Lessons In Truth - Lesson 12 - Annotation 5
Can people of all beliefs get help from God?
5. Yes, people of all beliefs can get help from God, because each person is a child or son of God. At no time is any person separated from God, for there can be no existence for anyone apart from Him -- "one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all" (Eph. 4:6).
The degree of help we get from God depends on us, irrespective of our belief. If we have sufficient faith to take the steps necessary to make conscious contact with God in the Silence, then it makes no difference what our religious belief may be; but it must admit of one God, and of each man as His beloved son and heir. Our help from God will be great or small to the extent of our response to, and use of, the inspirations revealed to us in the "secret place of the Most High."
On pages 130 and 131 of our text we are told of some of the methods of seeking God's help:
"The faith healer ... believing that he must ask; seek, knock, importune" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 12:8).
"The mental scientist ... loudly declares that 'all is mind' ... all the God he knows ... is the unconquerable I within him" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 12:10).
"The so-called spiritual scientist ... he of the Truth teaching knows that he has already received God's free gift of life and health and all things" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 12:8).
The words do not matter so much as the faith and sincerity of the declaration. Jesus said, "Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22), and He did not dictate the outer method of establishing this faith. Each of us must find his own way of expressing his faith in God and of calling on Him for help. The degree of our acceptance of our oneness with God will determine the extent of the help we receive. No true prayer goes unanswered, but, as Charles Fillmore emphasizes,
"It is necessary to pray believing that we have received because God is all that we desire. The good always exists in Divine Mind as ideas, and we bring it into manifestation through the prayer of faith, affirmation, praise, and acknowledgment" (The Revealing Word 153).
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Preceding Entry: Is there any real wall of difference between the various religious sects? What will break down all the seeming walls and barriers between the sects?
Following Entry: When we proclaim that we alone see Truth, what does this indicate?
