God communicates with His spiritual creation, and if our consciousness is alert, and if we listen, we can hear the ‘still small voice.’ There is no two-way communication between God and man. He ‘knows all’ and is continually sending us the answers, even to our unasked questions.
Yesterday while out walking with a friend, we stopped to chat with a neighbor. She was very distraught and in tears; this was the date her twenty-four-year-old grandson had died five years ago. She cried out, “Why did God do this?”
This why question I have heard many times. I asked why many years ago myself. I turned away from God because I believed he had either allowed the abuse I suffered or had not saved me from it. Either way, what good was he. I am so grateful that my spiritual studies have led me to understand that God does not bring disaster and despair. They are not a part of His good creation.
If this dear woman would stop blaming God and let Him, He would work with her to heal her grief and bring some joy back into her life.
As God’s image and likeness His idea, we are spiritual and eternal. When we dispose of the bodies of those that have passed on, the spiritual idea of God continues unchanged. We move on to a higher level of consciousness and are still working out our salvation.
Heaven and hell are not places; they are states of mind. Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven is within.” When we do something good or help someone, we feel good. That is a heavenly state of mind. When we do something unkind, lie, or cheat, we beat ourselves up and feel guilty; this is a hellish state of mind. We create our heaven and hell, and it happens here and now, not in the hereafter. As I move from one level of consciousness to the next, I hope my understanding evolves so my next level will be better than this one. If progress is the law of God, and I believe it is, then that hope can be realized.
“When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much.”
“The true sense of being and its eternal perfection should appear now, even as it will hereafter.”
“Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.”
“Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way.”
The above four quotes are from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy. p. 550:12, p.254:10, p.485:14–17, p.326:20–21.
A little at a time, we can witness God’s good creation here. That is what makes all our efforts worthwhile. It is like making a patchwork quilt one square at a time. We may not finish it in this experience. Still, we can add more squares with each new experience (level of consciousness) we attain.
The purpose of our prayers is to open our thought, to acknowledge our spiritual relation to God. God is our Life. Jesus gave us the Lord’s prayer, which shows us how to pray. It is a model for our prayers.
Our prayers should draw us closer to God, to understand more clearly our relation to Him, and allow us to hear His voice. Then He will reveal to us what is in our thought that is blocking our progress, preventing us from seeing God’s creation. Jesus saw nothing but God’s creation, and that is what allowed him to bring to light both mental and physical health, supply to the needy, calm the storm, and much more. God’s creation is here now.
What gives prayer its power is the recognition that God is the only power. He is the source of our life. He maintains our physical and mental health. A total faith in him, a complete understanding of who we are as His child, and the knowledge that we are inseparable from Him, as His idea, brings the power of God into our lives and makes life harmonious.
Without faith and understanding, God still maintains his spiritual idea, but we will not see the perfection of His creation. When we believe we are in control of our world, we see all our fears made manifest instead of God’s beautiful, loving creation.
That is what prayer is supposed to do. Asking why and pleading with God to do what He has already done for us does not open His creation for us to see. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” We need to bring those unseen things to light. His creation is already here; we need to open our hearts and eyes, give back to God what He is giving to us; we are His likeness, we need to act like it. Then we will witness all the Good He created for us.
God is always there for us, but are we there for him? Are we giving back to Him what He gave to us? That is what is meant by reflection, image, and likeness. When we do that, then we will never need to ask why again. We will know as we are known.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
From Jesus’ sermon on the mount, “… when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matthew 6:6–8
Jesus prefaced the Lord’s prayer with, “After this manner therefore pray ye:” Matthew 6:9. That is the pattern for prayer. It is a beautiful prayer, and if we are praying for something specific, we need to do more than repeat his words. Prayer should change the nature of the one who prays, so we can witness God’s creation.
I. Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. * Start by acknowledging who God is.
II. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. * God is ever-present. Acknowledge that God rules Heaven and Earth; he is supreme, trust Him.
III. Give us this day our daily bread. * The teachings of Christ Jesus give us our daily spiritual nourishment.
IV. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. * “Love is reflected in love:” Expose and deny any mortal beliefs, that are preventing us from seeing God’s creation.
V. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. * Handle any beliefs that would draw you away from God. God does not tempt us but delivers us from temptation.
VI. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. * Reaffirm the truth about God’s power, that he rules with Love, overall, and All. Trust Him.
Do not ask why; know why not. Love to all, Michele
Out of Darkness, Into the Light 