Ask: Do words matter to God?

           “I would like to see a discussion on: Does God understand our words? Since words have been invented as a communication device in the illusion, does God even know they exist? I have seen people agonize over what words to use in prayer. Does it matter?” – HC

 

“Strictly speaking, words play no part at all in healing. The motivating factor is prayer, or asking. What you ask for you receive. But this refers to the prayer of the heart, not to the words you use in praying. Sometimes the words and the prayer are contradictory; sometimes they agree. It does not matter. God does not understand words, for they were made by separated minds to keep them in the illusion of separation. Words can be helpful, particularly for the beginner, in helping concentration and facilitating the exclusion, or at least the control, of extraneous thoughts. Let us not forget, however, that words are but symbols of symbols. They are thus twice removed from reality.” (ACIM, M-21.1:1-10)

 

Whatever one means by God, either the predetermined unfolding story or the space in which it appears, pure consciousness, words do not matter to it. When someone struggles for the right words with which to pray, they are either struggling to clarify their own feelings and desires, or they are hoping to affect with the perfect words an external entity that does not exist.

A Course in Miracles tells us that true prayer is communion with God, not asking or entreating God for something.

 

“Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving. It should not be confused with supplication of any kind, because it is a way of remembering your holiness.” (ACIM, S-1.I.5:1-2)

 

“True prayer must avoid the pitfall of asking to entreat. Ask, rather, to receive what is already given; to accept what is already there.” (ACIM, S-1.I.1:6-7)

 

There are two levels to this description of true prayer. One is that true prayer asks for God, which is all that one really feels they lack and therefore all they need. It is opening to God. Nothing else is really needed. The other level is described here:

 

“You have been told to ask the Holy Spirit for the answer to any specific problem, and that you will receive a specific answer if such is your need. You have also been told that there is only one problem and one answer. In prayer this is not contradictory. There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they be illusions or not. You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize. Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it.” (ACIM, S-1.I.2:1-7)

 

So, just by opening to God you can be assured the answers you need in any given situation will arise. Tuning into God is tuning into the greater unfolding story. It opens you up to intuition, to sensing what is going to happen, to what your next move will be if there is to be one. It brings comfort because you settle into the awareness that your person is not alone, it has a purpose as part of a greater whole. 

>>>> 

If you have a question the answer to which you feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered in this newsletter/blog.

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