Prayer is Essential to Happiness ~ Ernest Holmes
"Prayer is not an act of overcoming God's reluctance, but should be an active acceptance of His highest willingness. Through prayer we recognize a spiritual law, that has always existed, and put ourselves in alignment with it. The law of electricity might have been used by Moses had he understood this law. Emerson said: "Is not prayer a study of truth, a sally of the Soul into the unfound Infinite?"
Prayer is constructive, because it enables us to establish closer contact with the Fountain of Wisdom, and we are less likely to be influenced by appearances around us - to judge "according to appearance." Righteous prayer sets the "law of the Spirit of Life" in motion for us.
Prayer is essential, not to the salvation of the soul, for the soul is never lost; but to the conscious well-being of the soul that does not understand itself. There is a vitality in our communion with the Infinite, which is productive of the highest good. As fire warms the body, as food strengthens us, as sunshine raises our spirits, so there is a subtle transfusion of some invisible force in such communion, weaving itself into the very warp and woof of our own mentalities. This conscious commingling of our thought with Spirit is essential to the well-being of every part of us.
Prayer has stimulated countless millions of people to higher thoughts and nobler deeds. That which tends to connect our minds with the Universal Mind lets in a flood of Its consciousness. If we think of God as a Heavenly Dictator - something apart from that which lives and moves and has Its being where we are - then we are certain to believe ourselves disconnected from this Infinite Presence; and the inevitable consequence of such thinking would be a terrible fear that we should never be able to make contact with Him! But if we know God as an Indwelling Presence, our prayer is naturally addressed to this Presence in us. We long for, and need, a conscious union with the Infinite. This is as necessary to the nature and intellect of man, as food is to the well-being of his physical body."
"Prayer is not an act of overcoming God's reluctance, but should be an active acceptance of His highest willingness. Through prayer we recognize a spiritual law, that has always existed, and put ourselves in alignment with it. The law of electricity might have been used by Moses had he understood this law. Emerson said: "Is not prayer a study of truth, a sally of the Soul into the unfound Infinite?"
Prayer is constructive, because it enables us to establish closer contact with the Fountain of Wisdom, and we are less likely to be influenced by appearances around us - to judge "according to appearance." Righteous prayer sets the "law of the Spirit of Life" in motion for us.
Prayer is essential, not to the salvation of the soul, for the soul is never lost; but to the conscious well-being of the soul that does not understand itself. There is a vitality in our communion with the Infinite, which is productive of the highest good. As fire warms the body, as food strengthens us, as sunshine raises our spirits, so there is a subtle transfusion of some invisible force in such communion, weaving itself into the very warp and woof of our own mentalities. This conscious commingling of our thought with Spirit is essential to the well-being of every part of us.
Prayer has stimulated countless millions of people to higher thoughts and nobler deeds. That which tends to connect our minds with the Universal Mind lets in a flood of Its consciousness. If we think of God as a Heavenly Dictator - something apart from that which lives and moves and has Its being where we are - then we are certain to believe ourselves disconnected from this Infinite Presence; and the inevitable consequence of such thinking would be a terrible fear that we should never be able to make contact with Him! But if we know God as an Indwelling Presence, our prayer is naturally addressed to this Presence in us. We long for, and need, a conscious union with the Infinite. This is as necessary to the nature and intellect of man, as food is to the well-being of his physical body."
No comments:
Post a Comment