Infinite Way Letter
January 1955
By Joel Goldsmith
Part 2 of 4
The Importance of Meditation

Father, Pray

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Rom. 8:26)

This may seem a startling statement, but you do not know how to pray, and if you are obedient to the Voice of the Spirit you never will know how to pray! The further along the Spiritual Path you travel, the nearer you come to the place where you let God do the praying, and it is then you let the Spirit pray in you, bear witness, make intercession for you. God knows far more about prayer and what to pray for, what you need and how to present it than you do. You know not what to pray for; you know not how to go out or how to come in; you know not what your need will be tomorrow. Therefore, the only way you have of praying is: “Father, pray. Reveal Thyself, the activity of Thy Being in me and through me. Let the Spirit make intercession for me.”
In one of my recent writings, I made much of the fact that the “I” is a devil. The personal “I” which calls itself Joel, or Mary, or Bill, is really a devil, because it takes unto itself powers it does not possess. The word “I”, wrongly used, can interfere with your demonstration, and even the thought that “I can give a treatment”, or “I can pray”, can be a hindrance. Much better results follow when you have learned to make your statements of Truth merely for the sake of raising yourself in consciousness. When you come to that period of quiet, of listening, of peace, say: “Father, I know not how to pray, nor what to pray for. I know not how to pray to become free of disease or discord.” Then let the Father pray! Let the Father reveal the activity of His thoughts. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” Therefore, listen to the Lord’s thoughts, and let the Lord have His way in you.
You come to a very high state of spiritual illumination as you realize that you do not know how to pray, and that all you can do is to learn to listen and let the Father reveal Himself within you. All power is in God, so let us be receptive and responsive to that Power and Presence of God, and It will do all things through us—even pray! It will not answer our prayer; It will not fulfill our desires; but It will fulfill Its own desires in us!

My Peace
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

I would like you to meditate upon this statement for many days to come—a week, or two or three—until the Father within reveals to you what the Master meant when He said, “My peace”…not as the world giveth….” The world has the power to give you only a human sense of peace. You might call it an absence of war and animality, an absence of hate and revenge. But that is not “My peace.” “My peace” is a very spiritual thing. It is something that can better be understood through the word “Grace.” It is a state of peace that has in it no thought of humanhood or human values—it is a state of divine being.
You can bring this state of divine being into your experience. You can, through pondering and meditating upon this statement, ultimately achieve an awareness of its inner meaning, and find within yourself this state of Grace descending. In scripture, this state of Grace is called the descent of the Holy Ghost. It is a release from humanhood—from human standards and values, and even from human good. It is something higher than human good—it is something divine; it is something not of this world; it is something straight from God.
End Part 2