© 2022 Kaye and William Cooper
© 2022 The Urantia Book Fellowship
by Kaye and William Cooper
The purpose of prayer is not to tell your spiritual parent what to do. It is to establish and maintain a loving and trusting relationship between you and your spiritual parent. Love and trust make it comfortable to follow spiritual guidance. In order to achieve that love and trust, your prayers need to express your sincere concerns about all sorts of things that really matter to you, and then you need to pay attention to the response.
¶ If prayer works, why don’t I get what I pray for when I want it?
Counter to initial thinking, many of the favors we seek and many of the adversities we try to end by prayer actually have spiritual growth potential. We grow as we grapple with challenges. Our spiritual growth is extremely important. Consequently, removing life challenges will probably be contrary to our best interests. At a minimum, our prayer will always be answered by reinforcement of our resilience and reassurance that we are cared for and loved. All challenges can be turned into benefits. They are an important part of our education. Through difficulties, we can grow to be strong, courageous, dependable, and resourceful, eventually becoming more selfconfident action takers and decision makers. Those growth objectives are not served by being delivered from problems that our talents and creativity can resolve. To preserve these educational opportunities, such prayers are often answered by your spiritual parent, instead of by having your adversities ended. The reply we get is in the form of supporting us to think clearly, to promote peace, to calm ourselves, to be charming, to apply our accumulated wisdom, and to do what we already know is better. When we make those better choices, we experience more frequent success. We grow in self-mastery and confidence in our ability to employ the gentle spiritual tools of grace, charm, respect, forbearance, and calm.
¶ Are prayers really answered? How? When?
Yes. All prayers are answered. But most answers are spiritual gifts, not material ones. You may fail to recognize the answer because it is not in the form you are looking for. If your prayers seek personal wealth, power over others, preferment, conquest, or winning at another’s expense, you will not recognize or appreciate an answer that offers opportunity for kindness, respect, tolerance, or mercy for another person. But that is the nature of the answer to prayer you can expect. When will your prayer be answered? You may expect your answer any time from instantly to eternity. Timing depends on the earliest opportunity when you are receptive to the spiritual answer.
¶ Is prayer worth the trouble?
Prayer builds a relationship with your inner spirit who mentors and guides you in maturing into a spiritual person leading a material life. It is that maturing person who has the opportunity to survive this life and lead an eternal life, an exciting adventure of learning, growing, and experiencing the joy of helping others. So, you tell me-in your opinion, is that extraordinary destiny worth the trouble of taking the time to pray?
¶ Does praying over and over for the same thing serve any purpose?
Yes, it has several purposes. It keeps you focused on what you want so you can bring your human material and spiritual talents and resources to bear on achieving your goals thereby answering your own prayers. This is true whether your goals are material or spiritual or mixed. Repeated prayer also gives time for your requests to change and to better express what you really desire. Most importantly, repeated prayer keeps you focused on your relationship with your spiritual parent.
¶ What is prayer?
Prayer is two-way communication with a caring spiritual parent. It is revealing one’s thoughts and feelings and it is being open to impressions of thoughts and feelings in return. It is also asking for clarification of your comprehension and then paying more attention for additional impressions of thoughts and feelings. It is a process that develops a trusting friendship between you and your inner spirit. And that relationship is the greatest benefit of prayer.
¶ When I want something fervently, isn’t that the same as prayer?
No. Wanting something lacks the opening and abiding in relationship with your inner spirit which is the most important aspect of prayer. Relationship is so much more than merely asking for help. A relationship includes spending time talking things over, enjoying humor, saying “I love you,” being comfortable together in wordless affection, and much more. Wanting something fervently can turn into a really effective prayer if you let go of wanting to get exactly what you asked for, become open to receiving spiritual help, and trust your spiritual parent to give you the very best help at the right time. After praying for help, it is always a good idea to linger receptively in silence. Give your inner spirit an opportunity to clarify your understanding and to adjust your feelings.
¶ How do I pray?
Just talk to your spiritual parent the way you would to a trusted friend or a loving, supportive human parent. Ask for spiritual blessings for others and yourself-blessings such as tolerance, understanding, peace, empathy for another’s suffering, selfunderstanding, self-control, forgivingness, respect, and other virtues. Be careful to pay attention and allow receptive time to access spiritual impressions. Intentionally await responses. Ponder your requests as well as any responses and ask questions to better understand what you receive. Honest doubt is okay, but question your doubt too. Mindfully resist fear-based doubt. Give your inner spirit plenty of opportunity to enlighten you and to assure you that trust in your spiritual parent is appropriate. You are blessed and supported. May you experience this fully and feel the joy flowing from your gratitude, appreciation, and love for your spiritual parent. In prayer, you can feel this and express it.