Praying for Perfection
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LeeMartini on
8/17/2011 12:28:10 PM
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Greetings all,
Once again I offer to you other Divinely inspired scripture to afford you the opportunity to see other words and teachings from Jesus. Not all Divinely inspired scripture is contained within the “Christian Bible” and not all scripture is divinely ordained. The following contains such words that Jesus of Nazareth taught his apostles.
2. THE DISCOURSE ON PRAYER
(Jesus said) "John indeed taught you a simple form of prayer: 'O Father, cleanse us from sin, show us your glory, reveal your love, and let your spirit sanctify our hearts forevermore, Amen!' He taught this prayer that you might have something to teach the multitude. He did not intend that you should use such a set and formal petition as the expression of your own souls in prayer. "Prayer is entirely a personal and spontaneous expression of the attitude of the soul toward the spirit; prayer should be the communion of and the expression of fellowship. Prayer, when encouraged by the spirit, leads to co-operative spiritual progress. The ideal prayer is a form of spiritual communion which leads to intelligent worship. True praying is the sincere attitude of reaching heavenward for the attainment of your ideals.
(Jesus said) "Prayer is the breath of the soul and should lead you to be persistent in your attempt to ascertain your Heavenly Father’s will. If any one of you has a neighbor, and you go to him at midnight and say: Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine on a journey has come to see me, and I have nothing to set before him'; and if your neighbor answers, Trouble me not, for the door is now shut and the children and I are in bed; therefore I cannot rise and give you bread,' you will persist, explaining that your friend hungers, and that you have no food to offer him. I say to you, though your neighbor will not rise and give you bread because he is your friend, yet because of your importance, he will get up and give you as many loaves as you need. If, then, persistence will win favors even from mortal man, how much more will your persistence in the spirit win the bread of life for you from the willing hands of the Father in heaven. Again I say to you: Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For every one who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door of salvation will be opened. "Which of you who is a father, if his son asks unwisely, would hesitate to give in accordance with parental wisdom rather than in the terms of the son's faulty petition? If the child needs a loaf, will you give him a stone just because he unwisely asks for it? If your son needs a fish, will you give him a water snake just because it may chance to come up in the net with the fish and the child foolishly asks for the serpent? If you, then, being mortal and finite, know how to answer prayer and give good and appropriate gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the spirit and many additional blessings to those who ask him? Men ought always to pray and not become discouraged. "Let me tell you the story of a certain judge who lived in a wicked city. This judge feared not God nor had respect for man. Now there was a needy widow in that city who came repeatedly to this unjust judge, saying, Protect me from my adversary.' For some time he would not give ear to her, but presently he said to himself: Though I fear not God nor have regard for man, yet because this widow ceases not to trouble me, I will justify her lest she wear me out by her continual coming.' These stories I tell you to encourage you to persist in praying and not to suggest that your petitions will change the just and righteous Father above. Your persistence, however, is not to win favor with God but to change your earthly attitude and to enlarge your soul's capacity for spirit receptivity. "Genuine faith will remove mountains of material difficulty which may chance to lie in the path of spiritual progress."
3. THE BELIEVER'S PRAYER
But the apostles were not yet satisfied; they desired Jesus to give them a model prayer which they could teach new disciples. After listening to this discourse on prayer, James Zebedee said: "Very good, Master, but we do not desire a form of prayer for ourselves so much as for the newer believers who so frequently beseech us, Teach us how acceptably to pray to the Father in heaven.'" When James had finished speaking, Jesus said: "If, then, you still desire such a prayer, I would present the one which I taught my brothers and sisters in Nazareth":
Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come; your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our bread for tomorrow;
Refresh our souls with the water of life.
And forgive us every one our debts
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
Save us in temptation, deliver us from evil,
And increasingly make us perfect like yourself.
It is not strange that the apostles desired Jesus to teach them a model prayer for believers. John the Baptist had taught his followers several prayers; all great teachers had formulated prayers for their pupils. The religious teachers of the Jews had some twenty-five or thirty set prayers which they recited in the synagogues and even on the street corners. Jesus was particularly averse to praying in public. Up to this time the twelve had heard him pray only a few times. They observed him spending entire nights at prayer or worship, and they were very curious to know the manner or form of his petitions. They were really hard pressed to know what to answer the multitudes when they asked to be taught how to pray as John had taught his disciples.
Jesus taught the twelve always to pray in secret; to go off by themselves amidst the quiet surroundings of nature or to go in their rooms and shut the doors when they engaged in prayer. After Jesus' death and ascension to the Father it became the practice of many believers to finish this so-called Lord's prayer by the addition of--"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Still later on, two lines were lost in copying, and there was added to this prayer an extra clause, reading: "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forevermore." Jesus gave the apostles the prayer in collective form as they had prayed it in the Nazareth home. He never taught a formal personal prayer, only group, family, or social petitions. And he never volunteered to do that. Jesus taught that effective prayer must be:
1. Unselfish--not alone for oneself.
2. Believing--according to faith.
3. Sincere--honest of heart.
4. Intelligent--according to light.
5. Trustful--in submission to the Father's all-wise will.
When Jesus spent whole nights on the mountain in prayer, it was mainly for his disciples, particularly for the twelve. The Master prayed very little for himself.
4. MORE ABOUT PRAYER
For days after the discourse on prayer the apostles continued to ask the Master questions regarding this all-important and worshipful practice. Jesus' instruction to the apostles during these days, regarding prayer and worship, is as follows:
The earnest and longing repetition of any petition, when such a prayer is the sincere expression of a child of God and is uttered in faith, no matter how ill-advised or impossible of direct answer, never fails to expand the soul's capacity for spiritual receptivity. In all praying, remember that sonship is a gift, no child aught to do with earning the status of son or daughter. The child comes into being by the will of its parents. Even so, the child of God comes into grace and the new life of the spirit by the will of the Father in heaven. Therefore must the kingdom of heaven, divine sonship, be received as by a child. You earn righteousness, progressive character development, but you receive sonship by grace and through faith. Prayer led Jesus up to the communion of his soul with the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Prayer will lead the mortals of earth up to the communion of true worship. The individual’s spiritual capacity for receiving determines the quantity of heavenly blessings which can be personally approached and realized as an answer to prayer. Prayer and its associated worship is a technique of detachment from the daily routine of life, from the dull grind of this existence. It is an avenue of approach to self-realization and intellectual attainment. Prayer is an cure for harmful internal inspection. At least, prayer as Jesus taught, is a benefit to the soul. He consistently employed the beneficial of praying for one's fellows. Jesus usually prayed in the plural, not in the singular. Only in the great crises of his earth life did Jesus ever pray for himself. Prayer is the breath of the spirit life among mankind.
As prayer may be likened to recharging the spiritual batteries of the soul, so worship may be compared to the act of tuning in the soul to catch the universe broadcasts of the infinite spirit of the Universal Father. Prayer is the sincere and longing look of the child to its spirit Father, it is a psychological process of exchanging the human will for the divine will. Prayer is a part of the divine plan for making over that which is, into that which ought to be. One of the reasons why Peter, James, and John, who so often accompanied Jesus on his long night vigils, never heard Jesus pray, was because their Master so rarely uttered his prayers as spoken words. Practically all of Jesus' praying was done in the spirit and in the heart- silently.
5. OTHER FORMS OF PRAYER
From time to time, during the remainder of Jesus' sojourn on earth, He brought to the notice of the apostles several additional forms of prayer, but He did this only in illustration of other matters, and He enjoined that these "parable prayers" should not be taught to the multitudes.
Our Father in whom consist the universe realms,
Uplifted be your name and all-glorious your character.
Your presence encompasses us, and your glory is manifested
Imperfectly through us as it is in perfection shown on high.
Give us this day the vitalizing forces of light,
And let us not stray into the evil bypaths of our imagination,
For yours is the glorious indwelling, the everlasting power,
And to us, the eternal gift of the infinite love of your Son.
Even so, and everlastingly true.
***
Our creative Parent, who is in the center of the universe,
Bestow upon us your nature and give to us your character.
Make us sons and daughters of yours by grace
And glorify your name through our eternal achievement.
Your adjusting and controlling spirit give to live and dwell within us
That we may do your will on this sphere as angels do your bidding in light.
Sustain us this day in our progress along the path of truth.
Deliver us from evil and all sinful transgression.
Be patient with us as we show loving-kindness to our fellows.
Shed abroad the spirit of your mercy in our creature hearts.
Lead us by your own hand, step by step, through the uncertain maze of life,
And when our end shall come, receive into your own bosom our faithful spirits.
Even so, not our desires but your will be done.
***
Our perfect and righteous heavenly Father,
This day guide and direct our journey.
Sanctify our steps and co-ordinate our thoughts.
Ever lead us in the ways of eternal progress.
Fill us with wisdom to the fullness of power
And vitalize us with your infinite energy.
Inspire us with the divine consciousness and guidance of the heavenly hosts.
Guide us ever upward in the pathway of light;
Justify us fully in the day of the great judgment.
Make us like yourself in eternal glory
And receive us into your endless service on high.
***
Our Father who is in the mystery,
Reveal to us your holy character.
Give your children on earth this day
To see the way, the light, and the truth.
Show us the pathway of eternal progress
And give us the will to walk therein.
Establish within us your divine kingship
And thereby bestow upon us the full mastery of self.
Let us not stray into paths of darkness and death;
Lead us everlastingly beside the waters of life.
Hear these our prayers for your own sake;
Be pleased to make us more and more like yourself.
At the end, for the sake of the divine Son,
Receive us into the eternal arms.
Even so, not our will but yours be done.
***
Our all-faithful Source and all-powerful Center,
Reverent and holy be your name.
Your bounties and your blessings have descended upon us,
Thus empowering us to perform your will and execute your bidding.
Give us moment by moment the sustenance of the tree of life;
Refresh us day by day with the living waters of the river thereof.
Step by step lead us out of darkness and into the divine light.
Renew our minds by the transformations of the indwelling spirit,
And when the mortal end shall finally come upon us,
Receive us to yourself and send us forth in eternity.
Crown us with fruitful service and we shall glorify the Father, Son, and Holy Influence.
Even so, throughout a universe without end.
***
Our Father who dwells in the secret places of the universe,
Honored be your name, reverence for your mercy, and respected be your judgment..
Lead us by the hand in the ways of your own choosing
And forsake us not when the path is hard and the hours are dark.
Forget us not as we so often neglect and forget you.
But be you merciful and love us as we desire to love you.
Look down upon us in kindness and forgive us in mercy
As we in justice forgive those who distress and injure us.
***
May the love, devotion, and bestowal of Jesus make available life everlasting with your endless mercy and love for others. May the God of universe bestow upon us the full measure of His spirit and give us grace to yield to the leading of this spirit. By the loving ministry of His administration, may His Spirit guide and lead us to make us ever and increasingly like Himself. We can profit much from all of these revelations in our personal experiences…
May God continue to work in your heart and bless you more, Lee
