UNITY WAY

May 9, 2004

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The Art of Prayer: The Source

by Andrei Yashurin

When Jesus encouraged to address prayers to "our Father, who 
is in Heaven", He certainly did not mean to reveal the place 
where God is located physically. God does not abide "up there", 
because the Presence is everywhere, even in our hearts and 
minds. The Master wanted to emphasise - to those who have grown 
out of childish concepts of the Deity - that God works toward 
people as the Principle of active, providing, and sustaining love. 

The Principle works at all times and in all circumstances. 
Answering to Pharisees who wanted to limit God's activity to 
a certain period, Jesus said: "My Father works until now, and 
I work" (John 5:17). 

The Principle is generous and overflowing. "The river of God is 
full of water" (Psalm 65:9). It is not enough, then, to say that 
divine supply is equal to a human demand. It exceeds even our 
highest demands. There is no lack in God; there can be 
only insufficient appropriation of divine abundance. If we 
see the things rightly, we know that God is more willing to 
give than we are willing to receive. 

Hearing this, someone may ask: "But if God is really more willing 
to give than I am willing to receive, why do I need to go through 
all my challenges? Why they can't be removed instantly 
and effortlessly?"

Since the humanity started to believe in God, these questions 
were asked many times by great prophets, sages, and common 
people; and I do not imply to have the final or the best 
answer. My point of view implies an assumption that human 
beings by their nature are not static, but dynamic. As people, 
we grow and develop. We evolve. And divine provision is meant 
to help us in our evolutionary process, not to deliver us 
from it. 

There is a part of us which looks for shortcuts and easy ways. 
But it is not Christ within, it is our wounded and darkened 
ego. As we heal our ego and begin to give expression to our 
Christ nature, we discover the beauty of process.

We learn to appreciate the beauty of growth, the beauty of 
work, the beauty of overcoming challenges, the beauty of 
accepting responsibility. We are truly happy and satisfied not 
when we arrived, but when we move forward.
   
Contrary to expectations of some believers, answers to our 
prayers most often do not come as finished products. This would 
make us weak, shallow, and self-centered. Rather, God gives us:  
 
Tools to work with;
Raw materials to use; 
Other people to assist us;
Inspiration and ideas for better work. 

There are two equally important ingredients of a balanced 
spiritual life. First, we need to center our attention at God 
as the Source, resting in divine all-sufficiency. Second, we 
need to move under the divine guidance, dedicating all of our 
powers for the fulfillment of our task. There is no 
fundamental conflict between trust in God and self-reliance, 
because they all have their part to play. 

In the gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, "If they ask you, 
'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 
'It is motion and rest'." 

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Andrei Yashurin: pczine@yandex.ru

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All messages (c) 2004 by Andrei Yashurin