Prayer

Introduction

In Martinus’ analysis, prayer is a form of the living being’s connection with the Godhead. It begins as an appeal for help and can develop into a personal, daily relationship with Providence. Prayer concerns both the being’s appeal in distress and its gradual adjustment to the divine will. Martinus treats prayer in The Mystery of Prayer and in The Eternal World Picture. ^[1] ^[2]

Prayer is not described as a means of obtaining arbitrary favours. Its highest form is a living conversation with the Godhead in which the being’s wishes become increasingly unselfish and directed towards what benefits all. The prayer is thereby connected with the being’s way of life, not merely with words spoken in a particular situation. ^[3]

From the cry of terror to conscious prayer

Martinus traces the first form of prayer to the animal’s cry of terror. The animal cries without knowing the Godhead, while the human being gradually becomes able to direct the same appeal consciously to God. ^[4] In The Mystery of Prayer, the helpless being’s cry is compared with a child crying to its mother for vital care. ^[5]

Prayer is described as an innate cosmic and organic ability, whose early form develops toward conscious prayer to God and belongs to the being’s superconsciousness. ^[6] The early prayer is an expression of helplessness and self-preservation, but it is not limited to this form; it can become a conscious relationship with divine will. ^[7]

The laws of prayer

Martinus describes prayer as having its own laws, structure and purpose. It cannot guarantee freedom from physical suffering or alter every event in a person’s fate. Such events may be determined by previously created causes and may constitute necessary experiences in the building of consciousness. Prayer that attempted to remove every such experience would interrupt the development through which the being gains knowledge and humaneness. ^[8] ^[9]

The decisive distinction is between prayer for selfish satisfaction and prayer in the spirit of unselfishness. A wish that one person should be specially favoured, regardless of the consequences for other beings, is not in contact with the divine will. Martinus contrasts this with prayer “in the name of Jesus”, which he explains as prayer in the spirit of all-love: a desire that can be a blessing to everyone and an inconvenience or misfortune to no one. ^[10] The words “Father, thy will be done, not mine” express this adjustment of the individual will to the divine will. ^[11]

Prayer is therefore a training of the will in which the suppliant learns to distinguish vital needs from desires that would harm fellow beings. Vital necessities such as food and drink may be included in prayer, while desires whose satisfaction depends on destroying the life or health of others are described as selfish and contrary to the divine order. ^[12]

Prayer and fate

Martinus connects prayer with the law of cause and effect and Reincarnation. Experiences that have already been set in motion cannot simply be undone by an appeal to Providence. He gives the example of a premature death: even though it may be natural to pray that such an event be prevented, the experience may be part of a necessary development for the beings involved. It is therefore not described as a punishment, but as an experience that enriches consciousness. ^[13]

Prayer can nevertheless help the individual in the midst of a dark fate. In the explanation of a symbol in The Eternal World Picture, Martinus describes prayer as a means of receiving strength and inspiration without being freed from the dark experience needed for development. Suffering can thereby contribute to the growth of humaneness and the transformation from hatred to love. ^[14]

Martinus also states that perfect prayer can remove dark shadows from the mental sphere, even though physical suffering may remain. Prayer thus supports the consciousness while leaving necessary experience in place. ^[15]

The Lord’s Prayer as a cosmic prayer

Martinus presents the Lord’s Prayer as a prayer whose structure is in harmony with the divine will. In The Mystery of Prayer, he describes its opening words, “Our Father, who art in Heaven”, as the first of nine thought-concentrations. The word “our” places the suppliant in a collective relationship with all fellow beings, while “Heaven” denotes the universe and the omnipresent Godhead. ^[16] In Meditation, meditation on the Lord’s Prayer is described as a supreme support on the road towards light. ^[17]

The prayer’s form directs the consciousness toward the Father of all and identifies fellow beings as brothers. Meditation on its opening words can exclude irrelevant thoughts and establish a channel between the consciousness of the suppliant and Providence. Invisible spiritual beings function in this connection as organs or intermediaries through which the prayer is perceived and answered. ^[18]

The later thought-concentrations extend this attitude into human existence. The prayer concerning God’s kingdom concerns the realisation that everyone, including one’s enemies, is within God’s kingdom. ^[19] “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” becomes an examination of how far one’s own will is in contact with the will of the perfect beings in the higher worlds. ^[20]

“Hallowed be Thy Name” continues the connection with and understanding of God, including concentration on the protection associated with thinking about the Godhead. ^[21] “Give us this day our daily bread” concerns physical necessities and meditation on God’s will concerning them. ^[22] It also expresses a direction of the will toward equal access to vital conditions and the creation of the human kingdom on Earth. ^[23] “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us” links prayer with forgiveness and the formation of fate. ^[24]

“Lead us not into temptation” is interpreted as a prayer for strength to keep one’s acquired knowledge and experience active, so that desire or mental laziness does not suppress the warnings one already possesses. ^[25] The Lord’s Prayer thus directs the suppliant toward a way of being in which divine will is expressed in thought and action.

Prayer as meditation and transformation

In Meditation, Martinus presents the Lord’s Prayer as a meditation-object. “Our Father” concerns the experience of God as Father, while “Who art in Heaven” directs attention to the Godhead’s presence everywhere, including within oneself. ^[26] ^[27]

The prayer gives meditation a practical direction. Reflection on God’s kingdom includes the realisation that one’s enemies are also within it. Reflection on “Lead us not into temptation” concerns the strength to mobilise knowledge and experience instead of allowing temptation to govern the will. ^[28] ^[29]

According to Martinus, daily meditation and earnest prayer gradually bring the individual into harmony with higher thought-climates. The individual begins to overcome difficulties more easily and to give out light to other beings. Through the meditation-objects of the Lord’s Prayer, the human being participates in the Godhead’s transformation of the unfinished being into the human being in God’s image. ^[30] This is also connected with the finished human being’s cosmic relationship to prayer in The Eternal World Picture. ^[31]

Prayer, neighbours and spiritual intermediaries

Martinus states in Livets Bog that the neighbour is an instrument through which the Godhead senses the individual. The way one acts toward the neighbour is therefore a direct expression of one’s relationship to God. Destructive conduct can drown out the significance of verbal prayer. ^[32]

This gives neighbourly love a central place in prayer. To love the neighbour is the practical form of addressing the Godhead. The individual’s everyday interaction with fellow beings is therefore the direct, practical counterpart of the intimate prayer. ^[33]

Prayer in solitude is explained through telepathy and through spiritual beings that serve as organs of Providence. When no physical being can understand or help the person in distress, the appeal to the Father is received through mental beings with developed telepathic faculties. Martinus calls these beings guardian angels and describes them as intermediaries through whom Providence can answer a prayer. ^[34] The symbol explanation in The Eternal World Picture likewise describes spiritual beings as instruments through which help reaches the praying being. ^[35]

Prayer’s highest form is therefore both intimate and active. It turns the consciousness toward the Godhead, while its practical expression appears in the being’s relationship to fellow beings and in the growth of love. Prayer begins in the cry of the helpless creature and develops into a conscious life increasingly directed by the divine will. ^[36] ^[37]

References

[1] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.8 (*)

[2] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.2

[3] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.8 (*)

[4] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.2

[5] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.8 (*)

[6] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.2

[7] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.8 (*)

[8] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.2 (*)

[9] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.15

[10] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.2 (*)

[11] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.2 (*)

[12] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.8 (*)

[13] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.2 (*)

[14] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.15

[15] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.2 (*)

[16] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.9 (*)

[17] Meditation, section 2.12 (*)

[18] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.9 (*)

[19] Meditation, section 2.16 (*)

[20] Meditation, section 2.17 (*)

[21] Meditation, section 2.15 (*)

[22] Meditation, section 2.18 (*)

[23] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.13 (*)

[24] Meditation, section 2.19 (*)

[25] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.15 (*)

[26] Meditation, section 2.13 (*)

[27] Meditation, section 2.14 (*)

[28] Meditation, section 2.16 (*)

[29] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.15 (*)

[30] Meditation, section 2.23 (*)

[31] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.17

[32] Livets Bog 3, section 754

[33] Livets Bog 3, section 754

[34] Livets Bog 3, section 756

[35] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.15

[36] Bønnens mysterium, section 1.8 (*)

[37] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 21.17

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