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The Dance of Prayer
Part 2
By
Shaheerah Stephens
The
first movement in the dance of prayer is recognition. (please click here to read Part I of the Dance of Prayer) The second movement in the dance of prayer is unification. When you pray relax and then recognize that Spirit/God
is everywhere (omnipresence) and that Spirit/God is all-knowing (omniscience) and all powerful (omnipotence). Just knowing what God is isn’t enough, then we must “unify” with these attributes. Everything that we can say about God we can say about ourselves because we are made
out of the self same stuff that the Creator is made out of. You are "made in the image and likeness of God." How can you be anything
but good?
You
are absolutely good. Michael Beckwith and his wife wrote a song with the lyrics,
“No mistakes have been made because it all fades into love.” Too many people walk around thinking that they are
unworthy of the good things in life. Thoughts of unworthiness can be a barrier
to our good. Recognize that you are worthy and begin to unify with all that is
good.
Emilie
Cady, author of Lessons In Truth says, “The cause of all suffering is our belief that we are separated from God.” Jesus says, “The Father and I are one.”
When you see me, you see the Father. If you knew who walked by your side
fear would be impossible.
As
we practice the at-one-ment, we begin to realize that nothing is too good to be true for us and nothing is too wonderful to
happen. We can then begin to live our lives in a place of expectancy. Here’s an affirmation to assist you in realizing your worthiness:
“God
and I are one. I claim my Divine Inheritance and see, feel and know that I too,
am infinite intelligence, deep peace, unconditional love, harmony and joy. I
am what God is. God is expressing through me right now as the complete solution
to my present challenges.” Our challenges or problems are in our experience
to assist us in our soul’s growth.
There’s
a song I like and I don’t know who recorded it but the lyrics are “You are everything and everything is you.” When I hear it I think about the Higher Power.
The
Creator is divine mind and divine substance out of which all things are made. This
radiating, creative mind energy has a “plastic” quality and we shape it with our dominant beliefs. As we think, we think into divine mind. So think about what
is you want and stop thinking about what is you don’t want.
If
there is not enough money in my bank account I must unify with abundance. I understand
that divine ideas are constantly flowing and that abundance is my birthright. Usually
I will take out my little green book, The Abundance Book, by John Randolph Price. This book
is the one I read every day while I was away at theology school. Keeping my mind
on Source afforded me enough prosperity to fly home often and pay bills in two states for an entire year.
John
says, “Money is an effect. When you concentrate on the effect, you are
forgetting the cause, and when you forget the cause, the effect begins to diminish.”
The cause is Spirit or Source. We are already one with all of the
wealth that there is in the universe. If that’s true, then why aren’t
we experiencing more abundance in our lives? Too often we are thinking about
what we don’t have and not enough attention on our oneness with love, peace, health or wealth. Power flows where our attention goes.
The
Spirit within us is forever thinking thoughts of Abundance, which is its true nature.
When we have a desire, the desire itself is Spirit tugging at our hearts saying, “Look Beloved, see what I have
for you to experience.” Instead of us accepting it and then staying open
to the guidance of Spirit, we often get busy with our own plans, and then things get derailed or delayed. There are too many variables that you are not aware of that is why we all need “divine” guidance.
We
are already one with all of the love that there is in the universe. When we feel
lonely we have to look at how we are pushing love out of our lives because there is no lack of love anywhere. How do you withhold love from yourself? Do you withhold from
others? Any withholding will show up as something being withheld from you.
In Paul Ferrini’s latest book, Love Is My Gospel,
he says, “Our greatest wound is self-betrayal and the refusal to love ourselves.” Often we experience abandonment or perceive ourselves as being abandoned
when we basically abandon ourselves first. We must unify with
courage and speak our truth and live out of our integrity. We are the love that
we seek. So in this unification step of prayer whatever it is we are seeking we can begin to
affirm that we are one with it.
Joel
Goldsmith, author of Practicing the Presence says, “I have all that God has because I and my Father are one.”
In this relationship of oneness, I embody all.
After
all our seeking outside of ourselves for our heart’s desire, we must come right to Source who is the fulfillment of
every desire. Until we bond with the true beloved our relationships with others
will not fulfill us. Our souls remember the perfect love from ancient times and
we keep trying to re-create it with humans who don’t have a clue. You are
the one that you have been waiting for dear heart.
If you are challenged with health matters you can affirm, “There is only
one life and that life is God and that life is the life of my body, the Life of Spirit moves through my blood stream, and
permeates every organ in my body.” Visualize the light of Christ moving throughout all parts
of your body. See it saturate you from the top of your head to the soles of your
feet. What we focus on expands. As
I speak these words or even think these words Spirit is moving right in the direction of my words or thoughts.
As you meditate on affirmations or prayers you are embodying those words and
they become flesh. This is the year for prayer and meditation. Meditate on your
oneness with everything and everyone. Relax in Spirit, recognize Spirit in all
as all and then unify with Spirit.
Rev. Shaheerah Stephens is author of The Wealth of a Spiritual Woman and the Spiritual Leader at Transforming Love Community. She is a sought after keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
Each month we will feature writings that reflect
the Truth Principles.
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