The Spirit of Prayer

[Pryr-1.2-52] So when the first Spark of a Desire for God arises in your Soul, cherish it with all your Care, give all your Heart into it, for it is nothing less than a Touch of the Divine Lodestone, that is made to draw You out of the Vanity of Time & into the Riches of Eternity. Get up and follow it as gladly, as the Wise Men of the East followed the Star from Heaven that appeared to them. And It will do for You, as the Star did for them,: lead You to the Birth of Jesus, not in a Stable at Bethlehem in Judea, but to the Birth of Jesus in the dark Centre of your own fallen Soul. [Pryr-1.2-53] I shall conclude this first Part, with the Words of the heavenly Illuminated, and blessed Jacob Behmen.     [Pryr-1.2-54] "It is much to be lamented, that we are so blindly led, and the Truth withheld from us through imaginary Conceptions; for if the Divine Power in the inward Ground of the Soul was manifest, and working with its Luster in us, then is the whole Triune G...

[Pryr-1.2-51] Oh my God, just and good, how great is your Love and Mercy to Mankind, that Heaven is thus everywhere open, and Christ thus the common Savior to all that turn the Desire of their Hearts to You!  Oh sweet Power of the Bruiser of the Serpent, born in every Son of Man, that stirs and works in every Man, and gives every Man a Power, and Desire, to find his Happiness in God!  O holy Jesus, heavenly Light, that lightest every Man that cometh into the World, that redeemed every Soul that follows your Light, which is always within Him! O Holy Trinity, immense Ocean of divine Love in which all Mankind live, and move, and have their Being! None are separated from You, none live out of your Love, but all are embraced in the Arms of your Mercy, all are Partakers of your Divine Life, the Operation of your holy Spirit, as soon as their Heart is turned to You! Oh plain, and easy, and simple Way of Salvation, wanting no Subtleties of are or Science, no borrowed...

[Pryr-1.2-50] [Pryr-1.2-50] Now there is but one possible Way for Man to attain this Salvation, or have the Life of God in his Soul. There is not one way for the Jew, another for a Christian, and a Third for the Heathen. No for as God is one, human nature is one, Salvation is one, and the Way to Him is one; so too is the way to Him is one and that is via a true Desire of the Soul to be turned towards God. When this Desire is alive and breaks forth in any Creature under Heaven, then the proverbial lost Sheep is found, and the Shepherd can put it safely upon his Shoulders. 1 Through this Desire the Poor Prodigal Son leaves his Husks and Swine, and hastes to his Father: it is because of this Desire, that the Father sees the Son, while yet afar off, that he runs out to meet him, falleth on his Neck, and kisses him. See here how plainly we are taught, that no sooner does this Desire arise, but the Operation of God's Spirit answers to it, cherishes and welcomes its first Beginnings...

[Pryr-1.2-49] For there is but one Salvation for all Mankind, and that is with the Life of God in the Soul.  God has but one Design or Intent towards all Mankind, and that is to introduce or generate his own Life, Light, and Spirit in them, that all may be as so many Images, Temples, and Habitations of the Holy Trinity. This is God's good Will to all Christians, Jews, and Heathens because They all equally Desire his Heart, & so his Light continually waits for an Entrance into all of them, and his Wisdom cries out. And  she putteth forth her Voice, not here, or there, but everywhere, in all the Streets, of all the Parts of the World.

     [Pryr-1.2-48] But does this Man have any Ground for Pride, or a high Opinion of himself, because of his Share in Restoring Hand?  Can we by the same not, think by our own Activity, that we are responsible for our salvation like this Man with his outstretched his Hand?  and that the Work of Christ was superfluous?   No.  While we can only do living Works of Christ when we are  born again, it is because we are able to say with the Apostle, "This is not I, but the Christ that lives in me." But to return, and further show, how the Soul that feels the Call of God to Repentance, this stirring of the Divine Power in the soul may have its full Effect, and bring forth the Birth of the new Man in Christ Jesus because it is the Seed of the Divine Nature within us, but it can only grow by its own Strength and Union with God because, and this is important to remember, this Seed is Divine, and therefore can grow from nothing but Divi...

[Pryr-1.2-47] There is no avoiding this fatal Error, except to deeply realize the great Truth, that all our own Activity and Working has no Good in it, & can do no Good to us, unless it leads and turns us to the Light and Spirit of God.  That is the only way to bring Life and Salvation into the Soul: Stretch forth your Hand, said our Lord to the Man that had a withered Hand; he did so, and it was immediately made whole as the other.  --------------------------------------------------------------   9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.   10 And a man   was there  whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him  of impiety and breaking the Law. . 11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?   12   So  “How muc...