© 2005 The Brotherhood of Man Library
Enlightened prayer must recognize not only an external and personal God but also an internal and impersonal Divinity, the indwelling Spirit of the Father. It is altogether fitting that man, when he prays, should strive to grasp the concept of the Universal Father on Paradise; but the more effective technique for most practical purposes will be to revert to the concept of a near-by alter ego, just as the primitive mind was wont to do, and then to recognize that the idea of this alter ego has evolved from a mere fiction to the truth of God’s indwelling mortal man in the factual presence of the indwelling God-Spirit so that man can talk face to face, as it were, with a real and genuine and divine alter ego that indwells him and is the very presence and essence of the living God, the Universal Father.
No prayer can be ethical when the petitioner seeks for selfish advantage over his fellows. Selfish and materialistic praying is incompatible with the ethical religions which are predicated on unselfish and divine love. All such unethical praying reverts to the primitive levels of pseudo magic and is unworthy of advancing civilizations and enlightened religions. Selfish praying trangresses the spirit of all ethics founded on loving justice.
Prayer ever has been and ever will be a twofold human experience: a psychologic procedure inter-associated with a spiritual technique. And these two functions of prayer can never be fully separated. (UB 91:3.6)
¶ External links
- Article in Innerface International: https://urantia-book.org/archive/newsletters/innerface/vol12_1/page14.html