Prayer and Forgiveness: Tools for Inner Peace
Prayer and forgiveness, rooted in the heart and trust in God's wisdom, are powerful tools to transform negative emotions, cultivate inner peace, and release grievances, recognizing God's hand in all circumstances.
Yes. Yesterday there was a situation at work and there was some anger being generated inside. Suddenly I realized your words: 'Is this the inner environment I want to give God?' And realizing that, the anger just vanished. It was so beautiful to just watch that. So grateful to you, Father.
Very good. And then we realize that we are not as hostage to feelings and things as we like to believe. So you notice that, and whenever we notice it, it is good. At least we noticed.
I saw that the mind kept focusing on, you know, the person causing the hurt or whatever. So to pray for them is such a beautiful tool. Pray for those who attack us because they are attacked themselves. They're feeling attacked at least by something in their life. So sometimes it seems very difficult to just forgive immediately, so then we can pray and our prayer will bring us to that place.
It's from there that it comes. Because with reason, it works for a millisecond; it doesn't really... it's not exactly... it doesn't hold. Yes, we can use our reason, we can use our concepts or spiritual concepts, you see, but it has to bring us to our heart. Without that, it just is surface level and it will seem too difficult. It'll seem like we're acting or something. But if you really go within and pray for the one who has attacked you, then you're helping them, you're helping yourself, and also—not that this is primary—but it happens that God sorts it out in here.
Yeah, of course, of course, of course. The tiniest things He takes care of.
Not that this was a tiny thing. I'm saying that He is the one who takes care of even the tiniest things. So when these seeming big things happen in our life, of course He's taking care. But to have that trust that in spite of my being with Him, in spite of my even petitioning Him, if something is not going in that direction, then obviously I am the one reading the situation wrong in the sense that He is obviously moving in that which is best for my growth, for my spirituality, but I'm not able to see that yet. So I'm the one who is restricted by the power of my thinking. That kind of trust, once we start to build, then you see... see, miracles are happening in everybody's lives, but our mind doesn't let us see them. It blocks us from really recognizing the beauty of how our life is unfolding. It is stunning if you could actually just see.
So we never have a reason to have a grievance. We never have a reason to hold something against our brother or sister. It does serve greatly; it is very powerful. But you say, 'Hate the sin and not the sinner.' Exactly. Because the mind's whole game plan is rooted in that. When someone says, suppose says something rude, I'm just like, 'This boy,' you see? So it quickly moves to 'this boy' instead of 'What was that? Where was it coming from? What is the block?' you see? So this is what the mind wants to do. It wants us to hate, it wants us to be in anger, it wants us to resent, it wants us to have grievances. And if you just don't make it personal in that way and you just keep it about the thing—how am I seeing it differently than how He's seeing it? You see? What is that difference?
Key Teachings
- Recognizing that one's inner environment is a space for God can instantly dissolve negative emotions like anger.
- Praying for those who cause harm is a powerful tool for forgiveness, helping both the one praying and the one being prayed for.
- True forgiveness and peace come from the heart, not just intellectual reasoning or spiritual concepts.
- Trusting God's plan, even when things don't go as desired, allows one to see the miracles and beauty in life's unfolding, fostering a lack of grievance.
From: Remain with God, Remain with His Light, and Allow the Movie to Play By Itself - 29th May 2024