"The Bible has been given the Western World by the Recording Angels, who
give to each and all exactly what they need for their development."
— Max Heindel
References: Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4; Acts 6:4; 12:5;
Romans 12:12; James 5:16
Prayer may be said to be an opening up of a channel along which the divine
Life and Light may flow into the spirit, in the same way that the turning of a
switch opens the way for the electric current to flow from the power- house
into our house. Faith in prayer is like the energy which turns the switch.
Without muscular force we cannot turn the switch to obtain physical light,
and, without faith we cannot pray in such a manner as to secure spiritual
illumination. If we pray for worldly ends, for that which is contrary to the
law of love and universal good, our prayers will prove as unavailing as a
glass switch in an electric circuit. Glass is a non-conductor, a bar to the
electric power, and selfish prayers are, likewise, bars to divine purposes and
must therefore remain unanswered. To pray to a purpose we must pray aright,
and in the Lord's Prayer we have a most wonderful pattern, for it caters to
the needs of man as no other formula could do. Within a few short sentences it
encompasses all the complexities of the relationship of God to man.
To understand this sublime prayer properly and be able to render it
understandingly and efficiently, let us recall that:
The Father is the highest Initiate of the Saturn Period.
The Son is the highest Initiate of the Sun Period.
The Holy Spirit is the highest Initiate of the Moon Period.
The Divine Spirit and the dense body of man started their evolution in the
Saturn Period and are therefore under the special care of the Father.
The Life Spirit and the vital body started their evolution in the Sun
Period and are consequently the particular charges of the Son.
The Human Spirit and the desire body commenced to evolve in the Moon
Period and are therefore the special wards of the Holy Spirit.
The Mind was added in the Earth Period and is not cared for by other or
outside beings, but is to be subdued by man himself, without any outside
assistance.
In the Lord's Prayer there are seven prayers; or, rather, there are three
sets of two prayers and one single supplication. Each of the three sets has
reference to the needs of one of the aspects of the three-fold spirit and its
counterpart in the threefold body. The opening sentence, Our Father Who art in
Heaven, is merely as the address upon an envelope. The student is referred to
Diagram Number 16, in "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max
Heindel for a key to this prayer, showing diagrammatically the relation
between the Trinity, the threefold spirit, the threefold body and the Mind,
each aspect of the spirit being connected by a line with the prayer
specifically suited to its counterpart in the threefold body and addressed to
its guardian aspect in the Trinity.
The Human Spirit lifts itself upon the wings of devotion to its parent
aspect in the Holy Trinity and intones the opening incantation, "Hallowed be
Thy Name."
The Life Spirit raises itself upon pinions of love and addresses the fount
of its being, The Son, "Thy Kingdom come."
The Divine Spirit soars with superior insight to the fountain head, whence
it sprang at the dawn of time, The Father, and manifests its confidence in
that all-embracing Intelligence in the words, "Thy Will be done."
Having thus reached the Throne of Grace, the threefold spirit in man
proffers its requests concerning the personality, the threefold body.
The Divine Spirit prays to The Father for its counterpart, the dense body,
"Give us our daily bread."
The Life Spirit prays to The Son for its counterpart, the vital body,
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
The Human Spirit utters the supplication for the desire body in the words,
"Lead us not into temptation."
Then all join in a concerted appeal concerning the Mind, "Deliver us from
evil."
The addition, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory,
forever, Amen," was not given by Christ, but is very appropriate as the
parting adoration of the three-fold spirit as it closes its direct address to
the Deity.
Looking at the foregoing explanation from the analytical standpoint, we
find that there are three religious teachings to be given to man in helping
him to attain to perfection. One is the religion of the Holy Spirit; the next
is the Religion of The Son; and is the last is the Religion of The Father.
Under the regime of the Holy Spirit the human race was divided into
nations and peoples segregated by their adherence to one group from fellowship
with other nations. Each group was further cut off from the rest because of
speaking another language. They were all put under certain laws and were
taught to reverence the name of their God. One people worshipped him as Lao,
another as Tao, others as Bel. Everywhere the name of the Lawgiver was holy.
The method of segregation had the advantage that the Race-spirit in chief,
Jehovah, could use one people to punish another who had transgressed his law,
but it has the disadvantage that it fosters egotism and separates humanity in
a manner detrimental to universal good. It is an axiomatic truth that what
does not benefit all cannot really benefit any. Therefore, ways and means must
be found to reunite the scattered nations and weld them into one universal
Brotherhood. That is to be the work of the Religion of the Son — Christianity.
The warring of nations is fostered by the Race-spirit, but the Christian
Religion will eventually unite them, cause them to beat their swords into
ploughshares and bring peace and good will on Earth when the kingdom of the
Son has superseded the tribes and races. Then a still higher religious
teaching, the religion of The Father, is to unite mankind still closer. In the
Kingdom of the Son there will be a universal Brotherhood of separate
individuals having varying interests, but ready to give and take through love,
sinking individual preferences for the common good, but when the religion of
the Father becomes a fact in life, the self will be entirely submerged in a
common purpose, a single will. The Will of God will then be done on Earth as
it is in Heaven, where there is neither me nor thee, but where God is All and
in All.
In the meantime a certain work has to be performed by the three-fold
spirit upon the threefold body, to spiritualize it and extract the threefold
soul.
The dense body is but an irresponsible tool, but nevertheless, it is a
most valuable instrument, to be cared for and prized as a mechanic cares for
and prizes a valuable tool. We hold firmly before our mental vision that we
are not the body, any more than the mechanic is identical with his tools, or
the carpenter is the house. That is plainly evident when we consider that our
body is a constantly changing aggregation of cells, while we keep our
"I"-dentity, a mind, and despite all changes, which would be impossible if we were
identical with our dense body. That body is to be valued and cared for. "Give
us our daily bread," says the fourth prayer. Most people eat too much, and for
them an occasional fast may be good, but fasting is unnecessary for those who
do not feast, but live the simple life from day to day. When the body is
overfed, the spirit may be ever so willing, but the flesh will be
correspondingly weak. Therefore, when a young spirit gains ascendancy, it
seeks to overcome the lower nature by fasting, tortures, etc., as best
exemplified in Hindu Yogis who emaciate the body, causing the limbs to wither,
etc., that the spirit may shine.
That is a mistake as much subversive of true spiritual growth as is the
habit of overeating. As said, where a man can control his appetite and feed
his body on pure food he need not fast, but may give to his body its daily
bread.
The vital body being the storehouse of the panorama of our life, our own
sins and the wrong we have suffered at the hands of others are there
inscribed, hence the fifth prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who have trespassed against us," enunciated the needs of the vital body
and be it noted that this prayer teaches the doctrine of the remission of
sins, in the words, "forgive us," and the Law of Consequence in the words, "as
we forgive," making our attitude to others the measure of our emancipation.
"Lead us not into temptation," is the prayer for the desire body which is
the storehouse of energy, and furnishes incentive to action through desire. An
Oriental maxim says, "Kill out desire." "Kill out your temper," is the foolish
admonition sometimes given those who lose their temper. Desire or temper is a
valuable asset, too valuable to be stunted or killed; the man without desire
is like the steel devoid of temper — of no account. In Revelation, while the
six churches are praised, the seventh is utterly anathematized for being
"neither hot nor cold," a wishy-washy community. "The greater the sinner, the
greater the saint," is a true adage, for it takes energy to sin and when that
energy is turned in the right direction, it is as much of a power for good as
previously it was for evil. A man may be good because he cannot summon up
sufficient energy to be bad; then he is so good that he is good for nothing.
While we are weak our desire nature masters us and may lead us into
temptation, but as we learn to control our desire nature, our temper may guide
in harmony with the laws of God and man.
Desire is the great tempter of mankind. It is the great incentive to all
action, and in so far as the actions subserve the purposes of the spirit, it
is good; but where the desire is for something degrading, something that
debases the nature, it is indeed meet that we pray not to be led into
temptation.
Love, Wealth, Power, and Fame! These are the four great motives of human
action. Desire for one or more of these is the motive for all that man does or
leaves undone. The great Leaders of Humanity have wisely given them as
incentives to action, that man may gain experience and learn thereby. They are
necessary, and the aspirant may safely continue to use them as motives for
action, but he must transmute them into something higher. He must overcome
with nobler aspirations the selfish love, which seeks the ownership of another
body, and all desires for wealth, power, and fame for narrow and personal
reasons.
The Love for which he must long is that only which is of the soul and
embraces all beings, high and low, increasing in proportion to the needs of
the recipient;
The Wealth, that which consists of abundance of opportunities to serve his
fellow men;
The Power, that alone which makes for the upliftment of humanity;
The Fame, none save that which increases his ability to spread the good
news, that all who suffer may thus quickly find solace for the heart's grief.
The guiding power which directs this energy of the desire nature is the
Mind, hence the seventh prayer, "Deliver us from evil," is made with regard to
the mind.
The animals follow desire blindly and commit no sin. To them there is no
evil; that only comes to our cognition by and through the discriminating mind
which enables man to see various courses of action and to choose. If he
chooses to act in harmony with universal good, he cultivates virtue; if the
contrary, he becomes tainted with vice. It should be noted that the much
vaunted "innocence" of a child is not by any means virtue. The child has not
yet been tempted and tried, therefore it is innocent. In time, temptations
from the desire nature will come to test its mettle, and it depends upon the
control of the mind over desire whether it will stand for the right or fall by
the wayside. If the mind is strong enough to "deliver us from evil" desires,
we have become virtuous, which is a positive quality, and even if we fall for
a time before we realize our wrong, we acquire virtue as soon as we repent and
reform. We exchange negative innocence for the positive quality of virtue.
Thus does the Lord's Prayer cover the various parts of the human
constitution and enunciate the need for them all, showing the marvelous wisdom
laid down in that simple formula.
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