WELMEK -

Prayer - Series Conclusion

JANUARY 9, 2003

Greetings, this is your friend and teacher, Welmek. I am pleased to see you here this evening - especially because of the inclement weather - and welcome you tonight as we conclude our in-depth study on prayer. And so tonight, in culmination of this series of discourses, I would like to take you more fully into the idea of living a prayerful life.

As we went on this exploration of prayer, I led you through a series of exercises to be in prayer, to be in the intention of asking for the Father's will to prevail in a person's life or in a situation; helping you to get into the emotion of the prayer by encouraging you to experience deeper empathy and compassion for another person. And so, in our closing discussion, let us now go into the heartfelt intention of praying for someone or some situation that you wish to add your spiritual energy and loving service that the Father's will prevail. Spend a few moments in the quiet of you mind now, finding that place of deep compassion within you. Let this compassion fill your being. Words are not necessary. (pause)

Go into that place of darkness for that person or situation. And when you sense that to the fullest degree that you can, ask that the Father's will come in, come into that place, to fill it with light, to fill it with energy of spirit, a new dynamism of the Father's actual being. (long pause)

I will ask you now some questions. Sense within you, and then we will go into our discussion. When you are in this state of prayer, do you feel a slight opening of a door for the Father's love and the Father's will to enter into that person or situation? Spend a few moments in ascertaining this. (pause)

Are you able to sense a qualitative distinction in your thinking, when you are in this state of prayer, as opposed to your thinking in your everyday waking state of consciousness? Spend a few moments in ascertaining this. (pause)

And the final question for you to ascertain your awareness: What would be the value you perceived in entertaining prayerful thoughts as a mode of thinking in everyday life? Spend a few moments here, and when you are ready, I would be interested in hearing your comments about what you have perceived during this exercise. (pause) Student: Welmek, I had an unexpected experience. I placed my attention, prayerful attention, on people that I thought might benefit from it: a sick friend, an elderly parent, etc. And it felt like I was just opening a little door with each person there, but I was not compelled to stay there. And then, as they say, charity begins at home, I found myself back
feeling blockages in my body and feeling I could be a more effective channel for prayer, prayerful results, if I could open up and release some body tensions and mental blockages, etc. So I felt some great releases beginning, and some pain that came up and was beginning to release. So, perhaps I sound selfish, but I ended up sort of praying for myself, in a sense.

Welmek: But if you had these areas of blockages, why would you perceive that to be selfish if this is what you need to have corrected within you to be a more effective prayer for others?

Student: Yes, and during the past week I have prayed for other people much, much more than ever before as a result of last week's lesson. And so I'm grateful for that, and it is good to allow myself to pray for myself and make myself more effective in praying for others, I think.

Welmek: As we began this in-depth study, we defined prayer as the spiritual communication that is necessary for the Father's will to prevail within human life. And if you are using prayer in this way for your own benefit, what you are asking for, my friend, then, is for the Father's will to prevail in your life. And there is nothing selfish about this. Father shares everything with you. But you must ask for help, you must ask to receive that which He can give to you. It must be your choice. And the more you do this, the more the Father's will can intercede and correct those areas within you that you say are blocked or have pain. At this level, prayer is not what we would consider to be self-centered, but a necessary component of your growth and development as a mature spiritual being.

And if you perceive the value in what you were praying for in others during the week, then does it not also follow that to pray for yourself would lead you to be a more effective pray-er for other people? I will ask you to consider this now in the following week, and in the weeks to come so that you are able to open even more fully to the Father in asking His will for your life to become so imbued within you. And it will render the times of prayer for others greater in mind and give you an opportunity to keep the door for another person open just a little bit longer each time you pray. Do you understand my meaning, C.? (Yes, thank you.)

Do you have any more comments or need for clarification or elaboration? (I don't suppose so.) Thank you for sharing your experience.

Student: Welmek, to be in a state of prayerfulness constantly, I feel ideally would be a wonderful thing. For when I'm in this state I feel the Father's love and I feel the peace that isn't normally experienced. But in day to day living, there often are tasks that need to be accomplished, work that needs to be focused on. Can a person be in this prayerful state and still be focused on their task on hand? Or are these two separate experiences? I guess that's my question.

Welmek: It is a matter of mindal development and control. These ideas are presented to you for you to try on and experience more fully in your day to day living. But by no means do we perceive that you will be able to master this for many years to come because the level of spiritual development and mindal affinity with the Father's will still is being adjusted and conformed within the superconscious level of your thinking. It is possible to be in this form of prayerful communication at all times. This is what your text refers to as the state of being our Master was so beautifully able to achieve and experience in his human life. And from an earlier discussion, we talked about the proportional relationship between worship and prayer as being perhaps 50:50 when you could spend your time in worshipful contemplation for part of your day and prayerful communication for the other part of your day as a service to your brethren and to your planet.

The experience of being in prayer is one you will grow into the more you develop your rugged self-discipline in stilling your mind and allowing the Father's spiritual current to blend within your own human mind and making it more Father-like. Bring your awareness of the Father into your tasks. See if you can, while you are doing your task, also hold another thought of a prayerful nature. Experiment with this. See how long the prayer is retained before you go back to your, well I would say the word here is 'mundane thinking'. It is not mundane, but there is a stream of consciousness in human thought that runs rampant, even in the midst of an effortful task. When you find yourself in the midst of a task, you do not always stay focused on the task. Sometimes the mind wanders, and you must bring your attention back. So if your mind wanders while you are doing this task, would it be such a large step to take in turning your attention to the spirit and praying to fill in this thought? Try this. Be aware of how your thought streams pervade your thinking. Elevate them to the spiritual level when you catch yourself as your mind becomes diverted. And practice this many, many, many times over. This is how you develop that rugged self-control and better mental habits. Do you understand my meaning?

Student: Yes, it definitely gives me something to work on. I suspected as much, and I haven't been able to actually accomplish that. I guess I haven't tried. I always felt that prayer was one thing and the task at hand was another. But you have instructed me differently. And I appreciate that.

Welmek: Think of the musical instrument of the piano. The piano has many notes that can be struck at various times. And at one time you can play a chord that has many notes. These notes are thoughts in your mind, and you can hold different notes at the same time. So as you expand your ideas to encompass what we are discussing, let your mind elevate to the spiritual level and see how it responds at the material level as well. For, as you have said, when you are in prayer, you feel at peace and you enjoy what you are experiencing. If you are in prayer in going about your daily tasks, would that not add to the enhancement of your life? So see how many notes you can strike with one chord of thought; and practice this many, many times over until you are the master musician of the notes of your mind. Does this help?

Student: Yes, it does. And someday in the future I will play a wonderful melody for you.

Welmek: Try your best. We empathize with the difficulty that you have. But as much as you can, practice, practice, practice. For that leads to eventual mastery and that sublime achievement that will be yours to enjoy for countless years to come. (Thank you.) You are most welcome, my friend.

Student: Yes, Welmek, what I have come to experience in my daily life, living and working and relating, is that as I go out into the day there is this, no matter what I am doing, there seems to be this flow of consciousness within me, within my mind and my heart that I can tap into at any time. Whether I'll be working in someone's garden or riding or in a grocery store, or even watching TV, or playing basketball with my son. Because I am always aware of it, and that if I stop what I am doing I can fully experience it. And then it kind of pervades what I am doing. And one thing that it does is that it brings me back into this present moment, and really harnesses that energy and transforms whatever negative or fearful thoughts I might have. It just transforms it and disintegrates it. And I still remember the lesson I learned a few months ago of the eternal now and living prayer. They are kind of synonymous. They are one, because (during?) living prayer you are living in the present moment - not separate from the Father - but one with the Father.

And what I also noticed, too, and I mentioned this to my lady friend yesterday as we were working, she was experiencing her mind really getting scattered because a lot of things were going on. And I said, just focus, see what you are doing now. You are raking, you are breathing the fresh air, and the sun is shining. This is all that matters, right here and now. And in that moment, spirit is here; and we are one with that spirit. And it changed her for that moment. So that's what living prayer is all about. It's one with the universal consciousness and mind and body and heart and soul.

Welmek: The experience of God-consciousness is the full expansion of the human self with the Divine. As a form of spirit communication, prayer takes you into the active realm of service, which is - I would draw a distinction here between the actual state of being in the Father as - actively introducing the Father's will into another person or a situation. Do you understand the difference I am drawing for you here now, D.?

Student: Oh, very much so.

Welmek: When you are actively engaged in prayer, you are focusing your thoughts now more into others for their upliftment. There is a unity that you will experience in doing this. But what I am encouraging you to share with me now is if you are able to perceive the Father's current going into another person and seeing how the spirit opens the door in their life. And what your prayerful attention and intention can do to help them in a way that they will not necessarily be consciously aware of, but that adds spirit value to their life that they may not be able to ask for themselves. Can you share your comments with me on this point now?

Student: Yeah! I remember from last week, and I have been focusing on that with certain individuals, . but with my mother who had to have surgery, and with other people; and I do have a sense of the Father's love pervading their being. And there has been, and I notice in many people who I have prayed for a subtle change within them. It's been quite remarkable, and very, in a sense, growing in my faith. My faith has grown because of these experiences.

Welmek: So I encourage you now to place more of your mental attention on this idea of prayerful service for others and for situational conditions on the planet. As your mind expands into the current of the Father's will you are focalizing His will on what you think and what you direct your internal gaze upon. The quality that you articulated in the beginning of your sharing with me I would say tends to be more in the realm of worship. Prayer is an active engagement outward in service. And I would be interested to hear what your internal gaze yields to you as you begin to spend more of your mental and spiritual attention in prayer. Do you understand the distinction?

Student: Yes, I do. I can feel it as well.

Welmek: Is this something that interests you now? (Of course.) As your mind begins to expand, let the full range of your mental capacities be directed outwards toward service. This takes you into the realm of delightful self-forgetfulness, and will increase your faith tenfold, because you are sharing the Father's love with many people throughout the day. And as much time, as you give out of spirit, you will naturally bring that in to you for your own replenishment and nourishment.

This is one of the most important components of prayer, and how it can renew you. Just as worship renews you, so does prayer replenish you in spirit. So that if you were to be engaged in these spirit forms of communication throughout the day, you would be constantly renewed and refreshed and living the life that our Master led. And would this not be a wonderful blessing to all of your brethren to lead such a life? (Yes, very much so.)

Student: I found among the terms of prayer that I engaged in, I felt a great warmth to the person, a healing warmth, as a scarlet color. And also I forgot myself for awhile, and that felt very good. And what I said was a little bit less selfish because I wasn't praying for myself. I have to labor under the idea that I now need 24-hr care in which we don't have the funds. It's a very bad situation. And in the manner of this practice I feel that I am not having much success as those of my colleagues experience. Although I must say I feel challenged as an example and a rule and paradoxically I'm excited about the prospect of continuing on this path. I only wish I had begun many, many years ago. I also found that the medication that keeps me from shaking does not work very well anymore. And so I have found that my legs are weak, and I will need 24-hour care. It's a very embarrassing confession to make, but that is so. I don't know how much time to spend at just healing myself and healing other people. So I really have to say benign confusion, and need any clarification that you can give me.

Welmek: My friend, your attempt and your desire to achieve greater spiritual growth is honored and is admirable. Spiritual growth and attainment of higher degrees of love and peace in your life is like anything else: where you put your intention and effort will produce fruits. You have shared with me tonight that when you pray for others you feel a great warmth, and you have a feeling of forgetting yourself and your concerns. Would this, then, be advisable to you to spend a good portion of your day in prayer for others as much as you can? (Yes).

What is it that you want to achieve now? You must ask yourself this. This is not a question to answer to me now. I advise you to take this into the stillness. Ask yourself this deep question. What is it that I want to achieve now in my life? You have been given many new ideas to consider. Your plate is full, my friend. Where you place your effort and attention, there will you find the greatest results and satisfaction. And if you are now experiencing greater peace and warmth and self-forgetfulness in praying for others, perhaps this is an experience that you might like to enjoy throughout your day and thereby finding release from some of your mental confusion. Do you understand my meaning, R.? (Yes). Have you any comments about this idea that I am conveying to you now? Student: Only it's quite a challenge that I have to move into a different situation in which neither I nor my family can afford this. That is a clear and present necessity which must be answered or solved somehow. I certainly feel my day would be happier and more balanced if I can pray for others. But there's an economic reality, which can not be denied. That gives me a great deal of difficulty at this time. It deflects me from a one-pointed commitment to prayer. So I experience and recommend the value of prayer and yet the medication, which is not having much effective anymore, presses heavily on me. [Some of this paragraph was paraphrased, due to difficulty in hearing the words.]

Welmek: How you occupy your mind with thoughts will affect your emotions. If you spend more time in prayer and find this level of self-forgetfulness, it will release some of the pressure you are feeling about your physical conditions and the material considerations that you are now facing. Spending more time in prayer will occupy your thoughts away from your troubles. Where do you want to put your attention: on worry and fear? Or on helping other people bring the Father's love into their life?

Student: My choice, of course, is to help other people. But at the risk of being repetitive, the economic problem has to be solved, as well as the seemingly unsolvable problem of the diminishing efficacy of the medication and it may be ultimately that I must make an all-out commitment to my spiritual life as the only possible answer anyway. So that is why I have faith that things will work out. I've been a control freak and I think I will have to let go and let God prevail in this situation. Welmek: You are coming into a greater understanding and awareness of the choices that you now have available to you. And you have rightly ascertained that spending more of your mental efforts on your spiritual development will grow your faith and bring you comfort and peace. This is your choice. You will still need to deal with your material life circumstances. There is no escaping this. But if you can, bring your prayerful attitude of asking for help for yourself and others now more into your mental environment, more consistently, you will distance yourself from worry, and be more in the place of comfort and security. But you must walk through the experience for you to know the validity of that which I speak to you. It is your choice how you want to engage your mind now. You have been given much spiritual guidance. And now I encourage you to put this to the test and to see where your walk of faith takes you on your journey. Do you understand?

Student: Yes, you speak the truth. It's time for me to make an all out commitment to my spiritual life wherever I'm being led.

Welmek: You have the prayers of your brothers and sisters. And when you feel weak, call upon them and ask them to pray with you, to uplift you in spirit.

Student: Thank you. That's a wonderful idea, and I will endeavor to do that. Thank you very much.

Welmek: You are most welcome.

Student: Dear Welmek, when I was praying for my little boy I realized that my mind would focus first on him and there was an opening, makes me think of like an octopus' mouth, and then a clearer mentation and a happier feeling and a reduction of like Paradise tension which I think you were talking about like worship, it's energizing to get that release of that hunger tension for Paradise perfection.

Then I got this idea that I'm really expanding to maybe I'm asking you if I'm hitting on something correctly. I couldn't stay focused on my little boy for too long before I'm praying, like C. for myself and those within the affect range of his needs - his brother, his mother, D, us here. And I'm wondering if there's a technique used where you kind of pulsate that down to the little boy and then up to the affect range, back and forth, so that it's visual and maybe even sonic and a little more relaxing and can maintain a longer focus that way. Is that a good idea?

Welmek: The ingredient for you to focus on for your prayer, in your circumstance, would be for the love you have for your son, and to let that swell within your heart to the degree that there is nothing else within you but your love for him. When you are so filled, simply ask for the Father to come into your son and to bring what He wants for your son to prevail in his life. It is not necessary to do this articulation of thoughts, as you say. What is important is to be in the experience of love. That is the most important ingredient. Spend time feeling this soulfully. Sense the Father's love entering into his soul and filling him so completely and repletely that there is nothing else within your son but the Father's will. This is not something that you will master here and now in one prayer sitting. This is the idea, an experience to take into your prayer life now and to spend time in mastering that.

When you pray for another person, feel the love you have. And if it is difficult for you to feel love for that person, open your heart and ask for the Father's love for that person to overtake your being. And then when you feel that, then the Father is ready to step in to that other person's spiritual, mental, physical domain. Do you understand my meaning?

Student: Yes, I do. As usual, it makes it a lot easier! Thanks.

Welmek: Controlling your mind is difficult enough as it is. And it is always best to follow the most simple and direct path. How can you go wrong in feeling the Father's love and praying that into another person? This is always the best route.

Student: To what extent does the prayer that you are describing actually affect the other person?

Welmek: It will be almost impossible at the human level to ascertain that. And that is not the role of effective prayer. For the amount of growth that one person achieves is their own domain, in conjunction with the Father's will for them. But what you are doing in prayer is providing a much-needed spiritual service.

The more you feel the Father's love for that individual, the greater capacity of receiving the Father's love grows into their mindal environment. As you pray in the Father's love and the Father's will into a person, you are seeding that love into all the places of darkness within that person's mind. Depending on that person's environment of mind and soul, the prayer can be very effective if there is spiritual affinity for what is being prayed in. For example, if a person is already conscious of their relationship with the Father, and is having a problem in dealing with their life's situations with patience and understanding, if you were to ask for more of the Father's patience to be imbued within that spiritual domain of that individual, that person may be able to sense that within them. But if a person is closed in darkness, and knows not of the love of the Father, praying for patience may take longer for it to seep into their mindal environment in order for you to see a more outward manifestation of that particular quality in their behavior.

But the most important thing that you are doing is that you are shedding light on their spiritual darkness. You are adding value and love into another person's life. And this, my friend, is always effective no matter the degree to which that person can experience it. The seed will grow in time the more you water it with your attention to make it grow within them. Do you understand my meaning?

Student: Sort of. Is there any kind of active corollary to this prayer, vis-a-vis some kind of direct communication? Or in other words, an activity directed to this person, through actual communication? Or any activity that would enhance the service of the prayer? Or any kind of, in other words, worldly corollary, besides the actual kind of prayer that you are describing? And would that make any difference? And if so, what would that be? For example, the Urantia Book says prayer is effective if the person knows they are being prayed for, is one example. And might there be other things or activities? Does that make sense?

Welmek: I understand the meaning of your question. To put it in a nutshell, as you would say, when you are engaged in conversation with an individual, it is incumbent upon you as a spiritually receptive person to spend a few moments prior to speaking to them to ask for the mind of Michael - to borrow His mind - so that his words that you speak and any activity that you engage in will be from Him. You may certainly inform another person that you are praying for him or her. That is important.

But you cannot know the attitude of their soul to accept your words. So it is important to render yourself open to Michael's mind, so that He can speak the words that will touch their soul. If you will remember from your text how the Master engaged people in conversation, spend some time in engaging your mind with Michael's first. And then the words you speak, or any other communication you have with them, whether it is silent or through gestures, will be Michael's words of love. And it will penetrate to their soul, because it will be conveyed over the Spirit of Truth within them and leave an impression within them. Do you understand my meaning? (Yes) This is the simplest and most direct activity you can engage in with your brethren. Has this satisfied your question?

Student: I think so.

Welmek: Are there any further comments?

Student: Yes, Welmek, I wanted to ask on the subject of specificity in prayer. And it's my understanding; it has been my understanding, that specific prayers are more effective than general prayers. And that in line with that I try to pray for things that are in particular domains of a person's life that are practical and can be addressed by their angels or by the attending angelic corps, their seraphim, that are appointed and specific. I wonder if you might comment on that practice and how you advise on specificity in prayer.

Welmek: There are two tonal qualities of effective prayer. We have been discussing the intentional, emotional quality of prayer: to be in that space of love and understanding and compassion for the needs of another person so that the Father's will can prevail in that individual's life. The one tone of love that you bring is the heartfelt feeling that swells within you that opens the door. The other tonal quality is the specificity that the Father's will prevail. And in that idea, does not that person's indwelling Adjuster know what is best for that person? And do not the angels work in harmony with that person's indwelling Monitor to cultivate the conditions for the effective manifestation of that prayer? (Yes)

So, in your tone of specificity you can certainly in your own mind articulate to the degree you can of what you feel is important for that person. But you always must understand that it is not your idea that will prevail but the Father's will that will prevail. But, if it is that your will or your idea is consistent with the Father's will for that individual, then yes, that would be a specific idea that you could bring into that person's life.

So what you can in your own inner experience is to ask for 'what does this person need to grow? Father show me from your perspective - your will for this person - and how I can, through my love, seed that in so that your will will prevail in this individual's life?" Do you understand this distinction I am making for you here?

Student: I'm sure I need more instruction. But that's a very good foundation. I am getting the distinction. Should I understand that it is the case that because of the free will restrictions under which the universe operates, that angelic action and divine action in a person's life is in some sense dependent on the specificity of the prayer? Or is it simply that you are saying that, what I guess where I'm unclear is, if there isn't something in the will of that person, or in the will of the person praying, asking for specific things, that there may not be movement in that area from the side of divine helpers? I hope I stated that clearly enough.

Welmek: I understand your question. It is as if you are trying to nudge that individual's growth and development along a little bit more. And this is a noble gesture on your part. You are adding movement into a person's life where they may not have had the awareness within their own mind for this to occur. You must remember that individuals are at various places in their development. Some people will be very amenable for the Father's will to prevail in their lives and be willing to be paced with the growth that the Adjuster has planned for them. Other people will need to be nudged a little bit along the path - encourage, inspired. And this is what your prayer will do for them. You are adding more fuel for them to stay on the road for their spiritual journey. Does this help?

Student: It does help. And perhaps I will leave it there for now. It's up to you.

Welmek: I would only ask one other question. Do you have any confusion in your mind now or is it just a matter of allowing yourself to grow into this idea?

Student: I think it's the latter. The confusion will be easily, I hope, I pray, be amenable to experience and testing.

Welmek: So be it. I will leave it here if you feel satisfied.

Student: I do. Thank you, Welmek.

Welmek: You are most welcome.

Student: Welmek, earlier you spoke of, or asked us if we were able to sense a door opening for another when we prayed for them. And I'm afraid my senses aren't quite as sophisticated, my spiritual senses, to sense that although I do sense a reassurance from the Father that my prayer is valid and is working within that person. So I wanted to share that with you and ask if that was what you were asking, or if it was something even greater that I have yet to experience in prayer.

Welmek: If this is what you experienced, then I commend you on your ability to sense this. For if you have the Father's assurance that the prayer is effective and valid, then would it not also follow that the door opened for him to get in there? (Yes, it would). This is what I am suggesting. Your ability to sense this will grow in time; your sensing abilities expand. And as we have talked in earlier lessons, you are always adding greater perception into your being the more you grow and follow the Father's will for you. Are there any other comments or questions before we conclude our series on prayer?

Student: I have one more question. And that is, how is prayer, how can you use prayer, in relationship to the incessant screaming voice of the demanding ego as it breaks into the thinking and consciousness? What do you respond to that?

Welmek: Follow the Master's prayer: "Father, it is my will that Your will be done." And the ego will eventually yield to this ever-expanding desire in your heart. But it must be the desire in your heart to do the Father's will. Otherwise, the entity within you that you call ego will be difficult to suppress. This is what our Master was so superbly able to demonstrate in his life in every situation. And in following His example you will, in time, tame this unruly member within you. (Thank you).

My friends, this series has been very valuable. And I request that you give it the serious attention that it deserves. For you are all being called now to be greater spiritual administrators on your planet of the Father's love. It is your prayer - your spiritual communication - of actually instilling the Father's love and the Father's will into the lives of your brothers and sisters, into the situations of your planet that will actually change this world.

The stillness practice that we have instructed you in over these long years was meant to help you quiet your mental environment, to engage your spirit mind in spiritual communication. And prayer is one of the greatest components of this spiritual communication. Please render this the attention it deserves. Please afford our Creator Sovereign your willingness to participate in the cleansing of this planet of all evil and darkness through your prayerful living. I leave you now with this prayer. Will you all join hands?

Michael, our Creator Sovereign, on behalf of these your children gathered here tonight, we, the celestial teachers that You have appointed to Urantia, send our prayers into these children - Your ministers. We pray for Your love, Your wisdom, to pervade within their mind. Fill them with every nuance of your being, to strengthen them, to guide them, to give them the spiritual stamina and fervor they need to be the healing agents on this world. We, who have been privileged to instruct them, send our love with yours into each and every individual here tonight, and ask that their range of influence in the outward world be expanded. And their ability to be Your love magnet to increase one hundred fold. We hold them up to You. We ask Your being now pervade them. (Pause)

May the peace of our Creator fill you to the zenith and to the depths of the very core of your being, my friends. Be in His peace. Good evening.