I'll teach you how to pray!

Nicholas Gonzalez73 said:Some scholars make the argument that there are significant gaps within the Bible, suggesting that during the various stages of transcription, certain elements were either intentionally removed or simply left out.
They even go as far as to claim that essential components have been stripped from specific prayers, particularly regarding the actual instructions on how one is supposed to pray.

As I’ve mentioned before, their contention is that we are required to already feel a sense of peace and connection within ourselves if we expect our prayers to be fulfilled or heard.
When I really sit with that thought, it actually makes quite a bit of sense, doesn't it? After all, if we are truly asking for something, shouldn't we already possess the faith that it has already come to pass?

Which scientists are we even talking about here? Give me a link or a real reference already!
As far as I know, everything they "tossed out" was basically just the Gnostic Gospels and those random apocrypha.

Nicholas Gonzalez73 said:Some scholars make the argument that there are significant gaps within the Bible, suggesting that during the various stages of transcription, certain elements were either intentionally removed or simply left out.
They even go as far as to claim that essential components have been stripped from specific prayers, particularly regarding the actual instructions on how one is supposed to pray.

As I’ve mentioned before, their contention is that we are required to already feel a sense of peace and connection within ourselves if we expect our prayers to be fulfilled or heard.
When I really sit with that thought, it actually makes quite a bit of sense, doesn't it? After all, if we are truly asking for something, shouldn't we already possess the faith that it has already come to pass?

That stuff didn't even get cut... seriously. 🙂

Just ask for it and believe you already got it. It’s that simple! Mark 11:24. Believe it. Just do it.

Just walk with faith and stop second-guessing everything. If you're constantly wavering, you're just like a damn wave getting tossed around by the ocean. Don't even think about expecting anything from the Lord if you're that indecisive. People with shaky souls who can't pick a lane end up getting nothing. Stop being such a flake! If you’re praying, actually mean it. You can't just flip-flop between wanting God and doubting Him like you're indecisive about where to grab lunch. That kind of double-mindedness is useless—it’s like trying to ride a wave while constantly jumping off the board. Pick a side and stick to it!

stormyviper12 As if I had anything better to do than listen to this—says Nicholas Gonzalez73:
Jesus told them—plain and simple—that the kids of this world get all caught up in marriage and worldly ties, while those deemed worthy of the next life and the resurrection find themselves above all that. Women aren't getting married—nor are they looking to—it seems.Honestly—it’s true. I can’t even die in peace anymore—it seems I'm being held to the same impossible standards as the angels. Even the sons are children of God—simply because they are sons of the resurrection. The passage from Luke 20:34-36—it’s a sobering thought, really—discusses how those in the resurrection aren't bound by the usual earthly cycles of marriage and death, but instead exist in a state more akin to angels. It’s a heavy concept—the idea of moving beyond our physical limitations—but I suppose that's the point.

🙂

I honestly thought I’d missed the boat on responding to this—it's just one thing after another, really. 😁

Some skeptics approached him—the kind who just can't wrap their heads around the idea of resurrection—and threw this hypothetical legal headache his way. They brought up the Law written by Moses, specifically that rule about levirate marriage: if a man dies childless, his brother is supposed to step in and marry the widow to carry on the family line. They laid out this grim little scenario involving seven brothers—one after another, they all died without heirs, leaving the same woman behind. By the time the seventh brother passed, she was a widow for the seventh time. Their question was purely technical, almost pedantic: in the afterlife, whose wife is she actually going to be? Jesus didn't bite on the legalism. He pointed out that life in this world—this messy, earthly existence—operates on marriage and social contracts, but things change once you cross that threshold. In the next life, there’s no need for those old structures. He basically told them that those worthy of the resurrection won't be preoccupied with marriage at all; they’ll live like angels—children of God, essentially—because death itself isn't even an issue anymore.

I think Jesus is getting at the idea that whether or not you end up married isn't really the point—not compared to what matters. I mean, if someone is truly worthy of the resurrection, why would they obsess over the pursuit of holiness only to worry about being unable to find a spouse afterward? It’s all a bit much, isn't it? 😛 He’ll just have to keep the fire burning—and he's got no choice but to stick to the script. 🙂

I’m recruiting women to help me produce some adorable little ones—hit my inbox if you're interested. 😉 😁 Look, if you’re going to play hard to get—which, let's face it, you definitely do—then I’m going to need a serious vent session. But there's a catch: you have to love me until the day I die, and you aren't allowed to even look at anyone else. 🙂 🙂

I think your heart is in the right place here, but I don't think this approach is going to land the way you want it to. Instead of just leaning on quotes to back yourself up, maybe try explaining the actual flow of prayer itself... It might feel more organic. Also, if I can offer some advice, try to trim the story down a bit. It’s getting a little long-winded, and I worry people will just skim the comments or bail on the thread entirely before they even get to the good stuff... 🙂

stormyviper12 said:Which scientists are we even talking about here? Give me a link or a real reference already!
As far as I know, everything they "tossed out" was basically just the Gnostic Gospels and those random apocrypha.

That stuff didn't even get cut... seriously. 🙂

Just ask for it and believe you already got it. It’s that simple! Mark 11:24. Believe it. Just do it.

Just walk with faith and stop second-guessing everything. If you're constantly wavering, you're just like a damn wave getting tossed around by the ocean. Don't even think about expecting anything from the Lord if you're that indecisive. People with shaky souls who can't pick a lane end up getting nothing. Stop being such a flake! If you’re praying, actually mean it. You can't just flip-flop between wanting God and doubting Him like you're indecisive about where to grab lunch. That kind of double-mindedness is useless—it’s like trying to ride a wave while constantly jumping off the board. Pick a side and stick to it!

Specifically, this author—Gregg Braden

I'm dropping the link again from that other thread... it's a long lecture, though there are shorter versions out there, but since we're on the subject, it covers everything regarding those lost books and the actual mechanics of how to pray.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgFsbSYE4Ks

The core essence wasn't removed, but rather the method of prayer was. The technique. Apparently, simply reciting words isn't enough; you actually have to feel the prayer.

Ronald Cook24 said:I think your heart is in the right place here, but I don't think this approach is going to land the way you want it to. Instead of just leaning on quotes to back yourself up, maybe try explaining the actual flow of prayer itself... It might feel more organic. Also, if I can offer some advice, try to trim the story down a bit. It’s getting a little long-winded, and I worry people will just skim the comments or bail on the thread entirely before they even get to the good stuff... 🙂

Look, four pages isn't actually that bad 🙂 for the sake of reputation, right? 😉 😛

But here’s the thing—back before all this (during what I call the "Preparation Phase"), when I was just a kid, I prayed like a child. I prayed for everyone's well-being—that's just how kids do it—and then eventually, I prayed out of hope...

...hoping, "God, please free me from fear, draw me closer to You, wash me clean and set me right, so that I may inherit the life of truth You've granted us..."

I would practically say it word by word, making sure I didn't just swallow the words—not just voicing thoughts, but actually feeling them deeply.

So, I’d repeat the same "desire" over and over if I wasn't fully locked into the specific words (the desire, the prayer) passing through my mind. Only then would wiser words and wishes start surfacing, a sense of clarity would crystallize within me, and I'd be filled with peace—something I truly craved, because it feels so good to the soul.

"Talk to me—for me, there’s nothing sweeter than prayer," these were Jesus' words to the honorable Gabriella Bosiss.
source: Gabriella Bosiss - Him and I.

I love topics like this—but I feel like a lot of people have already pointed out that work itself can be its own kind of prayer.😁 That’s why I don't think it matters nearly as much whether we're using fancy words or not; what really counts is that we're actually doing the work. Every prayer is beautiful in its own way.

Michael Roberts9 said:Honestly, I can’t even remember the last time I actually prayed to God!
Prayer is how I found clarity before; I was in that perfect state, I actually saw Him!
Then, coming down from that mountain of holiness, I thought I’d find an alternative for everyone else. All my fear just vanished. But here’s the kicker: I lost God while I was busy trying to find the path for others! God wants every single breath you take to be a gift to Him. He wants you immersed in Him with every thought. Once you flip over to His side, reaching the summit is easy. "Ask for whatever you want, believe, and it will be yours," Jesus said. Then He calls me a lazy bum. "It's because of you that I'm changing!" (Yeah, yeah, I'm just rambling😉). He tells me in a whisper, "Fine, you folded your hands and realized I was already right here because you thought of me! Ask for whatever you want and you'll get it." I thought, maybe I should look for peace in this world? Whatever, it'll show up eventually. I figured, why not ask for seven virgins in paradise? 🙂 Because if it were seventy, I’d definitely lose my mind. 😁

Oh, I forgot—He also told me, "Just stick to the Our Father and the Hail Mary and give glory to the Father!"
Whoops, just realized God doesn't change! 🙂

The Bible

Mal 3

1See, I am sending a messenger to prepare the way before me. And the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to His Temple, and the angel of the Alliance you long for is on His way. Behold, He is coming, says Yahweh of the Armies. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and a whitener's solution. 3He will sit as one who melts silver and purifies it. He will purify the sons of Levi and cleanse them like gold and silver, so they may offer to Yahweh a sacrifice in righteousness. 4Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will be dear to Yahweh, just as it was in the days of old and in the early years. 5I am coming to judge, and I will be a witness ready against sorcerers and adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who cheat workers, widows, and orphans, and against those who trample on the rights of foreigners and have no fear of Me—says Yahweh of the Armies. 6For I, Yahweh, do not change, but you, the sons of Jacob, change constantly! 7You have strayed from My commands since the days of your fathers and do not keep them. Return to Me, and I will return to you—says Yahweh of the Armies. You ask, "How shall we return?" 8Should a man defraud God? Yet you are defrauding Me. And you ask, "In what way have we defrauded You?" In tithes and offerings. 9You are struck with a curse, for you have defrauded Me, all of you! 10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse so there may be food in My house. Test Me now—says Yahweh of the Armies—will I not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you so abundantly 11that I will command the locust to not destroy your crops, so your fields remain fruitful—says Yahweh of the Armies. 12All nations will then call you blessed, for you will be a land of bliss—says Yahweh of the Armies. 13Your words against Me have been harsh—says Yahweh. You still ask, "What have we said against You?" You have said, "What is the point of serving God? What profit is there in keeping His rules and walking humbly before Yahweh of the Armies? 14From now on, we will call the arrogant ones blessed: the wicked prosper, and though they test God, they get away with it!" 16But when those who fear God speak, Yahweh listens, and He records them in a book of remembrance for those who fear Yahweh and honor His Name. 17They will be Mine, My special possession—says Yahweh of the Armies. On the Day I prepare, I will be merciful to them, just as a father is merciful to the son who serves him. 18And then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not. 19For behold, the day comes like a furnace; the arrogant and the wicked will be like stubble: the approaching day will burn them up—says Yahweh of the Armies—leaving neither root nor branch. 20But for you who fear My Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will leap out like calves at pasture. 21And you will trample the ungodly like dust under your feet on the Day I prepare"—says Yahweh of the Armies. 22"Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, to whom I gave laws and decrees at Horeb for all Israel. 23Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the day of Yahweh comes, that great and terrible day. 24He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a curse."

By the way, this is the final book of the Old Testament and the very last part! 😲 🤣
"Jewish apocalyptic traditions claimed that Elijah never actually died, but would instead die alongside Enoch at the end of days while fighting against the Antichrist."
Oh shit, you can never trust those guys. 🤷

Michael Roberts9, I was wondering, based on your own experience in getting to know God, how have you perceived the relationship between your soul and the Creator? Or, more specifically, have you ever truly felt that sense of Oneness? I also wanted to ask; do you think it's actually worth praying for the world and all of humanity?

Nothing is more notorious than false humility..

Many people fancy themselves true seekers of truth and feel spiritually fulfilled because of it.. they frequently lean on religious jargon to express themselves, claiming things like: I am nothing, but God's spirit moves through me, so if I achieve anything good, it is solely due to His essence.. or I possess no abilities of my own; there is only the power of God..

By acting this way, someone attempts to present themselves as a mere vessel for divine power, when the reality is quite the opposite.. divine power is amplified through your very being because you are an integral part of Him.. you aren't just some mindless, featureless lump of clay used as a tool for His expression..

You are the one through whom He manifests as yourself.. you are just as legitimate as He is..

If you are a part of God, then He is also a part of you; consequently, when you reject your own inherent values, you are simultaneously rejecting His..

That said, I generally avoid using the pronoun "He" when referring to God, given that All That Is represents the origin of not just all genders, but all realities—including those where the gender divisions we know simply do not exist..

redmoose142 said:Michael Roberts9, I was wondering, based on your own experience in getting to know God, how have you perceived the relationship between your soul and the Creator? Or, more specifically, have you ever truly felt that sense of Oneness? I also wanted to ask; do you think it's actually worth praying for the world and all of humanity?

I’ve written about my journey to God plenty of times on different forums, always writing from memory or pure inspiration. I actually sent something similar to a spiritual friend recently. Enlightenment/awakening and nirvana aren't the same thing. Buddha described nirvana as requiring an "ultimate purity" that comes after we encounter that holiness. It’s a flash of selfhood—a totally new state of consciousness entering a holy heart. It’s blinding yet peaceful; there's a massive roar of sound but complete stillness, because you feel whole and witness something holy above you directly, like an angel, or God. I was in that state for three days, but by the first day, the temptation hit—that test of power Jesus described when the evil one attacked Him. I was too overwhelmed by what I was experiencing; it was ecstasy mixed with emptiness. If I had resisted the temptation, maybe angels would have served me or I would have entered nirvana. But let me tell you, my God is more powerful. When you offer Him sincere prayers and words—words He grants you if you actually listen and follow Him—they work miracles.

When I was young, I used to pray for humanity, just mentioning them alongside my loved ones. I grew up with that mindset; it was sincere, and that's exactly what pulled me into those heights. But after I fell, I became selfish and completely lost my way. I was just a kid back then, and honestly, I’m still a kid at heart, but now I’m a smart one (if you know what I mean) 🙂 and experienced. Back then, I was inexperienced and wide open. I knew God through strength in my heart.

And I fell according to prophecy. I described how to avoid this: if you fall, you'll run out of time for everything, and temptations will attack you constantly. You'll feel a desire in your heart saying, "Just try it, God won't be mad." And that's how you end up totally screwed. And the kicker? He isn't even mad! When He does get angry, your life and health will stumble, and you can be damn sure you brought that on yourself.

Exodus 3:14
"I AM WHO I AM," God said to Moses. Then He continued: "Tell the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
Deuteronomy 32:39
"See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me. I strike and I heal; I wound and I heal (and no one can deliver out of My hand)."
Isaiah 43:13
From eternity—I am! And no one can deliver out of My hand; whatever I do, who can change it?
Isaiah 48:12
Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am, I am the first, and I am the last.

We are God's life and His drama, and there's so little we can actually change globally since everything was written long ago. In the end, He promised we would all love and know each other in truth—if only everyone could just believe that right now.

here's a song for the exhausted souls out there 🙂
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=19QHx-1M38o

Michael Roberts9 said:here's a song for the exhausted souls out there 🙂
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=19QHx-1M38o

Today is Maundy Thursday. And then they sing "My People!"



My People
a lament for Good Friday
American liturgical chant

My people, what have I done to you, or how have I grieved you? Answer me!

My people, I released you from the chains of hellish bondage, yet you strike me with daggers
in the midst of the garden of Gethsemane.

My people, I led you out of the land of Egyptian slavery:
But you brought me to Jerusalem,
to the savior of the world.

My people, I walked before you in a pillar of cloud:
Yet you brought me to Jerusalem, Savior of the world.

My people, I walked before you in a pillar of cloud:
but you led me before the trials of cruel leaders.

My people, because of you, I drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
And you handed me over to unjust judges, just so they might kill me.

My people, I established you in the new law:
But you revile me with vengeance and evil curses.

My people, for your sake, I struck down the Canaanite kings:
And you beat me with whips and stones before Caiaphas...

Someone told me this one
said they should sing it on Fridays too
Honestly, who cares about rock 'n roll?
I can play the fool once in a while
As long as there's music playing somewhere
that's enough to hit you right in the heart
Why should I care about pop stars or whatever else is trending?
I'm just gonna enjoy the ride and ignore all the noise

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XLgYAHHkPFs

Where on earth did I get the idea to compare Jesus to the Buddha and equate their holiness? When I dive into the Oshu, there isn't a single sentence that leaves me confused. No matter what I read about the sacred, if I just sit with it, I grasp the spiritual essence immediately... but God doesn't need to lecture us, nor do saints have to say a word. It’s all about feeling it. That’s when the heart and spirit become one and the same... samadhi, that waking dream state. It became more vivid with every prayer, an experience I've lived myself... the witness consciousness. It's just another way to describe how to wake up, something I stumbled into without even trying—that internal gaze, looking within and through oneself, exactly as described. I wasn't hunting for this; as my prayers and hunger for depth intensified, the kundalini inside me just started rising. The energy expanded as my heart cleared and strengthened.... that's the deal, folks. Right now, I'm just resting in the fullness of the prayer I carry... All you really need to do is cool off toward this world and fire yourself up internally in every way possible... I actually have a Sutra for that which came to me through inspiration. Whoever can solve this riddle gets a bottle of high-end whiskey; whoever misses it, ends up in the psych ward 🙂

Lord, I am not worthy—just let me go crazy

It's actually that easy to find paradise within yourself. Just remember how you were as a kid—that was paradise. But what this is... this is a miracle of miracles

Just so nobody loses their mind and tries to sue me later, I’ll just lay it all out for you myself 🙂
God forbid I actually find peace with myself before I figure out how to belong to you... when I said I turned selfish afterward, I didn't mean it on purpose. It was because once you realize how massive everything is, you start looking for alternatives—trying to see if there are other ways to pray—and that just ended up alienating me even more. I don't really practice any of this now, obviously. I just need to remember the struggle, you know? Because if I didn't push back against certain influences (you know the ones 🙂), they wouldn't even be there the next day! After that, I couldn't control it at all because I was too obsessed with finding the ultimate truth, and honestly, I'm still not sure 😉... but that's a whole different story. I'm not going to let you guys fall 🙂. Look, who cares about marriage? Let people get married. If you dedicate yourself, you'll get back double, a hundredfold...

Prayer goes something like this: "God, I hope You release me from this..." and then later: "I pray that I might meet him..." You hope for peace, fullness, joy, focus, love... then you just go silent, and this thought or desire hits you—something you want to say to Him in the stillness. He already knows us inside and out; what matters to Him is our devotion, or so it seems. You murmur a few lines, some prayers, letting them flow slowly like a tide so they sink into the subconscious (they say the subconscious is about eight times stronger than the conscious mind). And when you run out of wise words, when you can feel what you need to say, just shut up. Any word you say without truly understanding it—without reflecting on it first—will just pull you away from prayer. Then, everything goes quiet. It plays out in your heart, and you'll understand it all throughout the day (that wise consciousness where you observe yourself and others). Once you finish the prayer, exhaust yourself with it, and surrender to the silence, you enter a state of samadhi... God is that sense of fulfillment we feel, that joy and peace... We are His children. What would He be without us?