and to your own advancement in the knowledge of God.
We cannot tell you that which in the innermost depths of your own spirit you do
not know, because your spirit and all men’s spirits are of God and may possess
God, and we possess no more.
But we can help you; we can point you and all men to this fact, to the light
which shines within the glowing promise from on high which is fulfilled in man
only through conscious faith.
When ye know, as we know, that God exists within you and not apart from you only;
when ye seek deep down in your own souls for the kingdom of Heaven, then shall
ye attain to that birth of the Spirit of which Christ said, “Except a man be
born of water and of Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.”
That which you need on Earth is the interpretation of your Bibles, and of all
the Scriptures which contain the hidden wisdom, the mystery of which
This interpretation can only come to you through that “Spirit” which Christ
likened to the wind. “No man knoweth whence it cometh nor whither it goeth.”
Christ knew that this “Spirit” was quite other than the intelligence of the wise
man (Nicodemus) which was unable to decipher the meaning even of earthly things.
As you read and think
more, more will be manifested to you. Faint not, neither be discouraged; for
this stage of deeply felt need of truth precedes the manifestation of
(p. 70)
truth. Read over all you have
written, and arrange it to harmonize with your truest understanding. Then shall
we show you more.
(In answer to a question.)
To arouse in man a
sense of his own darkness is the first step.
The establishment in
man’s mind of a conviction of the law of growth, or continuous approach of
Nature to a higher standard; the apprehension by man that there has been
throughout the history of his Planet an unceasing reconstruction by Nature, in
her attempts to attain to that which is above her, – these have developed in man
a certitude of faith that this remodeling, this gradual drawing nigh to
perfection, shall continue in himself, Earth’s highest expression of being. And
this is the Rock of Understanding (Peter) on which Christ builds now this new
Earth and new Heavens, foretold by the prophets of old.
(In answer to a
question.)
You flag and fall
because your faith is so weak. But it shall grow. Order your house more
carefully, and love all around you without stint. Your love requires to grow and
radiate in an ever-increasing circle. There is no end, no limit, to the
circumference of love. True love can never cease to expand.
A good analogy is the
pebble thrown into water, only that there is a limit to water but none to the
spiritual ocean over which true love circles. What stops you now is the need of
truer spiritual life and being within yourself all speculation, all knowledge even,
is dangerous which does not go hand in hand with practical effort, which does
not eventuate in Action.
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