As it dawns on us that prayer addresses the God of all creation, we realize that being a good son or daughter and friend means being responsible for our side of the relationship. When there is time and need for a thorough prayer process, we do not content ourselves with a quick glance “above” to see what may immediately come to mind. Responsibility demands preparation. It would not be right to ask God to do our homework for us, to clean up our mess, or in other ways to short-circuit the normal path of human effort. Instead, we do our best to work out a solution and then seek divine wisdom.
Once heart and mind are ready to receive a fresh input of divine wisdom, we let go of attachment to our interpretation of the landscape of meanings and values, and we open ourselves to the possibility that God may have something even greater for us. We become more receptive to the way God communicates wisdom to us: through divine truth, beauty, and goodness.
What experience do you have praying thoroughly for divine wisdom?
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Quite an interesting way of looking at it. Many a Christian (or other Abrahamic religionist) would not speak highly of human effort whatsoever. What do you think of these ideas of surrendering all of our human efforts and confidence in our own abilities – emptying ourselves of such things in order to make room for God’s grace/God’s plan?
Thank you, Darren, for your excellent comment and question.
Truly, we can do nothing (good) without God. The isolated intellect is not a beautiful phenomenon. Only when the energies of mind and body are integrated with divine spirit can we accomplish anything worthwhile. Moreover, in prayer there is a phase, merely indicated in my brief post, of thoroughgoing surrender in which we let go of our ideas and ideals–no matter how well-developed they may be–in deference to the divine wisdom and will.
Human effort prepares for that surrender. Attempting to open ourselves to receive the gifts of God without taking the human steps is more likely to bring up some synthesis from the subconscious mind; or the conscious mind gets in the habit of addressing us in the second person singular. These persistent possibilities make it important to remember the task of discernment: Is divinity truly present in the “answer” that we seem to get? Of course we can err in our efforts (individual and collective) at discernment; but not to take up the responsibility also opens us to error. That is the adventure that the Creator has given us for our growth. We progress by exercising growing discernment in the truth, beauty, and goodness that guide our thinking, feeling, and doing.
Quite an interesting way of looking at it. Many a Christian (or other Abrahamic religionist) would not speak highly of human effort whatsoever. What do you think of these ideas of surrendering all of our human efforts and confidence in our own abilities – emptying ourselves of such things in order to make room for God’s grace/God’s plan?
Thank you, Darren, for your excellent comment and question.
Truly, we can do nothing (good) without God. The isolated intellect is not a beautiful phenomenon. Only when the energies of mind and body are integrated with divine spirit can we accomplish anything worthwhile. Moreover, in prayer there is a phase, merely indicated in my brief post, of thoroughgoing surrender in which we let go of our ideas and ideals–no matter how well-developed they may be–in deference to the divine wisdom and will.
Human effort prepares for that surrender. Attempting to open ourselves to receive the gifts of God without taking the human steps is more likely to bring up some synthesis from the subconscious mind; or the conscious mind gets in the habit of addressing us in the second person singular. These persistent possibilities make it important to remember the task of discernment: Is divinity truly present in the “answer” that we seem to get? Of course we can err in our efforts (individual and collective) at discernment; but not to take up the responsibility also opens us to error. That is the adventure that the Creator has given us for our growth. We progress by exercising growing discernment in the truth, beauty, and goodness that guide our thinking, feeling, and doing.
December 1, 1986, I was assigned to serve in a federal prison by the Commissioned Corps of the USPHS. This was approximately 6 years after making the decision to dedicate and consecrate my will to doing the Father’s will. Everything was going along smoothly at my rural health assignment. I was becoming skilled at the three fold ministry of ministering to the body, mind and soul of my patients. I had an active prayer and worship life, and felt that I was doing God’s will.
When I arrived at the federal prison, I was totally unprepared for the shock of working in this environment. The tension in this place was palpable. The need to pay attention to security was uppermost in all the employees of the prison.
After a three week course at the Federal Government’s Training Facility, I was certified to work in that environment. In addition to the regulations governing my tour of duty at the prison, I realized that I was in need of substantial growth and wisdom. My question at that time was how could I be true to my commitment to doing God’s will and at the same time carry out my duties on behalf of the government. This conflict took my prayer efforts to a whole new level, as I searched my past experiences, my clinical knowledge, the insights that I had gleaned from my communion with God, seeking to grow and gain that wisdom that would allow me to satisfactorily resolve the conflict.
I knew about prisons, and criminals but had no previous personal dealings with either. I realized that these were dangerous people, but they still were entitled to medical care. And this is where the problem lay. Even though the authorities acknowledge this right, this right was always overshadowed by the problem of maintaining security. It became a challenge to distinguish between who was really ill and who was malingering. The authorities attitude seemed to be from the security stand point of view, believing they were faking unless I could prove otherwise. My position was they were ill unless I could prove they were not. The conflict was inevitable, and during my tour of five years at the prison, I was the source of more than a little conflict.
But during this process I prayed to the Father seeking his divine wisdom as I tried to do my duty both to my patients and to the authorities. And when I finally left, I realized that I had received that divine wisdom necessary to function in that environment. So many times when people go to work in a prison they become cold and callous, but I emerged even more compassionate and dedicated to doing the Father’s will than before I entered, and with a greater understanding of what it means to do God’s will in that setting. I discovered for myself, that there was no conflict between doing God’s will and serving in the prison, and further that this applied to all other areas of non personal functioning.
Dr Perry
Another outstanding story, Dr. Perry! We struggle for years, trying to do justice to both sides of a conflict, perhaps leaning one side, but not dismissing the other side which is right in some cases. In this process, virtues grow, and a new concept emerges along with a new capacity to live the Father’s will in situations that have essential similarities.
December 1, 1986, I was assigned to serve in a federal prison by the Commissioned Corps of the USPHS. This was approximately 6 years after making the decision to dedicate and consecrate my will to doing the Father’s will. Everything was going along smoothly at my rural health assignment. I was becoming skilled at the three fold ministry of ministering to the body, mind and soul of my patients. I had an active prayer and worship life, and felt that I was doing God’s will.
When I arrived at the federal prison, I was totally unprepared for the shock of working in this environment. The tension in this place was palpable. The need to pay attention to security was uppermost in all the employees of the prison.
After a three week course at the Federal Government’s Training Facility, I was certified to work in that environment. In addition to the regulations governing my tour of duty at the prison, I realized that I was in need of substantial growth and wisdom. My question at that time was how could I be true to my commitment to doing God’s will and at the same time carry out my duties on behalf of the government. This conflict took my prayer efforts to a whole new level, as I searched my past experiences, my clinical knowledge, the insights that I had gleaned from my communion with God, seeking to grow and gain that wisdom that would allow me to satisfactorily resolve the conflict.
I knew about prisons, and criminals but had no previous personal dealings with either. I realized that these were dangerous people, but they still were entitled to medical care. And this is where the problem lay. Even though the authorities acknowledge this right, this right was always overshadowed by the problem of maintaining security. It became a challenge to distinguish between who was really ill and who was malingering. The authorities attitude seemed to be from the security stand point of view, believing they were faking unless I could prove otherwise. My position was they were ill unless I could prove they were not. The conflict was inevitable, and during my tour of five years at the prison, I was the source of more than a little conflict.
But during this process I prayed to the Father seeking his divine wisdom as I tried to do my duty both to my patients and to the authorities. And when I finally left, I realized that I had received that divine wisdom necessary to function in that environment. So many times when people go to work in a prison they become cold and callous, but I emerged even more compassionate and dedicated to doing the Father’s will than before I entered, and with a greater understanding of what it means to do God’s will in that setting. I discovered for myself, that there was no conflict between doing God’s will and serving in the prison, and further that this applied to all other areas of non personal functioning.
Dr Perry
Another outstanding story, Dr. Perry! We struggle for years, trying to do justice to both sides of a conflict, perhaps leaning one side, but not dismissing the other side which is right in some cases. In this process, virtues grow, and a new concept emerges along with a new capacity to live the Father’s will in situations that have essential similarities.
Jeff,
Thanks for such an exciting prompt. More and more it occurs to me that seeking wisdom from the Father through prayer often redounds to increased awareness of myself. That is, I am urged to consider FIRST whether I am part of the problem/issue. For example, if I ask the Father for wisdom in relating to a co-worker whom I perceive as difficult, being naturally self-centered, it is unlikely that I’ll look at my attitudes about this person. My attitudes of, say, distrust or fear color my interactions. If I’m being honest with myself, I will acknowledge that perceived difficulty causes negative responses. The Father responds to my prayer request by giving me an insight into my suspicious nature regarding the co-worker. We are taught that “suspicion is incompatible with the essential attitude of sympathy and love.” How do I best deal with a difficult co-worker? Change my attitude towards him.
Sherry, how good to hear your voice again. Your experience in prayer reminds me of one of mine with the golden rule: when I am most thorough in my golden-rule thinking, I take to heart a grain of truth in that sophistic cheap-shot: “What if a [person with base desires] goes out treating others as he wants to be treated?” That is the lowest interpretation of GR in the sequence of interpretations that I use; but I use it to remind myself that even if I am not conscious of it at the time, there may be something unbeautiful that is clouding my mind. Most of the time, I feel more relaxed after remembering that possibility. It is like excess air released from a tire; now the bicycle rides more comfortably.
One more thought (with which I’m sure you agree): Not always is the entire problem in a difficult relationship with a co-worker on our side. Sometimes we need to do more than to release our own unbeautifulness. Once our vision is clearer, we can proceed to that work in the guidance that we can receive through other phases of a thorough prayer process.
Jeff,
Thanks for such an exciting prompt. More and more it occurs to me that seeking wisdom from the Father through prayer often redounds to increased awareness of myself. That is, I am urged to consider FIRST whether I am part of the problem/issue. For example, if I ask the Father for wisdom in relating to a co-worker whom I perceive as difficult, being naturally self-centered, it is unlikely that I’ll look at my attitudes about this person. My attitudes of, say, distrust or fear color my interactions. If I’m being honest with myself, I will acknowledge that perceived difficulty causes negative responses. The Father responds to my prayer request by giving me an insight into my suspicious nature regarding the co-worker. We are taught that “suspicion is incompatible with the essential attitude of sympathy and love.” How do I best deal with a difficult co-worker? Change my attitude towards him.
Sherry, how good to hear your voice again. Your experience in prayer reminds me of one of mine with the golden rule: when I am most thorough in my golden-rule thinking, I take to heart a grain of truth in that sophistic cheap-shot: “What if a [person with base desires] goes out treating others as he wants to be treated?” That is the lowest interpretation of GR in the sequence of interpretations that I use; but I use it to remind myself that even if I am not conscious of it at the time, there may be something unbeautiful that is clouding my mind. Most of the time, I feel more relaxed after remembering that possibility. It is like excess air released from a tire; now the bicycle rides more comfortably.
One more thought (with which I’m sure you agree): Not always is the entire problem in a difficult relationship with a co-worker on our side. Sometimes we need to do more than to release our own unbeautifulness. Once our vision is clearer, we can proceed to that work in the guidance that we can receive through other phases of a thorough prayer process.
G’day Jeff
This topic of praying for divine wisdom/guidance has been at the center of my inner life with God for so long, that I have methods in place that carry me on through the day to day activities of living. In my youth, I used to believe that praying for everything was the way to keep the Father in the middle of my affairs. After more than a decade of doing this, I began to realize that most of the “little things” were in my hands, and that praying about such things were somewhat needless. I made a choice to assign all of the material things in my reality to the natural outworking of living in a material world. But, still found it easy to apply “hope” to all things material. I then realised that even this attempt to escape thinking about, or hoping for, material things, was a subtle way keeping myself attached to materialism. When I finally gave away the hope sentiment, and relied more on the will of the Father, as a consequence of living in this material existence, I now have the benefit of using “hope and prayer” for more worthwhile, value seeking.
Thanks, Bernie, for sharing some things from your journey. Being responsible for what is in your hands is not something that you have to do in isolation from God, but it is up to us to take the human steps. Sometimes hope is defended in contrast with hopelessness or despair; as such it’s vastly the better choice. But sometimes there’s something better than hope; as you observe, unwise hope can mislead. What a fascinating path to embracing the Father’s will as your primary way of going through life!
G’day Jeff
This topic of praying for divine wisdom/guidance has been at the center of my inner life with God for so long, that I have methods in place that carry me on through the day to day activities of living. In my youth, I used to believe that praying for everything was the way to keep the Father in the middle of my affairs. After more than a decade of doing this, I began to realize that most of the “little things” were in my hands, and that praying about such things were somewhat needless. I made a choice to assign all of the material things in my reality to the natural outworking of living in a material world. But, still found it easy to apply “hope” to all things material. I then realised that even this attempt to escape thinking about, or hoping for, material things, was a subtle way keeping myself attached to materialism. When I finally gave away the hope sentiment, and relied more on the will of the Father, as a consequence of living in this material existence, I now have the benefit of using “hope and prayer” for more worthwhile, value seeking.
Thanks, Bernie, for sharing some things from your journey. Being responsible for what is in your hands is not something that you have to do in isolation from God, but it is up to us to take the human steps. Sometimes hope is defended in contrast with hopelessness or despair; as such it’s vastly the better choice. But sometimes there’s something better than hope; as you observe, unwise hope can mislead. What a fascinating path to embracing the Father’s will as your primary way of going through life!