Prayer: From Self-Concern to God-Centered Devotion
True prayer shifts from self-centered requests to a God-centered yearning for divine light, driven by genuine helplessness and love, rather than using God as a means to an end for personal gain.
Okay, let's look at this question: 'I beg God not to leave, Father. It has become feverish, and any offense or fall from grace hurts even for a moment. I do use making these images of Christ as prayers and an anchor. I really don't want God to leave me, Father. Please hear my prayer. Loving Father, may Christ remove all offenses and sins from this existence.' So grateful even for this prayer. Is this kind of feverishness okay as opposed to the other kind? How to look at this question?
It's very beautiful. So if we say, 'God help me,' and we say, 'God help me,' maybe you get the distinction between the two statements. 'God, help me.' The other was, 'God, help me.' And that is the answer. Where is the emphasis? So if the emphasis is on God, it's all good. And that is the sheer helplessness, the sheer innocence of a child with which we call for the Father, not out of an individual personal expectation. It becomes almost like oxygen. But if the emphasis is on self-concern, then even that can be used by the mind. Can we say for one it is always like that or like that? No, we can't say. We have to just keep checking for ourselves moment to moment. It's just: 'I am suffering so much, this is happening to me, my life is not good, my relationships are all like this, I have no money in the bank'—all me, me, me, me, me. 'Only God, you can help me.' That is full of self-concern and God for my sake. And the other is: 'God, bless me with Your light. You are the only truth, You are the only love, You are the only holy, You are the only presence, You are the light of this universe. Bless me with this light.' You can see the difference. So one is deeply besotted by God, the other is deeply besotted by 'me,' and God becomes like the crutch.
I feel like self-concern can be not just like so apparent also.
Of course, of course. I'm just illustrating, saying like this to give you the tools to notice. It's not going to be so obvious like, 'I'm just like that.' But you can notice: where is it? What is this for? If you really ask yourself this question, 'What is this for?' and if that answer is dominated by the 'me'—so something happens for me or to me—then that is self-concern. If it is for God and for truth, then it is higher than that. So what are we praying for? What are we inquiring for? When we say that, 'You know, I love You so much God, don't leave me,' you see? Do it, it's okay. I'm saying no, call Him, it's okay. Be as feverish as you want and call Him. Don't... yeah, we'll get too caught up in 'Am I being self-concerned? Am I being...' Then you bring it to God rather than you go... don't stay with it in this realm at all.
Key Teachings
- The nature of prayer depends on its emphasis: on God or on self-concern.
- God-centered prayer arises from childlike helplessness and a deep longing for divine light, seeing God as the ultimate truth.
- Self-concerned prayer uses God as a crutch for personal problems, focusing on 'me' and 'my' suffering.
- Continuously check the intention behind your prayers: 'What is this for?' If it's for God and truth, it's higher; if dominated by 'me,' it's self-concern.
From: Carry the Intention to Make Every Moment About God - 18th March 2024