MEDITATIVE PRAYER
MEDITATIVE PRAYER
Nancy Detweiler, M.Ed., M. Div.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
The Hebrew words in this verse can be translated in a variety of ways, all of which enhance its meaning.
Cease from labor, and experience God.
Sit still, and perceive God.
Rest, and gain knowledge of God.
Rest from labor, and find out about God.
Lamsa translates the Aramaic of the Peshitta to read: “Repent, and know that I am God.”
Meditative prayer is different from the traditional concept of prayer, which is usually considered “talking to God.” Meditative prayer is attuning to God in order to view life through God’s eyes. During this meditative prayer, we can affirm perfect health, the perfect vocation or relationship, and the perfect unfolding of whatever situation concerns us. These affirmations (or positive statements) are made with the request that all be done in accordance with Divine Will and the highest good for everyone concerned. Meditative prayer recognizes the essential ingredient that Jesus taught in Mark 11:24: “Anything you pray for and ask, believe that you will receive it, and it will be done for you.” I would like to add another perspective to prayer.
Elizabeth Claire Prophet’s Divine Self Chart
We see depicted in the Divine Self Chart multiple bodies combining to create our multi-dimensional being. Our lower self consists of the physical, etheric, emotional, and mental bodies. A measure of spiritual maturity is required in order to be consciously aware of our higher bodies, which include the Christ Self and the I AM PRESENCE. The Christ Self is also referred to as the Higher (or Intuitive) Mind and the Higher Self. The soul resides at the Christ Self level and our indwelling God is the part of our being called the I AM PRESENCE. Thus, in our entirety, we exist on seven ascending vibratory or dimensional levels. As we awaken spiritually, we attune gradually to the higher vibrations of our being.
During prayer, most of us envision some type of entity to whom we are praying: God, Spirit, or a Higher Being. Though we may know better than to personify God as the “man upstairs,” we still tend to think of this Being as separate from us, even while we intellectually affirm “I am one with God.” We pray to “something larger than ourselves.” A new perspective would be to recognize that we are praying to parts of ourselves: our Christ Self and our I AM PRESENCE—the part of us that is God.
The Christ Self acts as the mediator between the lower self and the I AM PRESENCE. Through our I AM PRESENCE, we are connected to all that is … we are one with God … we have access to the fulfillment of all our needs. God is a part of us; we are a part of God. For example: When we say, “there is no pain” … “there is no evil” … “there is no lack,” we are referring to the conditions on the I AM PRESENCE dimensional level. These statements of Truth reveal the potential for perfection that is ours as we attune to our Christ Self and I AM PRESENCE. They are not meant to lead us into denying the conditions experienced on the vibratory level of our physical, emotional, and lower mental (intellectual) bodies. The lower mental body signifies our Intellect, which seeks tangible, visible proof on the physical plane. The Higher Mental body is our Intuition, which knows Truth because it is attuned to the 5th or higher dimensions of perfection and enters our knowing through one of the higher chakras: heart, third eye, or crown chakra.
WARNING: Intuition is not to be confused with a psychic capacity. Many psychic experiences can come from the astral plane through the solar plexus chakra. The astral plane is not a plane of perfection and many misguided messages can come from this plane.
The physical, emotional, and lower mental states of humanity are our instruments for spiritual evolvement. They allow us to learn the arts of forgiveness, self-discipline, using our freewill to choose the Good, compassion, and selflessness. It would be a much slower process to learn these skills in a paradise world. That’s why Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. They, as representatives of Earth’s humanity, chose to know both good and evil—to reside on the plane of duality. Humanity would now evolve into gods and goddesses by learning to live in the world with all its temptations, while choosing only the Good. In this manner, we become gods and goddesses via our own freewill choice and self-discipline. We develop our capacity for wisdom, power, and love through the process of trial and error. We undergo the initiations of Jesus, a Wayshower, as revealed in the article entitled Ascension at: http://www.pathwaytoascension.com/ascension.html Otherwise, the human kingdom would be like the angelic kingdom.
Angels know only perfection. Wherever they belong in the angelic hierarchy, they do the bidding of those with authority over them. They do not individualize to the extent human beings do. (As I write these words, I am told by Spirit that this statement is as close to the Truth about angels as we can comprehend; however, it is not the complete Truth. Hopefully, all of us know that we perceive Truth at the level at which our human minds are capable. Comparatively speaking, humanity’s knowledge and understanding is miniscule.)
Charles Fillmore describes this process of becoming gods and goddesses in his chapter on “Reincarnation” in The Essential Charles Fillmore. “Life is continuous and in harmony with the wholeness of Being only when it is expressed in a perfect body; hence man must have a body in order to gain an abiding consciousness of life. Through repeated trials at living, man is finding out that he must learn to control the issues of life in his body …. The personal man with all his limitations, all his relations, must give way to the universal, the Christ man.” Thus, to attune to and affirm perfection does not mean that we deny physical plane limitations; but that we strive to lift our consciousness to the level of perfection and learn to manifest that perfection in our physical plane lives as Jesus did.
How did Jesus do so? Read the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We find Jesus fulfilling the prerequisites detailed in the various translations of “Be still, and know that I am God.” He separated from the crowds and his disciples and spent time alone, attuning to the vibration of his I AM PRESENCE or, in his words, “the Father within me.” He spent entire nights in meditative prayer. We, too, are to fulfill the prerequisites of prayer and meditation.
We are to cease our labors. The western culture exalts the type A lifestyle with its frenzy of constant activity. Society teaches us: successful persons live a busy life. How else can we be successful? How else can we fulfill the myriad requirements placed upon us by the various roles we play? Jesus did so by ceasing his labors, leaving the crowds of people clamoring for his attention, and spending time in meditative prayer.
We are to rest, to sit still. Even though Brother Lawrence’s concept of “practicing the presence” is a marvelous tool for spiritual attunement, the Psalmist is indicating something different. To rest or sit still means to set aside everything else and “be still.” On the seventh day, God rested … God created the Sabbath for a day of rest. This period of rest is an integral part of the cycle of creation and life. It is the time that culminates in completion. The number vibration of seven signifies completion. In other words, when we omit the Sabbath—meaning regular periods of rest or being still and attuning to God—we fail to complete our purpose for incarnating on the physical plane of duality. Our activity on the physical plane is to realize completion by sitting still and resting within the energy of our I AM PRESENCE. We are replenished and healed as we attune to that level of ourselves that abides in perfection and love. It is within this energy that we receive the answer to all prayers. Herein, we assimilate perfection so that we can manifest it within our daily lives.
We are to repent, meaning to do an “about-face.” We are to turn from involvement in the world and to look toward our I AM PRESENCE. For it is only as we concentrate our attention on our I AM PRESENCE that we can accomplish the remaining imperatives put forth by the Psalmist.
In the quietude of resting and sitting still, we are to experience God. Again, I find the diagram of our Divine Self helpful. Although our seven bodies are actually interpenetrated rather than stacked one on top of the other, it is informative to visualize in meditation the cord of light extending downward from the I AM PRESENCE, thru the Christ Self, and into our lower bodies through the crown chakra. In this manner, we begin to get a sense of our entire being. We experience God as part of ourselves when we lift our consciousness to the I AM PRESENCE level, if only for a split second.
“Be still, and know that I am God” can be read metaphysically as: Be still and know your I AM PRESENCE. The Hebrew word translated to know can mean to know on an intimate level physically. To know our I AM PRESENCE intimately is to merge consciously with our indwelling God. As we merge our lower being with our Higher Being, we experience God. We can begin to view life from God’s perspective. Often, what we realize is that the very situations in our lives that we are resisting are the vehicles for our greatest growth. With this insight, we can stop resisting the situations and see within them the perfect unfolding of Divine Order. We realize that what appears to be imperfection on the physical plane can be the perfect vehicle for our spiritual growth. For example: Charles Fillmore appeared to lack a perfect physical body. One leg was shorter than the other. However, this appearance of imperfection ended up being the perfect means for urging him to merge with his I AM PRESENCE and to bring the consciousness of a perfect limb into his physical plane awareness. As a result, Fillmore increased the length of his leg by several inches. This healing of self led him into the establishment of a healing prayer ministry that is now known throughout the planet as Silent Unity. Thousands of persons have received healing. What appeared as imperfection on the physical plane was, in actuality, the perfect vehicle for the creation of the Unity Movement. The avenues for perfection may surprise us!
We are to gain knowledge of our I AM PRESENCE. As we sit in meditative prayer and experience our I AM PRESENCE, we come to know that we are connected to all that is. We can pray for others by merging our conscious awareness with our I AM PRESENCE, then allowing our attention to expand into the I AM PRESENCES of those for whom we are praying. As we sit still at this level of perfection within ourselves and others, we can then affirm perfection manifesting within the physical and emotional bodies of all concerned. We see and feel that perfection. Our prayers are answered as we concentrate on the perfection that already exists within all of us. The I AM PRESENCE can know only perfection. Therefore, at this vibratory level of our being, perfection is all that is.
Rest from labor, and find out about God becomes an exciting adventure is self-discovery. We are the Being to whom we pray. We are the answers to our own prayers.
BENEDICTION
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
