My first Pastor was The Rev. Humphrey Vellacott, at East Ham Baptist Church, around 1970-ish, who talked a lot about a personal relationship with God. Another personal phrase that he used a lot was “being right with God.” He must of explained what he meant many times to the thriving ever growing congregation that the church had BUT I fear it was lost of very many of us. Sydney Banks has a very popular phrase that he uses. “Look Inside.” People are forever, and with great diligence, looking for answers outside of themselves. Syd tells us this is a waste of time.
My advice if you are looking for a personal relationship with God and wanting to be right with him is always to “Look Inside.”
Do not look at what other ‘Christians’ do or say and emulate them. Do not keep seeking guidance and clues from books, the Internet, courses of study, and all of that stuff. Spend time with God by “looking inside.” See the meditation section of this website, especially the section about “prayer without words”
Lastly concentrate on you and your inside experiences. The spirit of criticism you should beware of. Let others do as they do, you just concentrate on what it is that you do. Humphrey used to spend 4 hours a day with his God. It showed. He was God’s man through and through.
So, we are looking inside right now. We are going to ask ourselves some questions. The rules are that these answers are 100% your answers. Cheating by copying someone else is not allowed. Your answers must have your full agreement. No half-truths, maybes, or exceptions are allowed. Are you ready? You have as long as it takes from now…
- Do you believe the Holy Spirit lives within your heart and mind?
- Do you feel that God is very near?
- Have you heard God speaking to you?
- Jesus promised that where two or more were gathered in his name, there he would also be. Do you believe this?
- Do you love yourself?
Good ‘starter for ten’ questions. How honest were you with your answers? Have you got any Terms & Conditions in there anywhere? If you have any doubts about the validity of any of your answers, take time out and answer again later.
Finally, “May the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, be with you today and forever more. In CofE Churches this is known as ‘The Peace’ and members of the congregation wish it to everyone else. Did anyone every tell you what this peace is? If you look inside you can find it OR discover that you need to work on it. It is a gift and you have to accept it with a grateful heart.
A 9th Century Lord’s Prayer
“O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration, soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where your Presence can abide.
Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.
Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.
Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.
Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.
Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.
For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth, power, and fulfilment, as all is gathered and made whole once again
The 1611 Version
Is in the original King James version of The Bible and is shown on the picture left.
Compare the two. The content of the prayer is very similar BUT the level of spirituality far outweighs the intellectualness of the 1611 version.
I like the ancient version it makes much more sense to me and my hope is that I can learn some of it Parrot fashion so I know it as well as the 1611.
But then there is no one waiting to cane me if I don’t
