Correct Prayer

05 Jun Neville Goddard Lectures: “The 10 Aspects of Correct Prayer”

Prayer

“Prayer is the most wonderful experience man can have. Unlike the daily murmurings of the vast majority of mankind in all lands who by their vain repetitions hope to gain the ear of God, prayer is the ecstasy of a spiritual wedding taking place in the deep, silent stillness of consciousness.” – Neville

“Praying, then, is recognizing yourself to be that which you desire to be rather than begging God for that which you desire.” – Neville

“If your prayer brings no response, there is something wrong with it. The fault generally lies in too much effort. Serious confusion arises when man identifies the state of prayer with an act of will. The sovereign rule is to make no effort. If this is observed, you will intuitively fall into the right attitude.” – Neville

“It is not what you want that you attract; you attract what you believe to be true.” – Neville

The 10 aspects of correct prayer

1. Sleep

“…carrying the action into sleep thickens fancy into fact.” – Neville

“Once asleep man has no freedom of choice. His entire slumber is dominated by his last waking concept of self. It follows, therefore, that he should always assume the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction before he retires in sleep.” – Neville

“Use this interval preceding sleep wisely Assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled and go to sleep in this mood. Then, deep asleep in a dimensionally larger world, you will see and play the parts you will later repeat on earth.” – Neville

2. Meditation

“In fact, the greater energies of the mind seldom break forth save when the body is stilled and the door of the senses closed to the objective world.” – Neville

“It is a state in which you are conscious and quite able to move or open your eyes but have no desire to do so.” – Neville

“Drowsiness facilitates change because it favours attention without effort. But it must not be pushed to the state of sleep, for then you are no longer able to control your movements. The most effective way to embody a desire is to assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled and then, in a relaxed and drowsy state, repeat a short phrase over and over again like a lullaby. Say, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ as though you were addressing a higher power, thanking him for giving you your desire.” – Neville

“Your future is best changed when you control your thoughts while in a state akin to sleep, for then effort is reduced to its minimum. In that state your attention is relaxed, yet controlled within the feeling without being forced or using effort. Imagination, not will power will create reality.” – Neville

“With the body immobilized, feel the greater you come out of your physical body and perform the proposed motion. If you are going to walk, do not see yourself do it, but feel you are walking. If you are going to climb stairs, feel yourself climbing.” – Neville

“My third way of praying is simply to feel thankful. If I want something either for myself or another, I immobilize the physical body, produce the state akin to sleep and just feel happy and thankful. Having assumed the feeling of the wish fulfilled, with my mind dominated by this single sensation, I go to sleep.” – Neville

3. Visualization

“Now, this is what I mean by spiritual sensation. Imagine that you are holding a rose in your hand. Smell it. Do you detect the odor of roses? Well, if the rose is not there, why is its fragrance in the air? Through spiritual sensation – that is – through imaginal sight, sound, scent, taste and touch, you can give to the image sensory vividness. If you do this, all things will conspire to aid your harvesting and upon reflection you will see how subtle were the threads that led to your goal.” – Neville

“Through spiritual sensation – through your use of imaginal sight, sound, scent, taste and touch – you will give to your image the sensory vividness necessary to produce that image in your outer or shadow world.” – Neville

“The world is a mirror where-in everyone sees himself reflected. The objective world reflects the beliefs of the subjective mind. Some people are self-impressed best by visual images, others by mental sounds, and still others by mental actions. The form of mental activity which allows the whole power of your attention to be focused in one chosen direction is the one to cultivate, until you can bring all to plan on your objective at the same time.” – Neville

4. Continuous Prayer

“Every moment of your life, consciously or unconsciously, you are assuming a feeling.” – Neville