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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 7. 1-5-15

II. The Answer to Prayer, P 7
7 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. If you would hear me, hear my brothers in whom God’s Voice speaks. The answer to all prayers lies in them. You will be answered as you hear the answer in everyone. Do not listen to anything else or you will not hear truly.

Journal

Sometimes I do this; I hear only the truth no matter what my brother’s words seem to be saying. When this happens I feel only love and certainty for him. I also feel the same for me. So I know what Jesus is talking about here. When this happens for me it is not because I am using my ego will to make it happen. It happens because in that moment I am open to the truth. The desire comes directly from my heart, not from my mind.

This is hard to explain or put into words because it is not an ego thing and explanations and words are. But if I were to symbolize it with words it might work something like this.

My friend says, “I’m so confused right now that I don’t even know what to ask you.”
What I hear is, “I love God so much.”

What I say out loud is, “Let’s talk about it.”
My inner response is, “Me, too!”

I imagine that this is the way my innermost conversations with Jesus go, too. He says in this paragraph that he is not deceived by my ego mind. He knows the truth in me and doesn’t get confused by my confusion. I am so grateful for that. And I want to do this for my brothers all the time, not just sometimes. I want to hear only the truth when they speak. I know it is possible because I do it sometimes.

We all do it sometimes. I think about when my kids were young, and would get angry and lash out at me. I would tell my little boy that he couldn’t have something he thought he had to have, and he would yell that he hated me. I would look at that sweet little face all twisted up in frustration and anger and my heart would just melt.

The words were meaningless. I knew that as soon as he got distracted by his next great idea, he would not even remember being angry with me. My child said angry words, but I heard his heart. I heard only the truth. I bet a lot of mom’s have had the same experience. What if I could apply the same degree of loving clarity to everyone? Well, that is what I desire. I want to hear only the truth no matter what my brother says.

So how do I do that? How do I reach that kind of clarity? The only thing I need to do is to allow my own mind to be healed. When my child lashed out in anger he was only doing what a three year old does. He was actually behaving age appropriate. There was nothing wrong with him. If I had taken his words seriously, I would have been the one with the problem.

Getting upset because a three year old expressed his frustration would not be age appropriate behavior for a 35 year old. If I reacted to my child’s anger it would only be because I believed that I was an unworthy mom and my child was right to hate me. It would be my mind that needed to be healed.

It is always the same. If my boss gets frustrated and takes his anger out on me, and if I become afraid that I could lose my job, then I will likely respond according to my fear. So the solution would be to notice my response, realize that my mind is confused if I think the Son of God has anything to fear, and ask that my mind be healed.

Without ego thinking blocking the truth that is in both our minds, I become naturally open and loving. With the channels cleared of my wrong minded thinking, I wait for the words that are needed to come into my mind. I hear the call for love and I answer it with love. I have had both experiences. I have responded to fear with fear, and I have responded to the love behind the fear with love. Experience has shown me that both are possible, and it has taught me which I want.

Here is what comes to me when I think about this paragraph. No matter how a person is behaving or what they are saying, I will look at them and remember who stands before me. This is the Christ. If I hear anything other than love, I must be listening to the ego with the ego. That can only be because I forgot what I am. I allow the Holy Spirit to remind me that I stand as Christ before Christ. I open my heart to Love.

My willingness is all the Holy Spirit needs from me. He will do the rest.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 6. 1-2-15

II. The Answer to Prayer, P 5
6 You can no more pray for yourself alone than you can find joy for yourself alone. Prayer is the restatement of inclusion, directed by the Holy Spirit under the laws of God. Salvation is of your brother. The Holy Spirit extends from your mind to his, and answers you. You cannot hear the Voice for God in yourself alone, because you are not alone. And His answer is only for what you are. You will not know the trust I have in you unless you extend it. You will not trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or believe that it is for you unless you hear it in others. It must be for your brother because it is for you. Would God have created a Voice for you alone? Could you hear His answer except as He answers all of God’s Sons? Hear of your brother what you would have me hear of you, for you would not want me to be deceived.

I was trying to untangle this paragraph in my mind when I realized it was really very simple. There is one Son of God and we are It. There can be no difference between us because we are created One. Again, I return to the thought that Christ had a tiny mad idea and remembered not to laugh at it, but to consider it in all its ramifications, to experience it in full color and virtual reality. So the Christ fell asleep and dreamed it was many.

Myron is one of the many being dreamed by the Christ Mind, as are all the others. But in reality, there remains the One. How could there be any difference between us, except in the dream. If we are enjoying the dream and want to remain in it longer, then we can go on pretending that we are separate individuals with different needs and abilities. But if you feel like I do, and I assume you do or you wouldn’t be studying the Course, then you are ready to wake up from the dream and return to Reality.

The first thing we must do to awaken from a dream is to realize we are dreaming. Jesus is helping us to do this. He is pointing out obvious clues to let us know when we are dreaming and when we are not. It reminds me of the movie, Inception. In the movie when the character knew the clues to look for, they could tell it was the dream. But if they got too deep into the dream, they would forget they were dreaming and needed a totem to let them know what was reality and what was illusion.

Jesus is telling us that if we think we can pray for something for ourselves alone, that is a clue that we are still dreaming. How could one being pray for something that is not for all of that being? The very act of doing so indicates we are deep into the dream. If the dream is of experiencing ourselves as many, awakening from the dream will be remembering that we are one. The very fact that we are willing to accept that it might be a dream and to desire, to even a small degree, to be free of the dream sets into motion the plan of Awakening.

So I have asked the Holy Spirit to keep me alert to the clues that I am dreaming, so that I can change my mind about remaining in the illusion. That is my part, and it is absolutely necessary that I do my part. He reminds me that every thought is a prayer, and I see how often I have thought I could ask for something just for me. This is crazy behavior for someone ready to awaken from the dream of separation.

As I think of it I realize it happens so often that for a moment I am stunned into inaction. How on earth am I ever going to wake up? Everything in my life is about being separate and different. I am in constant competition with everyone, even with myself. But that is not my problem. My part is only to notice that it is happening and that I am ready for it to stop.

I notice the old desire for separation and I ask that my mind be healed. I accept the Atonement for this thought, then the next one. I trust that what I have done is being undone. I am the Son of God with all the power that brings with it. I chose to dream and that occurred. I chose to believe the dream and so it happened.

Now I choose to awaken. Nothing can prevent me from doing so. This is the truth. I am not a victim or what I see, but the maker of it, and now I choose to make differently, then to Awaken and return to Creation as is my natural state. I do this with my brother or not at all, and I am beginning to realize how impossible it is to do it any other way.

“Holy Spirit, help me keep my eye on the truth. Help me remain steady in my awakening and to not delay any more than I must. Help me to know that what I want for my brother, I want for myself, for we are one Self. I am still deep enough in the dream to forget this. I need Your help.”

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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 5. 1-1-15

II. The Answer to Prayer, P 5
5 The message your brother gives you is up to you. What does he say to you? What would you have him say? Your decision about him determines the message you receive. Remember that the Holy Spirit is in him, and His Voice speaks to you through him. What can so holy a brother tell you except truth? But are you listening to it? Your brother may not know who he is, but there is a light in his mind that does know. This light can shine into yours, giving truth to his words and making you able to hear them. His words are the Holy Spirit’s answer to you. Is your faith in him strong enough to let you hear?

Probably the most powerful example of this I have experienced occurred at work. I may have written about this before in another context, but I am going to tell the story again. I was doing some tests for a customer and we had time to chat while it was going on. We didn’t know each other but as we talked the conversation turned to religion. Now as a sales person I am not supposed to talk religion or politics, pretty much a hard and fast rule, but sometimes I am guided right into a God talk. This was one of those times.

On a personal level I don’t normally talk religion with people because I live in the Bible Belt, deep in the Bible Belt. I am not going to run into a lot of open minded spiritual seekers here, and I am absolutely not going to debate religion with anyone. So what I normally do when I get caught in a situation like this moment with my customer is instead of talking, I listen and make noncommittal responses.

This time, though, Holy Spirit helped me to open my heart as well as my ears and I “heard” what he was saying. All the words were the same old, “he died on the cross for our sins” stuff that normally makes my skin crawl, but what I heard was how much he loves Jesus and how much he loves God.

I felt such a profound kinship with this man who loves my sweet Brother Jesus, and my Father God. We had a deep and binding conversation. I still said little but I heard much. When we finished our work, we hugged each other and said good by. I have not seen him since and may never see him again, but I think of him often.

I think that the miracle of joining that happened between us that day is what Jesus is talking about here. What passed between us was true communication that had nothing to do with the words we said to each other. But to experience that communication, I had to stop listening to the words so I could hear the intent, the love that stood behind the words. My willingness to do so allowed the light in his mind to shine into mine, thus changing me forever.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 4. 12-31-14

II. The Answer to Prayer, P 4
4 If you would know your prayers are answered, never doubt a Son of God. Do not question him and do not confound him, for your faith in him is your faith in yourself. If you would know God and His Answer, believe in me whose faith in you cannot be shaken. Can you ask of the Holy Spirit truly, and doubt your brother? Believe his words are true because of the truth that is in him. You will unite with the truth in him, and his words will be true. As you hear him you will hear me. Listening to truth is the only way you can hear it now, and finally know it.

Sometimes when I hear someone’s words I am certain that they are wrong. I have a brother who is very “old testament” in his religious convictions. His vision of God is so unyielding and harsh as to feel unloving to me. How do I have faith in his vision when I cannot imagine this God He so fearfully and faithfully follows?

Here is what I am given when I ask about this. My brother loves God and that love doesn’t change because it appears in his mind to look like something I don’t recognize as love. If I fail to see Christ in my brother and fail to hear Christ’s meaning in his words, then it is my mind that needs to be healed, not his. I must be listening with a lack of love, and what is God, but Love. I must be listening through my ego.

I see that this must be true in every case. Everyone is made in the image of God and nothing has ever changed that. Therefore, everyone is Love and everyone is certain and perfect and true. The confusion of the ego mind is an illusion and has nothing to do with what they are. When I look at my brother, what do I see? Do I see Christ? Or do I see a body? When I hear his words, do I hear truth or do I hear confusion?

The answer to that question has nothing to do with anyone else, and has nothing to do with what anyone says. It is a reflection of the mind in which I think I think. If I hear anything other than God when I listen to my brother, I am listening with ego, and judging through ego. I am standing before the Christ and calling It insane. Now who is insane?

We all tend to do this. Even in the Course community we fall prey to the ego desire to judge and to be right. We argue over what a passage means and we blithely correct a brother when we decide he misunderstands. Then we call it “being helpful” in order to justify our actions. We argue about meanings in the very book that teaches us the way out of hell is to join as one and be faithful to each other. How insane can we get?

Even as I sit here writing and thinking how true this is; even as I receive a vision of what is being given in this paragraph and am astounded that I never saw with this clarity before; even as I sit here in self congratulations that I am free of the desire to judge my brother by my interpretation of his words, I notice a thought in my mind about a teacher that I doubt.

I think about him and I think he is wrong and the ego starts listing his faults and his misunderstandings and I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. It all happens in a flash and takes only a second, but I imagine Brother Jesus chuckling in the background as I am pulled up short. Ok, maybe there is more to this than getting a clear understanding of how foolish it is to judge and doubt my brother.

First comes some clarity, but then to be of any use, the understanding must become experience. “Holy Spirit, I see in my mind the beliefs I projected onto my brother and I see that I then condemned him for those beliefs. Please heal my mind. Heal my mind, Holy Spirit, because it always my mind that I see reflected in my brother. I long to see my brother for the Christ that he is, so please heal my mind.”

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 3. 12-26-14

II. The Answer to Prayer, P 3
3 The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is indeed true. The very fact that the Holy Spirit has been asked for anything will ensure a response. Yet it is equally certain that no response given by Him will ever be one that would increase fear. It is possible that His answer will not be heard. It is impossible, however, that it will be lost. There are many answers you have already received but have not yet heard. I assure you that they are waiting for you.

I have often heard people say that sometimes God’s answer is no. It is their way of understanding why they don’t seem to receive an answer to their prayers while holding onto the idea that God hears them. I used to do that myself. Now I understand that all prayer is answered and that I know the answer when I am ready to receive it. I do not lose an answer because I am afraid of it, because it waits for me.

Sometimes I accept the answer in little tiny bits at a time. I understand that the world is an illusion and that includes my body. How is it then that I think the body is in charge? Weight problems have plagued me since I had my first child in 1969. How could that be? My body is an illusion; how can an illusion decide what it should weigh? How can it do anything?

I understand the logic behind the idea that the body is not stronger than the mind, but I still have this same problem with weight and so I become confused. I asked for clarity and healing and I received it, but I have accepted it in little bits at a time. I should go through my writings and find every one where I learned something new about body issues, and just look at the progression.

The most recent part of the answer that I have been willing to accept is two fold. First I suddenly understood that I needed to stop asking the Holy Spirit to prove I am right and instead to simply ask Him to show me what He wants me to know. The second part came with Lesson 325, the keynote to salvation.

I accepted that weight problems don’t happen to me and do not occur in the world. They are desires in my mind being manifest in the world. I totally accepted that this was true and so I stopped trying to lose weight from my body and started giving my full attention to the beliefs that were sourcing my desire to fight this never ending battle.

When I see such a thought or belief, I ask the Holy Spirit to remove it from my mind. I ask Him to clarify what it is He wants me to know about this and I wait patiently to see if I have understood Him. If my mind is healed then the body will reflect that. I read that lesson on November 21st. I stopped dieting or watching my food intake. I stopped giving meaning to the things Myron puts in her mouth.  I did not do this immediately, but I became vigilant for the old beliefs so I could master this decision.

I have eaten absolutely anything I want and during the holidays this included lots of sweets I don’t ordinarily indulge in. The result is that I am sick of sugar, but I have not gained an ounce. During this past month I have weighed myself once or twice a week, not to see if I am successful, but to see if I am understanding what the Holy Spirit wants me to know. I guess I am. Now I am asking Him to help me understand my desire to not only fail to gain weight but to lose weight. I wonder what will happen.

This is far more important than having a slimmer body. This is the answer to my prayer that I remember what I am. The relationship with the body has been a hard relationship for me to release to Spirit. I am learning lessons about this through my weight issues, through recognizing that pain is not real, and through the healing of the body as I heal my mind.

Weight is just another container for the same error. It is like a jar that is now holding my belief that I am a body and the body is my prison. It is holding the belief that the body is stronger than the mind. It is holding my belief that I have sinned in my desire to have a body. It holds fear and guilt. In asking for help in seeing this differently, I am asking for much more than to change the size and shape of a body. I am asking to remember that I am the Son of God.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 2. 12-23-14

II. The Answer to Prayer, P 2
2 Let us suppose, then, that what you ask of the Holy Spirit is what you really want, but you are still afraid of it. Should this be the case, your attainment of it would no longer be what you want. This is why certain specific forms of healing are not achieved, even when the state of healing is. An individual may ask for physical healing because he is fearful of bodily harm. At the same time, if he were healed physically, the threat to his thought system might be considerably more fearful to him than its physical expression. In this case he is not really asking for release from fear, but for the removal of a symptom that he himself selected. This request is, therefore, not for healing at all.

I completely understand this paragraph and totally accept it. The logic is absolutely clear; if I ask for something, but am afraid of it, then I don’t really want it. However, I have noticed that sometimes it is hard to see that I am asking for something and at the same time afraid I will receive it. I think I really want the healing, and can’t understand why I don’t receive it.

I had a problem at work last week and I was angry about it. I don’t like that feeling anymore and I know it is not in alignment with my goal of awakening to project onto my brother. So I asked for the Atonement in this situation. As I learned from Nouk, “Holy Spirit, please help me to forgive myself for using my boss to attack myself and to separate from your Love as my Holy Self.”

I had to work at this for awhile because I kept going back to thinking how wrong he was. I felt threatened by him and so I was afraid to give up my belief that he was attacking me. After all, how could I defend myself if I turned my back on his attack? This is an example of asking for healing, but being afraid of the healing, and so not really wanting the answer. After a day and a half of returning to Spirit with renewed desire to be healed, I felt like it was undone.

Then I went back to work. As soon as I saw him, I was upset again. Holy cow! Was I ever going to be free of this? I asked the Holy Spirit to look at this with me again, and to give me some clarity about it. The thought that came to me was that this could not possibly be his fault because it is my story. I made this story through my desire to be seen as unfairly treated, and separate from my brother. How could it be his fault?

I know this is true. I have no doubt that it is true. And yet, here I was watching the ego mind busily assassinating my brother and stealing my peace. As the day wore on, I felt worse and worse. Looking at my mind I realized I felt guilty and afraid because I was not accepting healing. I know it is not the Holy Spirit ignoring me, so it must be me not really wanting the healing.

Again, I spoke to the Holy Spirit. I knew guilt is not real and that I was making that up. I knew that I want to awaken more than I want this man to be guilty. I saw that I was obviously, for awhile, afraid of the answer. But I wanted the answer and so I asked for healing again, this time for the guilt and fear in my mind. I asked Him why I felt to so bad and had so much trouble letting this go when it was so clear to me how I made this image from a desire based on a false belief.

What He showed me is that I asked for healing and healing was accomplished in that moment of asking. He showed me that the ego does not want to let go of the grievance and so my ego mind keeps offering it to me. The ego says that I am guilty for not being free of this situation. It says that I am guilty for feeling guilty. I was mesmerized by this circular thinking. The Holy Spirit told me to look away.

That was that! As soon as I looked away, I was free of the guilty feelings and free of the desire to project it onto someone else. Sometimes it is that simple. I refocused my attention on what is true rather than looking at the illusion of guilt. Now the thought that I was wronged comes into my mind at odd times, but I am not attracted to it, and so have no emotional reaction. I just quietly hand it over to the Holy Spirit and enjoy the peace of mind that is my right.

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Study of the Text, Chapter 9, II. The Answer to Prayer, P 1. 12-22-14

II. The Answer to Prayer P1
1 Everyone who ever tried to use prayer to ask for something has experienced what appears to be failure. This is not only true in connection with specific things that might be harmful, but also in connection with requests that are strictly in line with this course. The latter in particular might be incorrectly interpreted as “proof” that the course does not mean what it says. You must remember, however, that the course states, and repeatedly, that its purpose is the escape from fear.

What I pray for now is that my mind be healed. No matter what the seeming need, the solution is that my mind be healed of the mistaken thoughts, the beliefs that are not true. In a healed mind, I find the answer to all my challenges. Having used this approach for awhile now, I understand about fear being a block to the prayer. I have seen fear in my mind that I will lose something of value, even as I asked that it be removed. This is not a true prayer. The Holy Spirit does not answer my words, but my heart.

The solution to this quandary seems, at least in my case, is to be clear that when I don’t receive the answer I expect, it is not the Course, nor Jesus nor the Holy Spirit that has failed to answer. It is always me that has failed as a questioner. I ask the Holy Spirit to give me clarity about the situation. I ask Him what He wants me to see. I become as willing as I can to receive His answers. I ask that He remove from my mind the impediments to my acceptance.

In the end, it is always fear and guilt that block me. I am afraid that allowing more of my “personal” freedom to be eroded will be a loss. What I have is very limited and often painful, but it is something I know, and while I don’t actually trust it, sometimes I am reluctant to chance anything else. It is hard for me to envision a future in which I am aware of myself as Love, a future that is perfectly joyful and completely safe. And yet, that future is here now, waiting for my acceptance.

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