A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple, we recommend that
you read the corresponding chapter and section in the Text of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.

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Chapter 9: The Acceptance of the Atonement

Section II: The Answer to Prayer

Read ACIM Chapter 9, Section II (pages 163-166)

What are we believing in when we experience fear?

To ask of the Holy Spirit truly is to ask without fear or judgment. When we have fear, it is because we believe we are an individual, separate identity and with that belief comes belief in loss and harm. That belief makes it impossible to see the truth in our brothers on our own. We need the Holy Spirit to perceive on our behalf and teach us to perceive as He does. This is why it is important for us to bring all our guilt and fear to the Holy Spirit to receive His gentle correction.

What happens when we pray for help but are afraid of the answer?

The purpose of the Course and the Holy Spirit is to help us escape from fear. If we pray for help but are afraid of the answer, we will block awareness of the answer. “There are many answers you have already received but have not yet heard. I assure you that they are waiting for you.” (3:6-7) If we want to keep our autonomy and individuality, we will fear the Holy Spirit’s answers which always lead us to recognition of the one Self we share with all our brothers — the Self that unifies us with God. To find the Love that is the deepest prayer in all our hearts, we must learn to look past individuality, which is how the ego sees. We must accept the truth of unity in the one Self that is the Son of God. The Holy Spirit’s answer to all our prayers is to bring us to the awareness of the Love that is the truth in all things.

If we perceive a brother fearfully, we need to bring this fear to the Holy Spirit with a willingness to receive a new perception. The Holy Spirit will show us the truth beyond the illusion we have believed. Thus will we learn of the truth in ourselves. He teaches us to withdraw our faith in the body and extend our faith instead to the true Self, the Son of God in everyone.

How does Jesus see us?

A key to understanding this section is in paragraph seven where Jesus says, “I love you for the truth in you, as God does. Your deceptions may deceive you, but they cannot deceive me. Knowing what you are, I cannot doubt you. I hear only the Holy Spirit in you, Who speaks to me through you.” (7:1-4) By explaining how he sees us, Jesus is giving us an example of how we should perceive our brothers. Jesus has aligned himself completely with the Holy Spirit so all his interpretations are the Holy Spirit’s interpretations.

What does Jesus mean when he says, “Never doubt a Son of God.”?

This is what we all are to learn. This is what it means when it says in paragraph four, “Never doubt a Son of God.” (4:1) When we let the Holy Spirit guide our perception, we see no one as a body and do not confuse the behavior of the body with the Son of God. The Son of God remains as he was created, Love and nothing else. It is this and only this the Holy Spirit sees in all our brothers.

As we learn to align our minds with the Holy Spirit, this is what we will perceive. This is the true Self we all share. And it is this we are to have faith in. Because the body and what it seems to do are illusions, it is meaningless to put faith in them. But as we put our faith in the true Self, we see in everyone what we recognize as our true Self, which is one and the same.

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