Joel Rehnström, Finland

Dear Friends,

" ... the fact of life comes first, its evaluation or interpretation

later. The human child first lives and subsequently thinks about his

living. In the cosmic economy insight precedes foresight. " (p.1228:1)

This philosophical statement makes me draw the conclusion, that while

thinking is not to be downgraded or underestimated, still living, action,

experiencing, implementation is the most valuable part of life. Therefore I

would also like us at the end of this presentation to practice together

some prayer and worship, so that we do not just talk and think about them,

even if that is important too. Such practice may seem a little strange to

some of you, as these things are very personal and intimate for many

people, and in the beginning it also takes some courage, but everyone can

of course participate as much as he or she wants to, or just remain

neutral. Still it is good to remember that "Spiritual development depends,

first, on the maintenance of a living spiritual connection with true

spiritual forces and, second, on the continuous bearing of spiritual fruit:

yielding the ministry to one's fellows of that which has been received from

one's spiritual benefactors. " (p.1095:6). In other words, if we want to

grow spiritually, then we should in one way or another cultivate our

relationship to God the Father and his associates.

But let´s first have some definitions and maybe some thoughts too: worship

should be directed to the Father, prayer to the Son. In our local universe

the Eternal Son is, as we know, represented by the Creator Son Michael and

his associate the Universe Mother Spirit, Mother Nebadon. Christ Micahel

and Mother Nebadon are our heavenly parents, and, as I see it, they have

their own communication channels, the Spirit of Truth and the Holy Spirit

to which we may connect and attune. Worship or devotion is completely

without self-interest, in prayer there tends to be a personal or creature

interest. In practice it would seem that the information or communication

finds its way, even if the address is a little faulty - as long as the

soul´s attitude is right. We´ll come back to worship later in this

presentation.

PRAYER

Regarding prayer there is a general advice in the Urantia-book on page

1002:6: " Pray only for values, not things; for growth, not for

gratification." - All this subject, prayer, is very large, and the book has

much to say on it, and I have just chosen a few quotes to shed some light

on it. You are welcome to cut in during the presentation, if something

relevant comes to your mind, and we can anyway have some discussion

afterwards here, and later on in smaller workshop groups.

To quiet down one´s mind is, as I see it, an essential part of the praying

technique, so that the grip by the biologic electro-chemical system on

one´s mind is being somewhat loosened. Soft music, hymns and the like, may

be a way to achieve this state of mind. The mental techniques became more

developed in the eastern world, but various forms of meditation are, as we

know, now widely used also in the west. Usually man functions in his brain

on the beta-level, about 21 impulses per second, but it is often thought

that spiritual communication functions best on the alfa-level, 7-14

imp./sec. But this statement is open to discussion. The goal is anyway to

reach the superconscious levels of the mind, not the subconscious levels.

But "No prayer can hope for an answer unless it is born of the spirit and

nurtured by faith." (p.1849:2). So, for this communication to be really

mutual it must function in spirit and in faith, in a God-relationship, in a

relationship with a devine entity or entities. How do we find such a

relationship? Generally either by growing naturally, or then through a

crisis experience of some kind, so that we become motivated by a deep

longing for God and finally agree to belong to him, finally give in to him.

Religious practices and symbols may prove helpful when we develope this

God-relationship and start functioning in this new spirit and faith

element. It resembles the way we gradually learn to swim. By and by we get

used to the new element , the water. We practice and practice, and one day

we dare to get deeply enough into the water - and we float. - Some people

have also learnt to swim when they have been suddenly thrown into the

water, but that is hardly recommendable!

There are many places in the Urantia-book where prayer is being discussed,

and Jesus taught about prayer on many occasions. We find these places in

the book when we need them, and I have just copied a few into this

presentation. In Paper 180, The Farewell Discourse, there is under section

2, The Vine and the branches, I think, an important statement: "If you

abide in me and my words live in you, you will be able to commune freely

with me, and then can my living spirit so infuse you that you may ask

whatsoever my spirit wills and do all this with the assurance that the

Father will grant us our petition." (p.1945:5)

As a comment to this statemt the book says: "But great sorrow later

attended the misinterpretation of the Master's inferences regarding prayer.

There would have been little difficulty about these teachings if his exact

words had been remembered and subsequently truthfully recorded. But as the record was made, believers eventually regarded prayer in Jesus' name as a sort of supreme magic, thinking that

they would receive from the Father anything they asked for. For centuries

honest souls have continued to wreck their faith against this stumbling

block. How long will it take the world of believers to understand that

prayer is not a process of getting your way but rather a program of taking

God's way, an experience of learning how to recognize and execute the

Father's will? It is entirely true that, when your will has been truly

aligned with his, you can ask anything conceived by that will-union, and it

will be granted. And such a will-union is effected by and through Jesus

even as the life of the vine flows into and through the living branches."

(p.1946:2)

We must remember that even if we are not Creators, we have after all been

created in the image of God. Therefore, we too have some creator abilities,

to a lesser degree, of course, and often hidden. But it is my view that the

closer our relationship is with the Universal Father and his will the more

easily our wishes come true and our plans are being realized, even so that

we have to be careful about what we think and visualize, or we could end up

a little like Jesus during the wedding at Cana!

Prayer is foremost a private thing:

"Jesus taught the twelve always to pray in secret; to go off by themselves

amidst the quiet

surroundings of nature or to go in their rooms and shut the doors when they

engaged in prayer." (p.1620:3)

But still:

"It is not strange that the apostles desired Jesus to teach them a model

prayer for believers. John the Baptist had taught his followers several

prayers; all great teachers had formulated prayers for their pupils."

(p.1620:2)

" He never taught a formal personal prayer, only group, family, or social

petitions. And he never volunteered to do that." (p.1620:5). Such a group

prayer is also Our Father who is in heaven, as it is given in the

Urantia-book on page 1620:

Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come; your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our bread for tomorrow;

Refresh our souls with the water of life.

And forgive us every one our debts

As we also have forgiven our debtors.

Save us in temptation, deliver us from evil,

And increasingly make us perfect like yourself.

" Group or congregational praying is very effective in that it is highly

socializing in its repercussions. When a group engages in community prayer

for moral enhancement and spiritual uplift, such devotions are reactive

upon the individuals composing the group; they are all made better because

of participation. Even a whole city or an entire nation can be helped by

such prayer devotions. Confession, repentance, and prayer have led

individuals, cities, nations, and whole races to mighty efforts of reform

and courageous deeds of valorous

achievement." (p.998:5)

The Our Father prayer in fact starts with worship. The first two lines are

clearly worship, devotion, maybe also the next two lines. In this way

prayer and worship may often be linked to each other, even if they are

different forms of communication.

Some further quotes on prayer: (p.1621:1-8)

"Prayer and its associated worship is a technique of detachment from the

daily routine of life, from the monotonous grind of material existence. It

is an avenue of approach to spiritualized self-realization and

individuality of intellectual and religious attainment."

"Prayer is an antidote for harmful introspection. At least, prayer as the

Master taught it is such a beneficent ministry to the soul. Jesus

consistently employed the beneficial influence of praying for one's

fellows. The Master usually prayed in the plural, not in the singular. Only

in the great crises of his earth life did Jesus ever pray for himself."

"Prayer is the breath of the spirit life in the midst of the material

civilization of the races of mankind. Worship is salvation for the

pleasure-seeking generations of mortals."

"As prayer may be likened to recharging the spiritual batteries of the

soul, so worship may be compared to the act of tuning in the soul to catch

the universe broadcasts of the infinite spirit of the Universal Father."

"Prayer is the sincere and longing look of the child to its spirit Father;

it is a psychologic process of exchanging the human will for the divine

will. Prayer is a part of the divine plan for making over that which is

into that which ought to be." (p.1621:1-8)

"Prayer is indeed a part of religious experience, but it has been wrongly

emphasized by modern religions, much to the neglect of the more essential

communion of worship. The reflective powers of the mind are deepened and

broadened by worship. Prayer may enrich the life, but worship illuminates

destiny." (p.1123:6)

WORSHIP

Worship, devotion, is more suited, maybe best suited, to group activities.

On page 65, section 3, True Worship, in the Urantia-book we read:

"Though the Paradise Deities, from the universe standpoint, are as one, in

their spiritual relations with such beings as inhabit Urantia they are also

three distinct and separate persons. There is a difference between the

Godheads in the matter of personal appeals, communion, and other intimate

relations. In the highest sense, we worship the Universal Father and him

only. True, we can and do worship the Father as he is manifested in his

Creator Sons, but it is the Father, directly or indirectly, who is

worshiped and adored."

"Worship is for its own sake; prayer embodies a self- or creature-interest

element; that is the great difference between worship and prayer. There is

absolutely no self-request or other element of personal interest in true

worship; we simply worship God for what we comprehend him to be. Worship

asks nothing and expects nothing for the worshiper. We do not worship the

Father because of anything we may derive from such veneration; we render

such devotion and engage in such worship as a natural and spontaneous

reaction to the recognition of the Father's matchless personality and

because of his lovable nature and adorable attributes." (p. 65:4,6)

And still further on the same theme:

"Worship is the highest privilege and the first duty of all created

intelligences. Worship is the conscious and joyous act of recognizing and

acknowledging the truth and fact of the intimate and personal relationships

of the Creators with their creatures. The quality of worship is determined

by the depth of creature perception; and as the knowledge of the infinite

character of the Gods progresses, the act of worship becomes increasingly

all-encompassing until it eventually attains the glory of the highest

experiential delight and the most exquisite pleasure known to created

beings." (p.303:6)

CONCLUSION

Dear friends, we can´t expect to reach such experiences on the level that

we now are on, but we too can express our deligt and thankfulness for

having a Heavenly Father. We can e.g. listen to devotional music and attune

to the spirit currents, and we can ourselves sing some devotional hymns.

Let us now in conclusion practice together some of these spiritual forms of

communication. Later on in the workshop groups we can then further

deliberate on these matters and maybe tell eachother about significant

prayer and worship experiences - our own or someone else´s that we have

heard about.

I think that when we pray we can always ask for guidance and strength to do

the Father´s will. To ask for devine blessing is in fact such a prayer,

provided we remember that we are actually then asking for our own will to

be syncronized with the will of God. - So, let us sing together a hymn

that attunes our minds to a prayerful state, and while we sing we may

direct our longings to Christ Michael and Mother Nebadon in Salvington...

in faith trusting in the communication... and we may say in our minds:

Beloved heavenly parents, sources of the Spirit of Truth and the Holy

Spirit, we open our hearts to you, and we gladly receive your blessings for

these days and this work.

For worship I think devotional hymns are best suited, especially when we

worship together. So, let us finally sing a hymn or two together. - If you

don´t want to join in the singing, please keep an open mind, a neutral or

positive attitude... - Thank you all.