A Formula for Effective Prayer (Matt. 21:21, 22) ~ Ernest Holmes
"THE THINGS WE NEED, WE ARE TO ASK FOR - and WE ARE TO BELIEVE THAT WE RECEIVE THEM! This plumbs the very depths of the metaphysical and psychological law of our being, and explains the possibility of an answer to our prayers.
When we pray we are to believe that we have. We are surrounded by a universal law which is creative. It moves from the thought to the thing. Unless there is first an image, it cannot move, for there would be nothing for it to move toward. Prayer, which is a mental act, must accept its own answer as an image in mind, before the divine energies can play upon it and make it productive.
As we must plant a seed before we can reap a harvest, so we must believe before our prayers can be answered. Prayer should reach a point of acceptance, an unqualified and undisputed place of agreement. Let us take the mental images of our desires to the bosom of the Creative Life, and here make them known by impressing them upon It with positive belief. If we do this, our prayers will be answered.
But let us remember that true prayer is always universal. There can be no good to us alone, only as that good is for all. This does not mean that we are to refrain from asking what we desire, but that we should wish only for that which is good. For instance, it is good to have a home; it is good for all people to have homes while here on earth; it is right to ask for one, but it would not be right to ask for one belonging to another.
If we wish to pray for a home, we should take the idea of a house with us into the silence and meditate upon its actual being. We should believe that we have and own a home, but we should leave the idea free to fulfill itself, without any definite choosing of how, where, why or when. In this way, we pray aright and when we so pray, we pray effectively. God wills us to have everything. As we express life, we fulfill God's law of abundance, but we do this only as we realize that there is good enough to go around - only as we know that all of God's gifts are given as freely and fully as the air and the sunshine...alike to all.
The Two Great Commandments (Matt. 22:36-41)
The two great commandments are to love God and our brother man. On these hang all the law and the prophets. Love is a complete unity with life, and we cannot enter this state unless we are in unity with all that lives, for all life is One. To love God alone is not enough, for this would exclude our fellowman. To love our fellowman alone is not sufficient, for this would be too limited a concept of God.
When we realize that God and man are One and not two, we shall love both. We shall love man as an expression of God, and God as the Life Principle in all.
From this teaching, we are not to suppose that we are to love that in each other which does not savor of right, we are to love the right alone. We are to look for God in each other and love this God, forgetting all else. But would this compel us to accept from people that which is not good? Of course not! It is not necessary for one to make a doormat of himself in proving that God is love, for this would be like suffering for righteousness' sake, which is always a mistake.
We should be wise in the ways of the world, as well as imbued with Divine wisdom. We are not to mistake a counterfeit for the real, nor accept every man's doctrine lest we disagree. The Truth is positive but non-combative; It is sure of Itself, but never argumentative. It loves sincerity and abhors deceit. Above all else, the Truth is wise, It represents the All-seeing Eye, from which nothing can be hidden. The student of Truth will receive all that comes in the name of the Lord, that is, all that is of the Truth; all else will fall by its own weight.
History Proves the Reality of Truth (Matt. 26:52)
As we glance over the pages of history, this saying of Jesus stands sure and true: "...for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Those nations who have risen by the sword have fallen among the ruins of their own false hopes. History has proven that strife begets strife, that the way of the transgressor is hard.
In international strife, all nations are beaten, in so far as they have taken up the sword in hate, avarice or lust. We do not recognize this apparent power which lasts for a day, for it is but a false gesture, defeating its own purpose as falseness ever must.
Jesus speaking from the viewpoint of Eternal Truth, said that all who take the sword shall perish with it. THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THE BEST TO THE WORLD HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BEST REMEMBERED BY IT, AND MOST LOVED THROUGHOUT THE AGES. If we attempt to measure existence from this short span of life, it would not be explained, and we should find no real answer to life itself. Hate begets hate and strife produces strife. Love alone overcomes all and justifies the eternity of her dominion.
God Turns to Us as We Turn to Him (Luke 15)
The parable of the Prodigal Son constitutes one of the greatest spiritual lessons in the history of religious education. It is an attempt, on the part of the Great Teacher, to show that God turns to us as we turn to Him; that there is a reciprocal action between the Universal and the individual mind; that the Spirit is ready to help us whenever we turn to It.
The greatest lesson we have to learn is the unity of Love and Law; the necessity of law in shaping a divine individuality and the necessity of experience in awakening to this divine individuality.
God is Love and God is Law; the Love of God is omnipresent and the Law of God is omnipresent. The Love of God is the Divine givingness: the eternal outpouring of Spirit through Its creation. The Law of God is the Law of Cause and Effect, which says that we can have only what we take. Since this taking is a mental and spiritual (as well as physical) act, we can take only that to which we are receptive. Jesus taught that it is done unto us as we really believe. "The thought is ever father to the act.""
"THE THINGS WE NEED, WE ARE TO ASK FOR - and WE ARE TO BELIEVE THAT WE RECEIVE THEM! This plumbs the very depths of the metaphysical and psychological law of our being, and explains the possibility of an answer to our prayers.
When we pray we are to believe that we have. We are surrounded by a universal law which is creative. It moves from the thought to the thing. Unless there is first an image, it cannot move, for there would be nothing for it to move toward. Prayer, which is a mental act, must accept its own answer as an image in mind, before the divine energies can play upon it and make it productive.
As we must plant a seed before we can reap a harvest, so we must believe before our prayers can be answered. Prayer should reach a point of acceptance, an unqualified and undisputed place of agreement. Let us take the mental images of our desires to the bosom of the Creative Life, and here make them known by impressing them upon It with positive belief. If we do this, our prayers will be answered.
But let us remember that true prayer is always universal. There can be no good to us alone, only as that good is for all. This does not mean that we are to refrain from asking what we desire, but that we should wish only for that which is good. For instance, it is good to have a home; it is good for all people to have homes while here on earth; it is right to ask for one, but it would not be right to ask for one belonging to another.
If we wish to pray for a home, we should take the idea of a house with us into the silence and meditate upon its actual being. We should believe that we have and own a home, but we should leave the idea free to fulfill itself, without any definite choosing of how, where, why or when. In this way, we pray aright and when we so pray, we pray effectively. God wills us to have everything. As we express life, we fulfill God's law of abundance, but we do this only as we realize that there is good enough to go around - only as we know that all of God's gifts are given as freely and fully as the air and the sunshine...alike to all.
The Two Great Commandments (Matt. 22:36-41)
The two great commandments are to love God and our brother man. On these hang all the law and the prophets. Love is a complete unity with life, and we cannot enter this state unless we are in unity with all that lives, for all life is One. To love God alone is not enough, for this would exclude our fellowman. To love our fellowman alone is not sufficient, for this would be too limited a concept of God.
When we realize that God and man are One and not two, we shall love both. We shall love man as an expression of God, and God as the Life Principle in all.
From this teaching, we are not to suppose that we are to love that in each other which does not savor of right, we are to love the right alone. We are to look for God in each other and love this God, forgetting all else. But would this compel us to accept from people that which is not good? Of course not! It is not necessary for one to make a doormat of himself in proving that God is love, for this would be like suffering for righteousness' sake, which is always a mistake.
We should be wise in the ways of the world, as well as imbued with Divine wisdom. We are not to mistake a counterfeit for the real, nor accept every man's doctrine lest we disagree. The Truth is positive but non-combative; It is sure of Itself, but never argumentative. It loves sincerity and abhors deceit. Above all else, the Truth is wise, It represents the All-seeing Eye, from which nothing can be hidden. The student of Truth will receive all that comes in the name of the Lord, that is, all that is of the Truth; all else will fall by its own weight.
History Proves the Reality of Truth (Matt. 26:52)
As we glance over the pages of history, this saying of Jesus stands sure and true: "...for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Those nations who have risen by the sword have fallen among the ruins of their own false hopes. History has proven that strife begets strife, that the way of the transgressor is hard.
In international strife, all nations are beaten, in so far as they have taken up the sword in hate, avarice or lust. We do not recognize this apparent power which lasts for a day, for it is but a false gesture, defeating its own purpose as falseness ever must.
Jesus speaking from the viewpoint of Eternal Truth, said that all who take the sword shall perish with it. THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THE BEST TO THE WORLD HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BEST REMEMBERED BY IT, AND MOST LOVED THROUGHOUT THE AGES. If we attempt to measure existence from this short span of life, it would not be explained, and we should find no real answer to life itself. Hate begets hate and strife produces strife. Love alone overcomes all and justifies the eternity of her dominion.
God Turns to Us as We Turn to Him (Luke 15)
The parable of the Prodigal Son constitutes one of the greatest spiritual lessons in the history of religious education. It is an attempt, on the part of the Great Teacher, to show that God turns to us as we turn to Him; that there is a reciprocal action between the Universal and the individual mind; that the Spirit is ready to help us whenever we turn to It.
The greatest lesson we have to learn is the unity of Love and Law; the necessity of law in shaping a divine individuality and the necessity of experience in awakening to this divine individuality.
God is Love and God is Law; the Love of God is omnipresent and the Law of God is omnipresent. The Love of God is the Divine givingness: the eternal outpouring of Spirit through Its creation. The Law of God is the Law of Cause and Effect, which says that we can have only what we take. Since this taking is a mental and spiritual (as well as physical) act, we can take only that to which we are receptive. Jesus taught that it is done unto us as we really believe. "The thought is ever father to the act.""
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