How to Communicate with God

Today, more than ever before, we observe that some people truly desire to communicate with God.  This trends exist disregarding of certain religious affiliations.  In fact, it is often those who don’t have a church preference, who are the true seekers.

Prayer is the ongoing dialogue with God.  It is a way to tell God everything and surrender our lives to Him.  The most effective way to talk to God is by imagining that He is our parent, our Dad and Mom who want to know about us.  When we report to God in this way, we can ask for help and guidance and then just listen.  Honoring God in this way, listening, and waiting for solutions to unfold.  Since God is mostly interested in our spiritual growth and personal development, answers may not always come or come in ways we don’t expect them. 

In the teachings of the Divine Principle this occurrence is explained in the chapter on Eschatology  or specifically the section on: THE PHENOMENON OF THE RESTORATION OF THE FIRST BLESSING

In the beginning, God gave man three blessings:

“Be fruitful, multiply and have dominion over the earth.”

~ Genesis 1:28

Since man was created as a spiritual being with both physical and spiritual senses we were also giving the potential to communicate with God freely.  Being fruitful means to be mature in both mind and body.  Through the unity of mind/body we would be aligned with our creator and could freely communicate with Him as we are talking to our spouses or friends. 

Throughout the ages, God has spoken to central figures, prophets, and saints.  None-the-less, it was the creators desire to talk to each one of us directly.  It is therefore a natural occurrence for more and more people to seek direct contact with the Divine.

The Oriental philosophies and religions have attracted a lot of attention from the Western world.  With breath work, chanting, martial arts, meditation, yoga, and other disciplines spiritual practices are endless.

Let’s look at some of the ways to communicate with the Heavenly Parent through our five spiritual senses:

* Breathing -- The first thing we do after being born into this physical world is to breathe.  At that very moment the spirit of God enters the little human and from then has an eternal spirit.  Children’s breathing is effortless and takes the breath deep into the diaphragm.

“God took the dust of the earth and formed the body or man, and breathed into the nostrils of man the Breath of Life, and man became a living soul.”

~ Genesis 2:7 

Almost all the ancient languages use the same word for air, wind or breath as they do for life, vital energy, or spirit; or the animating principle of life. This principle, this spirit of life, is called chi, ki, prana, or energy.

”If you can do something with breath, you will attain the source of life. If you can do something with breath, you can transcend time and space. If you can do something with breath, you will be in the world and also beyond it.”

~ Rajneesh/Osho, Book of Secrets

When we grow older breathing often gets hindered by negative emotions and experiences.  We hold our breath in excitement, fear or fight and flight causing stress; we starve our cells of oxygen.  Practicing certain breathing techniques can be very beneficial to our health.  Additionally, centered breathing can create an internal awareness and peace.  It can help us to enter into the realm of heart which is our true essence and can lead to a rebirth experience.

* Hearing – Listening is a skill which we all have to practice.  With so much information and stimulation we often filter out stuff we don’t want to hear.  One of the best ways to keep healthy relationships is to learn to listen.

In meditation and prayer we want to be silent at times in order “to hear the small voice of God.”  Our world is very noisy, and even the talk in our head is constantly telling us what we can’t, didn’t, and shouldn’t do.  It seems that the biggest bullies are not external but are the incessant shatter in our own mind. 

Listening to our inner silence takes practice.  Eckhart Tolle, in his book “A New Earth” speaks about “Listening for Silence.”  It will stop our thinking and help us to connect with our true essence.

We also want to hear beautiful sounds in creation as well as delightful and uplifting music.  Our ears are meant to explore the whole spectrum of sounds and vibrate with the frequencies of nature.

* Seeing – In visualizing our spiritual self we become empowered by faith and the invisible will become substantial.  In this way we co-create our own existence.  When we “gaze upon God” and take it upon ourselves to incorporate the spiritual virtues (fruits of the spirit), our everyday life can become an extra-ordinary life.  Faith is believing in that core essence which God has manifested in us as our original potential and can become manifested in everyday events.

“The power to see in Spirit is peculiar to faith. In its outer expression, this power is sight; interiorly it is that which perceives the reality of the substance of Spirit. Mental seeing is knowing; we mentally discern. Have faith in what you do.”

~ Charles Fillmore

* Smelling -- By becoming aware of our sense of smell we can remember certain experiences.  I can still smell the ocean air from the day we spent at the beach in Florida or the scent of honey suckle from the bushes in our backyard when they bloom in the spring.  The key is to connect those kind of experiences with God.  God wants to smell the flowers through us; or the aroma of fresh brewed coffee to awaken all of our senses in the morning.  With the greater awareness of consciousness every small action can be a beautiful experience.

* Tasting – Some people say a prayer before eating.  That is a great practice to invite God to enjoy the food and drink with us.  Since God doesn’t have a physical body, he wants to experience tasting bread through us.  I can imagine the taste of lemon in my mouth feeling the bitter, tangy and sour flavor on my tongue. Biting in the delicious strawberry, one can chew it slowly and savor every bite. It creates a consciousness within us to make God part of all of our experiences.  Then drinking a glass of water can be a holy experience, especially if we are grateful for it.  Once we take all of our actions out of the habitual trance every tasks becomes purposeful and can create joy and excitement.  All of the flavors have been created by God for our enjoyment. 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

~ Jesus Christ

* Touching – This sense is probably the most intimate to come in contact with God.  At times we feel His embrace, His touch through another human being and most often when we are struggling or suffering. Being open to God’s touch in those moments is the most rewarding.  In times of sorrow we need to feel close to God.  It is unfortunate that most of us don’t call on God except for those moments.  And then we are disappointed because we cannot feel God.  Because our Heavenly Parent wants to be close to us at all times, take our hand in good times and in bad times.  It means to make ourselves vulnerable and surrender our ego at times when things go well or when we feel self-assured. 

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

~ Mother Teresa

By practicing to stay in the present moment, we have access to the power of life itself and can get in touch with God.  When we step out of the present moment, thinking of yesterday’s experiences or projecting our mind into the future, we turn away from God.  Then God is not a reality anymore but becomes a concept of the mind.  In that state of mind it is hard to believe in God. 

We all know we have greater potential than we have realized so far.  Using our spiritual senses as well as our physical senses will open up a whole new world for us.  Some people have an encounter of a near-death-experience or some other drastic spiritual awakening.  Others just have a 6^th sense happening, synchronistic event or use their intuition.  Beyond those kinds of incidents we all have the capacity to access our spiritual senses.  All we need to do is become aware and practice to be in the NOW at all times.  Paying attention to the small things, and discovering that we are not separate from God but He is within us.

What about those people who say that God does not exist?  Let them watch the recent movie “The Principle”  in which science now is telling us they can prove God’s existence.

Gratitude is best practice to feel God and having a forgiving heart is an open door.  Based on humility God will be with us even if we don’t pray.