© 1977 Ed Harrigan
© 1977 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
A glance out of my living room window affords a view of several rugged mountain sides softened with a white layer of powdered snow. Beauty surrounds us in the countryside and goodness abounds from the sincere friends that pass through our door. But the real gift is the potential for growth: to realize and discover new consciousness of greater intimacy with our most enlightening friendship, that with our Creator Son, Michael of Nebadon,
I believe that prayer, more than any other daily conscious exercise, unlocks the secret to an enlarged comprehension of the truth in the words and teachings of Part IV of The URANTIA Book. Let us look deeper into the marvelous associate properties of prayer.
If your son needs a fish and foolishly asks for a harmful substitute because it perchanced to be in the same net with the fish, related Jesus, would you give him what he wanted or what he needed? Many times our prayers fall short of our needs because our understanding is not complete. The URANTIA Book teaches us that our prayer is fully received by the proper spiritual ear even before the words are formulated. In other words, our fuss about what we should say in prayer or if we should pray in groups or alone is without need. The exercise of developing prayerful moods several times during the day appears to be more important for personal growth than the sequence of words used. If you want to know a friend better it is important to visit with that friend often; the conversation will naturally flow more easily as you become more familiar and comfortable. God will ultimately become the best friend we will ever know.
I like my moments reading The URANTIA Book because they are so uniquely refreshing. Profound thought also refreshes the mind with a sense of accomplishment and acquirement. Worship is another technique of lifting the mind with divine renewal. What these three have in common is that they are personal.
Truths received personally far outweigh instruction of any kind. A God that reaches our thought processes from within is able to effect a motivation as no outside influence can. That is why Jesus’ messages reach so deeply into our souls, because he speaks from within us through the Spirit of Truth.
Prayer becomes our return communication on this same direct and personal channel. And our prayers are received just as intimately and personally by God as his life-giving messages are received by us.
Every song bird has a unique melody to greet the rising dawn, just as every person has his way of expressing his thoughts through prayer.
Prayer, unlike economic logic, finds no better opportunity in the past or future. Nor does it follow a success formula which demands uniformity with each prospective hopeful.
Prayer is as creative as it is personal. Prayer is as effective as it is sincere. Prayer reaches its destination not in its worded form but in its intended thought.
—Ed Harrigan