The Progressive Spirit

Prayer from UP Church | July 25th, 2015

“They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” I now contemplate the fact that Infinite Intelligence dwells within me. There is a Universal Goodness, which is everywhere active and present: I am one with God, with life, the universe, and with all things. The action of God is taking place now in all my affairs.

I understand that the Law of Life is one of progression; I am growing spiritually in a wonderful way. I am in tune with the Infinite, and God is my Partner. Success is mine now, for I am identified with success and prosperity. I rejoice to see all people grow righteously. I rejoice in the success of all. The spirit of goodwill flows from me to all humanity. I am full of confidence and peace.

I am illuminated by the Light within me. Divine Understanding is a lamp unto my feet and underneath are the Everlasting Arms.

[Taken from Songs of God – An Interpretation of My Favorite Psalms by Joseph Murphy]

I Have Divine Guidance

Prayer from UP Church | July 24th, 2015

Be strong and have good courage…for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Deuteronomy 31:6

We all wish to know that the Divine Presence goes before us and we all have a right to feel this assurance. Every man is a unique presentation of the Divine Mind, a separate, without being a separated, entity in the universal Spirit. Every man is, as Emerson said, “dear to the heart of God.” We should all develop an increasing consciousness that we are protected and guided in everything we do, say or think.

I know that new and wonderful ideas will come into my consciousness today and that I shall be compelled to act upon them intelligently. I am assured of Divine Guidance; I feel that it will be impossible for me to make any mistake; that even though I should start to move falsely, my movement will be corrected. I feel as though I am being constantly watched over and protected.

Today I know that the Spirit goes before me, making plain my way. I feel that everything I do shall be prospered and I fully accept that I am in partnership with the Infinite. It is my desire that only good shall go from me, therefore I have a right to expect that only good shall return to me. I live under the government of Good and am guided by the Spirit of God. This I affirm; this I accept.

[Taken from Richer Living by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker]

I Am Success

Prayer from UP Church | July 23rd, 2015

They that seek the lord shall not want any good thing. Psalm 34:10

Success does not mean the accumulation of wealth, the maintenance of position, nor supremacy of power. Success means a life free from the burden of anxiety and liberated from the thralldom of fear. There is not successful life without peace or without that inner spiritual certainty which knows that the soul is on the pathway of good, forever expanding into the conscious union of God with man.

Today I expect every good thing to come to me. Everything that is worthy of the soul, I anticipate. Everything that belongs to the Spirit, I accept. Everything that partakes of the nature of the Divine Reality, I claim as m own. Today I identify myself with abundance and success. I know that my destiny is divine, that my destination is certain, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. I know that this Kingdom contains everything necessary to my well-being. In gratitude and with joy, I  receive this Kingdom into myself.

I live in the consciousness of success. I awaken its greater possibility within my imagination. I feel it at the center of my being. My whole consciousness expands, and my enthusiasm glows with the heat of Divine Fire. There can be no obstruction to my success. Every path is open before me, and “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

[Taken from Richer Living by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker]

God Is My Identity

Prayer from UP Church | July 22nd, 2015

 

Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48

There is a pattern of perfection at the center of everything. This the saints and sages of the ages have told us. There is, as the Platonists taught, a prototype of perfection at the center of every form. It is this spiritual prototype with which the mind should identify itself, for this is the Father in heaven within us. Nothing has ever violated the integrity of this inner kingdom. It exists forever in the bosom of God and we are in Him even as He is in us.

The most High is enthroned in my soul; the Divine Spirit exists at the center of my being. Knowing that Divine Power can accomplish anything and realizing that faith in this Divine Power draws it forth into my experience, today I exercise complete confidence in the invisible. I permit that mind to be in me which was also in Christ Jesus.

Today I consciously identify myself with the Supreme Presence which inhabits eternity, and finds a dwelling place at the center of my own soul. By some deep inner spiritualization, I penetrate the mask of separation and discover the unity of all life. I identify myself with this unity, finding Christ within and knowing that “Christ is God’s.” I recognize my union with all the Power, all the Presence and all the Life that there is.

[Taken from Richer Living by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker]

I Am Spirit

Prayer from UP Church | July 21st, 2015

 

Now there are diversities of things, but the same Spirit…It is the Spirit that quickeneth. I Corinthians 12:4 and John 6:63

Out of the unity comes variety. All things are made from one formless Substance. The invisible essence of everything is pure Spirit. It is a realization of this Spirit at the center of everything that enables us to see God in everyone. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” When we recognize the Spirit in anything or anyone, there is an equal reaction from the Spirit back to us, and we are made more alive through the divine influx which follows our recognition.

I believe there is but One Presence in the universe, which is God, the living Spirit Almighty. Therefore, disregarding any appearance which seems to contradict this divine fact, I press forward with the certain knowledge that I am forever one with the invisible Presence which is able, ready and willing to direct all my ways. I know that “her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.” Today I walk in these ways of pleasantness and “no wind can blow my bark astray.”

Today I am resolved to see the Spirit in everything therefore; today I know that my own spirit is quickened. I know that there is an inner Presence in everything I shall contact which shall respond to me. I know that everything is alive, awake and aware with this Presence; that in all the changing scenes of my experience I shall be contacting this one Presence. Therefore, I go forth to meet the Divine, to enjoy His bounty and consciously to live in His house forevermore.

[Taken for Richer Living by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker]

I Am Mind

Prayer from UP Church | July 20th, 2015

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

This means that we should recognize the Divine Incarnation, universal in essence but individualized in personal experience. The spiritual genius of Jesus enabled him to see that each is a unique representation, an individualized expression of One Mind. The Mind of God in us is the Mind of Christ. At the center of every man’s being the Eternal Christ waits, knocking at the door of his intellect for admission. This is not a faraway Presence, nor a future advent. The recognition of Christ can come to anyone at any time and under any circumstance.The consciousness that walked over the troubled waters of human experience, the inner calm that stilled the tempest, is accessible to everyone.

The indwelling Christ tells me that the words which I speak are Spirit and Life. There is a Divine Authority at the center of my being which announces itself in every act. I have implicit confidence in that invisible part of me which is my share in the God nature, my partnership with the Infinite, my oneness with all that is. Therefore, I shall not doubt nor fear, for my salvation is from on High and the time of its appearing is today.

I know that the Christ in me is always triumphant. I know that Christ in me is one with God; there is no separation, no isolation, no aloneness. There is a Divine Companion who walks with me and in whose Light I see the Light.

[Taken from Richer Living by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker]