Infinite Way Letter
January 1955

By Joel Goldsmith
Part 4 of 4
The Importance of Meditation
Daily Inspiration

In order that we may fill ourselves with the Spirit of God, which is the wine of inspiration, the living water that is to spring into newness of life, we must empty ourselves of whatever thoughts, beliefs and opinions that act to separate us from the Presence and the Power of God.
-Before this inspiration can flow, and before we can receive the assurance of God’s Presence and Power, we must empty ourselves of our conceits, our egotisms, and our beliefs that we, of ourselves, are sufficient to live this life.
To bring this about—this emptying of ourselves—we turn to scripture: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Never has prayer gone unanswered. Never has anyone prayed and not received an answer and a blessing. We may doubt this because we earnestly believed that we have prayed. Many times we believed that we have lived constantly in prayer, but now we learn that we have prayed amiss unless we have gone to God with an understanding of the nature of God and the nature of prayer.
When we declare that we are to lean not unto our own understanding, but that we are to acknowledge God in all our ways, we must know how this is to be done. And so we turn to the Master, and seek from Him guidance in the understanding of the nature of God and prayer. In the 12th Chapter of Luke, we read: “And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment…. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock: for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Here we see that we are not to ask God for the things of the world, because He knoweth we have need of these things. Perhaps it is in this way that we have failed in our understanding of prayer, because if we have asked God for safety, security, peace, supply or employment we have prayed amiss. God is the all-understanding Mind, the all-wise Father, the Divine Intelligence of the universe, and it is absurd to tell Him of our needs.
We also see that God is Divine Love, because it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. It is not God’s will that we want or lack for any good, nor is it God’s will that we petition and beseech for our good. Just as it is our great pleasure to give to our children, much more so is it the pleasure of the Father to give us all that is necessary for our good.
Now that we know something of the nature of God and something of the nature of prayer, we can relax. Be still, be silent, and from the depths of this inner Silence comes the Spirit which appears as our cloud by day and our pillar of fire by night. From the depths of this inner Silence comes forth the healing water that brings everlasting life. From the depths of this Silence comes the Peace of God, and once this peace has descended there is nothing to fear: the prayer is complete—“Fear not, little flock.”
All prayer or communion with God is for only one purpose—to achieve this sense of peace within; to achieve the realization that “…lo, I am with you always.” Let us have that sense of Divine Presence now and we will have answered prayer. Let us fail to achieve this sense of peace and the prayer is not a prayer. The feeling of the Presence is in itself a prayer.
Let us understand this: our problem is at an end, not when we think we have found a solution, but when we have felt this inner peace. In “My Presence” the fires do not burn, the waters do not drown, the storms do not rage. The power of Christ is the answer to every form of discord.
Above all, let us remember that God is the all-knowing Mind, the ever-loving Father who knows our every need, even before we do, and that it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. And as we ponder the revelation of the Master, we will hear it said within our own being: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “My Presence” goes before you. Lean not unto your own understanding—acknowledge this Presence!
End Part 4 of 4