Your Green Homestead started as a desire to design and build a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The Lord’s Prayer is often the main guiding principle for most such endeavors.
We usually begin and/or continue our conscious praying to God when we are not satisfied with what we see around us or want to change a bad habit or unpleasant/ angry internal reactions and thinking. We often begin by sharing how we wish for God to interfere and implement a particular change for us, for example, get us a new car, make us powerful or famous, or help us with a project, approaching this as a machine dispenser of goodies on demand.
After going over a chapter about Desire in A Search For God [ASFG] Book II based on readings by Edgar Cayce and accompanying experiments in Experiments in Practical Spirituality [EIPS] by Mark Thurston, I started looking at the process of praying (speaking with God) very differently.
“Desire originates in the will… The positions in which we find ourselves are drawn to us through our desires. Whatever we are physically, mentally or spiritually has been built through desire.”
ASFG, p. 33
According to ASFG and EIPS, desire originates from the sense of incompleteness. Something deep within us feels that it is not yet whole. This is true because, until our conscious selves find oneness with God, we are in a state of separateness or fragmentation. There is the great impulse that drives humanity – the desire to be complete. The impulse is directed by the individual’s will, the capacity to choose. But how is the will able to act out this impulse? It is through the creative instrument we call mind (not just intellectual mind, but the intuitive, imaginative, feeling components of mind, also).
Desire is at the heart of our capacity to change any condition – to move closer to wholeness with God or, by misinterpreting the impulse, to move further apart. In the Cayce readings desires are separated into three categories.
- Physical. When we have mistakenly believed that something in the material world can – of itself – remove the sense of incompleteness, then we tend to build desires of the physical body (example of food as a temporarily relief that builds habitual desire patterns).
- Mental. If I mistakenly assume that certain mental ways of seeing and thinking about myself can – of themselves – remove the sense of incompleteness, then I build desire patterns into the mental level (example of seeing myself as famous or powerful person).
- Spiritual. There are desires in which I might realize that God is the only thing which can relieve this sense of incompleteness. It does not mean that I stop dealing with the physical and mental world; but it does mean that I remember their limitations. Working with a spiritual ideal regularly is what keeps us oriented toward this third way in which desire can influence us. It is by using the will to call frequently to remembrance what we have set as a spiritual ideal.
Many people find that they get caught in an ugly sort of polarity in wrestling with a desire in which they alternate between taming it and feeling guilty for allowing it to control them. That guilt will often manifest as anger or crankiness or depression. The frustrations usually inherent in fighting a desire at its own level hold true for physical desires (e.g., eating, sex, food, etc.) as well as mental desires (e.g., finding fault with others, having power or fame, etc.).
What we need is a new consciousness about the whole matter. What must come first is an openness to receive help, without a bias as to how that aid will come to us and appear. For example, we should not say, “Yes, I’ll accept help on healing this desire pattern, but only if it comes as a voice from God in meditation.”
- The first is to answer clearly the question: What is it which I really desire? Is the apparent desire a mask for something deeper? Do I criticize others because I really want them to like me but fear they think they are better than I am? Do I smoke because I want to be free from my nervousness and anxiety?
- The second is to link the overcoming of the desire pattern’s control to some reason beyond just yourself. Is there a benefit that would come to others if you moved beyond this habitual control? Is there good you intend to do for others with the energy or time which, until now, the desire pattern has drained?
- In order to keep a sense of openness to receive help, use this affirmation or write another version of it in your own words: “I cannot bear this alone, my Savior, my Christ, I seek Thy aid.”
“Our mental desires that are to laud ourselves, to appraise ourselves above our fellow man, make it possible for carnal desires to become stumbling blocks in our experiences.” p. 34
ASFG, p. 34
The person who loudly proclaims his own self-worth usually has quite the opposite thing going on deep inside himself; the person who is intent on proving or asserting his own self-worth invariably has a poor self-image. It takes a person of high self-regard to be truly humble. Humility is not the same thing as fearfulness or timidity. Humility comes from strength. It is not self-abasement (belittling of yourself), but instead a simultaneous glorification of God, others and self in their oneness.
Humility comes from strength. It is not self-abasement, but instead a simultaneous glorification of God, others and self in their oneness.
“Experiments in Practical Spirituality” by Mark Thurston, p. 48
The key to humility is the recognition of the goodness and equality of all souls. If we have not yet fully discovered our own goodness, perhaps we can start with affirming it in others. Try to say something good about another.
“In making our physical desires one with the will of the Father, we will pass through conditions in our experience similar to those of Jesus, who became the Christ.”
ASFG, p. 35
Jesus’ example is to give to others. Does the process of giving provide a solution to dealing with our desires? If we are not yet able to give as fully as Jesus did, how can we adapt His example to our development and still remain true to the process and spirit of what He did? If the law says “to receive you must first give,” what are we to give in order to receive that which will fulfill our desires?
Example:
- Conscious Desire – skin condition healed
- Experience or Feeling if Desire Fulfilled – more secure in social settings and/or at peace with self
- How to Bring Those Feelings to Others – involve shy people in activities and/or good listener to troubled friend to help them feel secure in social settings and/or at peace with self
“Let us pray, ‘Lord, use us; let that which Thou seest is best be done in and through us at this time.’ Let that mind be in us that was in Him, who asked nothing for Himself, but went about doing good.”
ASFG, p. 35
EIPS Experiment, p. 50: When you find yourself desiring something for the future, refocus that desire away from “pre-forming” how it will happen. Instead focus attention on the spirit of what you desire to have happen. When the time arrives for these future events, try to be in the now and to be creative.
“If we desire to know whether we have chosen wisely, we should ask ourselves, ‘What is the desire that is being gratified by the attributes of the relationships being sought?“
ASFG, p. 37
EIPS Experiment, p. 54: Do you notice that when you are interacting with one of the people in your circle, your self-image and your outlook on life is in some measure different than when you are with a different person? It can be amazing to consider the wide variety of selves within each of us and the capacity of different friends, associates and acquaintances to draw them out. The people we choose to spend time with reflect our desire patterns.
In completing this kind of self-analysis, remember to ask yourself how a particular person’s company makes you experience yourself. Spend free time or discretionary time with people who awaken in you a self-image or an outlook on life which you think you most need now in your growth.
Rewriting the Lord’s Prayer in our own words
The Desire chapter in EIPS ends with an experiment in writing our own prayer to God based on our spiritual ideal and taking into consideration some insights that Edgar Cayce readings shared.
Members and followers of Edgar Cayce A.R.E. are familiar with the story how Edgar Cayce channeled the information about chakras, reincarnation, and other concepts from Eastern spiritual teachings that were not part of the official Christian religion during his time in early 20th century. They sometimes were perceived as “evil” by some clergy and congregations. Invariably those who communicated with Edgar Cayce overtime developed trust, and now his readings are widely accepted around the world in both Christian and non-Christian traditions.
Edgar Cayce readings described chakras as the seven spiritual centers that have a free flow of energy in resonance between physical, mental, and spiritual bodies. Each line in the traditional Lord’s Prayer in The Bible touches upon each of these main chakra centers and stimulates the energy flow and their glandular activity. Edgar Cayce A.R.E. compiled related readings in A Commentary on the Book of The Revelation (in The Bible) with a diagram of recommended associations of each line of The Lord’s Prayer with spiritual centers (chakras). Please see a copy of it below side by side with a diagram of chakras in Eastern tradition (left) and a summary of the associated Bible prayers (right).
EIPS final Experiment for the Desire chapter, p. 54-55: The essence of desire is the impulse to be complete, to be whole. Those desires which temporarily give the body, intellect or emotions a feeling of being fulfilled are not wrong or bad. They are available to us as shadow-like reminders of a more profound completeness that will be ours. It is when we stop short that we err. So much of human confusion in the earth is due, not to entering into an experience, but in failing to carry it out fully enough in consciousness to see its meaning. We stop at the point of fulfilling lesser, personal desires without going on to see that they are the shadows of something far greater.
Rewrite the Lord’s Prayer in your own words, just as this Cayce reading gives its own version. First try to get in touch with your deepest desire to be attuned to God, then let this personal desire be expressed in the way you work each line of the prayer. Try using your version just before your meditation period.
Lord’s Prayer by Edgar Cayce
"Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done; as in heaven, so in earth. Give us for tomorrow the needs of the body. Forget those trespasses as we forgive those that have trespassed and do trespass against us. Be Thou the guide in the time of trouble, turmoil and temptation. Lead us in paths of righteousness for Thy name's sake." (ASFG, p. 39)
The Lord’s Prayer
An Interpretation From The Aramaic by dr. michael ryce posted at https://whyagain.org/the-lord-s-prayer/
Our Eternal Creator, parent to us all, who is in the realms of the unmanifest, make a space in us for wholeness that we may be taught to honor, worship and serve You. Let Your counsel, Your wisdom and Your Love come alive in us, let Your Light penetrate us . . . Attune us to and empower us to conceive of and understand that Will which You have already created for us. Teach us so that we may give birth to Your fruit. That You renew and feed us daily with the presence of Your Love, the Love of each other and the food we receive is a gift we gratefully accept! Thank You for restoring us to abundance, teaching us gratitude and how to give as you give and presence Love as you are the Presence of Love, for both the just and the unjust. That You forgive from us those realities we have engaged in that do us harm and do not belong in our humanness is another of Your blessings we appreciate. . . we commit to responsibility and forgiving as to those painful realities others trigger in us. When we are tempted or lost in materialism or fall out of harmony with Your Love, that You are there with us – Being the space of Love, that Your Love is always Present no matter how far we fall – no matter where we go, is a blessing we gratefully accept. That, with your grace, You deliver us from our errors and through Your light part us from darkness is another blessing that flows from Your Presence. We receive each of these gifts with gratitude and praise. Sealed in Trust, Faith and Truth, AMEN
From Notes on The Lord’s Prayer from the Aramaic – https://whyagain.org/the-lord-s-prayer-michael-s-notes/
The essence of everything that Jesus taught is encapsulated in this one prayer as He gives us instruction in the five categories that need attention in order to become the space of Love on earth: (a) Acknowledgment / Worship (b) Acknowledgment / Appreciation (c) Acknowledgment / Forgiveness (d) Our work, our part in the forgiveness process that heals and preserves the space of Love in us (e) Acknowledgment / Appreciation / keep us apart from error / receptivity
Lord’s Prayer by Anastasia (in the Ringing Cedars series, Book 4 Co-Creation, Chapter 11 Three Prayers)
My father, You are present everywhere! For the light of life I gladly thank You, For Your bright kingdom visible here and now, And for Your loving will. Long live the good! For daily bread and daily food with joy I thank You! And for your loving patience, And for Your giving of forgiveness of sins on Your Earth fair. My father, You are present everywhere! I am Your daughter here midst Your creations. Weakness and sin - I shall not let them in, But prove myself worthy of Your consummations. My father, You are present everywhere! I am Your daughter, Your joy I declare. My entire self shall magnify Your glory, In Your bright dream the coming ages all will live and share. It shall be so! I wish it so! I am a daughter of Yours. My father, You are present everywhere!
Taoist Prayers by Lao Tzu and Ed Hays on Xavier University website
Disciples of Life We are born gentle and weak. At death we are hard and stiff. Green plants are tender and filled with sap. When they die they are withered and dry. Therefore the stiff and unbending are the disciples of death. The gentle and yielding are the disciples of life. - Lao Tzu from the "Tao Te Ching" Save Your Servant Save your servant, O Sustainer of Life, From too early a death. Free me of that affliction of believers Who so easily become rigid of heart In their journeys to you. Make my heart like the green willow tree That easily bends in the wind, That bows gracefully before the storm Only to raise its head again with renewed life When the angry clouds have moved on. Fill me this day, I pray, With the strength of your Spirit, The strength to be flexible and ever-green. Create within me the heart Of a disciple of life, A heart that is gentle and meek. Let me learn a lesson from your daughter water Who seeks the lowest path, Ever yielding and humble, Yet wears down the strongest stones into sand. In her I see the wisdom of the Tao: The hard and strong will fall; The soft and meek shall overcome. - Ed Hays Lao-tsu's Peace Prayer If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart. - Lao-tsu
Lord’s Prayer by John (member of YGH Permaculture and Spirituality Group and Tao study group)
Source Father of Unfoldment; May we all revel in experience of existence through you; By Your Will and Love are all things manifest; Nourish our beings this day and help us to nourish one another; Guide us on paths of expansiveness and good will rather than of selfishness, fearfulness, pain and sorrow; Thank you for Your Gifts, Direction and Love; Amen. 🙏
Lord’s Prayer by Jenny (member of ASFG study group in TN)
🌹Our Lord, which are everywhere, 🌹I AM be thy name, 🌹 Thy kingdom is here, 🌹Thy will be done, 🌹On earth as it is in heaven; 🌹 Give us this day all our hearts ❤️ desires; 🌹 No one to blame, 🌹Nothing to forgive; 🌹 Lead us into remembering our divine nature, 🌹 Remind us there is no evil, 🌹 For you and I are one, 🌹And every brother, and every sister; 🌹 Remember and remember, 🌹 Amen 🙏 💚❤️💜
Lord’s Prayer by Philip (member of ASFG study group and ACIM study group in TN)
Our father Who is everything that ever was or ever will be. Let us recognize our Union with each other and awaken from our dream of separation from you. Amen. 🙏
Lord’s Prayer by Jerry (member of ASFG study group and ACIM study group in TN)
Our beloved Creator... Praise be your Name. Thy will is my will and I obey. Thank you for all my daily blessings. Help me to forgive as Jesus forgave others, always! I know You keep me from all harm. You are my eternal ABBA and I love you forever. Amen. 🙏
Lord’s Prayer by Natalia (member of ASFG study group, YGH Permaculture and Spirituality group, and ACIM study group in TN)
Dear Mother/Father God, You are the Creator of the Kingdom of Heaven with its perfect peace, unconditional eternal love, freedom, and oneness, where anything is possible, nothing is impossible, and everything is held together in perfect harmony with the power of your unshakable strength. As your children, Mother/Father, all of us are an expression of your Love. With everyone in mind, I thank you for your wonderful gift of giving us the same creative forces and guiding us in creation of a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth with the same peace, love, freedom, and oneness. With joy, I thank you for nourishing our bodies, minds, and spirit. Your guiding light kindly shines everywhere we go and helps us sort out our genuine creations attuned to your unconditional eternal Love and Name, Mother/Father, from the shadows of fear, anxiety, depression, anger, and sorrow as well as projections of the hierarchy of judgements and conditions that block the natural flow of your Loving vibrations through our spiritual centers (chakras). I recognize that our mis-creations are formed in the moments of weakness when we want to raise above our fellow brothers and sisters, doubt the strength of your creative forces, and feel inadequate to be One with you, Mother/Father. Thank you for forgiving our karmic debts that we accumulated from our misuse of your creative forces. I go forth NOW with complete trust in the strength of your forces capable of creating eternal love. With your light within, I clearly see the temptations that entice us to stop on our paths at fulfilling lesser, personal desires of the fragments of our soul trapped inside limiting fear-based thinking. This temporary gratification is a shadow of your far greater impulse to be complete and whole with you, Mother/Father God, at the spiritual level. In our oneness, we are shielded from any evil. I joyfully continue my journey through any darkness that easily dissipates with your light – fulfilling our destiny to create a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth with its peace, love, freedom, and oneness. I am proving myself worthy of being your child. I am staying strong by simultaneously glorifying you, Mother/Father, all the others around me and myself in our oneness in the NOW. You are present everywhere and always! 🙏