11th Step Workshop on Two – Way Prayer – Part 2 of 2 – 2020 – Father A.

word is referred to we were hopeless men and women my doctor considered me hopeless all right of course we were homeless you know that's that's step one you're in that trap all right so uh he's visited by evie and then in detox finally he has his own white light experience says god if there is a god please help me all right and then uh feels the presence gets the message begins the movement and um whether he got into the machine or not is i'll leave that for other people uh to look at um just a quick review of william james in the big book three things common to the conversion experience. The first, James said, was calamity. And in the big book, I think when Wilson wrote that, that we were alcoholics and could not manage our own lives. He said the defeat that the individual underwent was utter and absolute, that probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. And then the appeal to a higher power must be made for help, that God could and would if he were sought. So imagine Wilson, he's in detox. He's just had this white light experience. He's read this book and he's finally understanding what happened to him. And not only does he feel the presence of God, I think he had a vision there in his detox room as well. And that vision was what happened to me can happen to other alcoholics. And he left there with new found meaning and purpose in his life. And the meaning and purpose was to go and help others, to carry the message that what happened in me can happened to you. Critical, absolutely critical. All right, so So we've done enough on William James, right? So what does Wilson do? He joins the Oxford group because Evie is in the Oxford. He meets Roland Hazard. He meets a number of people in the October group. Some of them are alcoholics who are getting sober within the Oxford group. But, but a key player in this history is this guy by the name of Sam Shoemaker. Who is he? He is kind of the spiritual mentor to Bill Wilson in his recovery. Wilson attends his church. He attends Oxford group meetings. He actually, when he's ready to write the big book, he asked Sam Shoemaker would he write these steps, and Shoemaker declined. He said, no, an alcoholic has to do this. You've got to do it, Bill. sends him back to it. A wonderful author, head of the Oxford Group in the United States, actually led a team not so widely known out to Akron, Ohio, back in 1933. This is almost two years before he meets with Wilson. He was in Akron. Ohio and had a profound impact on that town. You know, you want to see the hand of God at work. You study the history. I mean, Akron was a hotbed of Oxford Group activity. Dr. Bob and Anne were members of the Oxford Group. Bob was not a very good member because he was still drinking and he couldn't let go of it all right so that's where Wilson winds up and needs to make his famous call I need a drunk to work with so here's a quote from Wilson where did we learn about moral inventory where'd we learn about amends for harms done? Where did we learn about turning our will and our lives over to God? Where do we learn about meditation and prayer and all the rest of it? So here's the clinger, zinger I guess. The spiritual substance of our remaining 10 steps. So that what he's talking about is steps 2 through 11. 2 through eleven. He credits came straight from Dr. Bobbs and my own early association with the Oxford groups, as they were then led in America by that Episcopal rector, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. Dr. Samuels Shoemaker Wilson credits step one and twelve to William James, to the importance of this psychic change, this spiritual experience, this spiritual awakening credits that to James credits part of it to his own doctor Silkworth for the allergy part of the thing we're allergic to alcohol powerless over it but 2 through 11 straight out of the Oxford group straight out of the Oxford group but they didn't have steps you see, they didn' t have steps but they did have a process so we're going to look at that process uh so he goes to you go i'm going to skip over this uh for the sake of time well no i'll jump in henrietta cyberling uh and dr bob bob and ann are in a meeting just so so oxford group comes to town uh they they are uh they when they leave they they do a kind of a crusade for like 10 days um a whole bunch of them come come in and then henrietta cyberling creates a group an ongoing group in the town she's the head of it dr bob and ann are members so bob's in the oxford group for two years but he's dishonest about his drinking henriette is guidance we're going to talk about guidance big time her her guidance was Bob should not take the first drink. And I came to her at a quiet time in the morning during her two-way prayer. I wrote that in her journal. And then goes and tells Ann, tells Bob this is what I got. You shouldn't take the First Drink. I mean, where did the message go? It's the First Drink that gets us drunk. Where'd that come from? Henrietta would say it came from God. It isn't the second drink that gets you drunk or the third one. It's the first one came from God. So what does she do? She asked the group to share deeply one night, and that's what they do. They share deeply. They go around the group. Bob is there. Ann had kind of set this thing up with Henrietta. I watch out for these Al-Anons. They are sneaky. uh but works out good works out to our benefit you alcoholics out there uh i'm glad i married a an al-anon i don't know that i would have done well with an alcoholic she asked the group to share deeply and uh and bob so what do they do they go around the group and someone said well you know i haven't shared this with the group but uh you know uh i've had illegitimate child or uh i stole uh money and i've been afraid to pay it back something really deep something costly that they shared you see and what does that do what is the effect of that on a person who hears it well i've done group therapy i've Been a therapist you know for a number of years and i always i always experienced myself i'm the second guy in group to get honest and what the hell is that about well if that honesty is contagious then if somebody gets honest then i recognize the dishonesty in me and it calls it forth you see it brings it out so when it came bob's turn he said yeah secretly i'm a drink i'm secret drinker and everybody in the group knew it But he didn't want to lose what little he had left of his practice. Oh, Bob, we didn't know that poor guy. Let's pray. They went on their knees, you know, but they get on their knees and two weeks later, what happens? Wilson shows up. Wilson shows up. You got a drunk I can work with. He calls Henrietta. Got a drunk. I can worked with him in the Oxford group. Yeah, I got a drunk you can work with this guy and they meet and we're here so we get that what is this oxford group uh how am i doing on time i got to quit around 10 10 12 minutes from now starts with a guy by the name frank bookman he's a he's a lutheran minister and he develops a resentment with his board of directors he's in philadelphia running a kind of a group home for young men and and the board meets one night the finance committee meets and says frank you're spending too much money feeding these guys and want you to cut back well guess what frank has he has a big ego and he gets mad and and he tells them what they can do with this job you see and he quits the job and he goes over to uh england to a conference he was scheduled to go to. And there, I'm going to see if I can't fast forward. There he discovers something. When he's on the trip over, he discovers, so here's him with his self, really pissed at these guys, these five guys on the board. He hates them. But what he discovers is the blockage that exists between him and them creates a blockage between himself and God. And he almost gets it like, hey, this is like mathematically equivalent. You know? If I hate them, I block this. All right? and if it if they do that they do the same thing so he became really concerned with blockages uh that that exists between our relationship with god and with other people and what it's going to take is the removal of these blockages to affect the transformation remove the blockages from these people and remove the blockages up here all right so let's let's get back so what does he do he realizes that uh has a surrender experience uh makes amends to people to those guys on the board writes them a letter of amends all right then tells people what happened and you know what they say hey you know I got people I hate too and maybe they're blocking me from God but why don't you try forgiving them see that's what we're faced with in this country right now you know can we forgive one another or are we just going to go on hating it's our choice it's my choice and I'm not terribly hopeful frankly But if enough people do it, then maybe something can come of this. He starts doing experiments. And what does he do? He does it with young people. He does at Princeton, Penn State, and ultimately Oxford University. And he starts collecting groups of people, small groups that grow larger and larger. Practicing this program of transformation. you see now to understand this i am convinced that you have to understand that the the atmosphere the world atmosphere in which bookman is operating it's that period after world war one prior to world war two it's the it's a time when they're when the churches have fallen apart all right they really have fallen part you know there's no life to them And they're not going to be the source of transformation. And so what happens? People look for it in other things. Where do they look? Communism, the godless utopia, fascism, put all the power in the hands of one person, unbridled capitalism. If I just have enough money, I'm going tobe all right, you see. and he says none of these things are going to work there's going to be a second world war if we can't begin practicing forgiveness and transformation just like just like what happened back in the first century so what he sets out to start is originally called a first century christian fellowship that was the name before the oxford group let's get beyond doctrines and dogmas and this, that, and the other thing. And let's get back to the spirit of transformation. What was it about Jesus? What was It About Jesus That Changed People? Because it did. Well, he latched on to a book called The Principles of Jesus by Robert Speer. and in that book Speer notes four qualities to the life of Jesus he says Jesus was honest Jesus was pure Jesus was unselfish Jesus was loving not only was he these things he was absolutely honest he was completely pure he was totally unselflish and he was absolutely loving Now, Christian or non-Christian, it's not my area. I don't care. What I do care about is this is what Bob said about the four absolutes. huh um this is bob dr bob's last talk michigan 1948 it's in your handout we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the good book to some of us older ones the parts that we found absolutely essential sermon on the mount first corinthians 13 book of james the four absolutes as we called them were the only yardsticks we had in the early days before the steps I think the absolutes still hold good and can be extremely helpful. Well, there's our co-founder saying in 1948, saying he's still working these absolutes. You go to a meeting in Cleveland, in Akron, you will see the four absolutes up on the wall. They still publish a pamphlet on the four absolutes. okay this is where the steps kind of emerged bill wilson was asked well if it's so important where'd you put these in your 12 steps and what did he say i put them into steps six and seven if you want to understand steps six and seven dig into the absolutes there's a handout on it uh in in the handouts it's the last one i don't know if there's really good stuff out there on the four absolutes but so i made i made a stab at it a month ago or so and hope it's helpful uh but you really start studying the the oxford group it's all about the four absolutes you know and the program is really all about before absolutely now uh the the problem we run into is this word absolute And Wilson didn't like it Wilson did not like he said, you know, you can't this is going to scare the hell out of that alcoholics Particularly this purity stuff, you Know Because it was scaring the hell outta wilson. I'll tell you that And I don't know if he was practicing it very well either but uh Uh Wilson's expression was we can't expect him to get good by thursday So, uh kind of tucked it away But anyway, Bob took a very different approach. And the way you have to understand the absence, because it's really what two-way prayer is in part about, is you're going to come up short. You try to be honest. You try and be fully honest. I doubt you'll make it through a whole day. Try. Totally pure. Purity of mind, purity of body, purity in the spirit, emotional purity. You won't make it though a day. Unselfishness. You won't make it through a day. Absolutely loving. Good luck. So you're going to come up short. Well, when you come up short, that's when you have an opportunity to go back and ask for the power and the guidance and the direction to help you do better the next day. So it's a way of staying humble. It's not a way of becoming Superman or Superwoman or super holy but it is the standard and any good reading of the 12 and 12 on step six and seven uh you're going to come away with with with an understanding of of the of the absolutes because that's what they say it's it's in the literature we just don't like to look at it bob felt uh strongly enough uh to be buried with the four absolutes so this is a picture of his tombstone there in Akron, Ohio. And what's planted right next to him and Annie? Honesty, purity, unselfishness, love. So people say they're not a part of our program. And that's true. They're not. But why not? Well, because AA separated from the Oxford group. And it's a very good thing that it did. I'm not a proponent of let's go and rejoin the Oxford Group, you know? We took from them principles and practices and programs that Wilson then formed into his 12 steps. But what we left out down here was re-examination of the absolutes and a reintroduction of two-way prayer. Because to me, those are the two big things that got left out, got left behind. Why did we separate? A number of reasons. One, the Oxford Group had hit some very bad publicity. Frank Buchmann, to actually convert Adolf Hitler, no less, and some of the Nazis in Germany. uh um and he got bad pr as a result of that experience uh another thing um the new york um wilson was much more very influential in new yorg whereas dr bob was much more influential in akron or cleveland new yorke pulled out almost two years ahead of akron He went and Wilson started it. Why? Well, Wilson only wanted to help alcoholics. He did not really care that much about other people, whereas in Akron and Cleveland, they were doing the more traditional Oxford group program, but there were a goodly number of alcoholics getting sober within it. Finally, they did break away. Another reason was the Catholic Church was getting ready to say that the Oxford Group was basically a Protestant organization and that Catholics would not be permitted to participate in it. So there was another reason that they wanted to pull out, to start something new and to kind of cover their tracks so that this program really never just came from the oxford group so it got hidden it got they wanted to make it look like a new thing so uh frank bookman became like the crazy uncle we don't talk about him We don't talk about our Oxford group roots. We just create this new thing. But studying the history, you can't not see that it's just all over the place. So what happened to me was by studying this stuff, I came away with a very different understanding of AA, of what the steps were about, that they're transformational and that they are just written to get us there. They are a road map. They are not to be worshipped. You know? They are to be memorized. They are being taught. They are meant to be experienced. So what? So that you can undergo a spiritual experience, a transformation yourself. They are path to that journey. okay how am i doing on time pretty damn good that ain't bad all right yeah i think we're gonna quit about 11 11 20 11 25 back to me okay um all right um i want to try to stay on time so uh and also hang around forever you know after the deal but some people are going to have to move on quick quick little thing here uh that i got from doing some of my studies on the oxford group was a simple way of understanding the the conversion experience that uh that's at work within the steps so uh it came to me that the first three steps are about connection. So this self is in isolation with its chemical, cut off from other people, cutoff from God, cut-off from life. I'm sure everybody can identify with that, hey? That's step one. Step two, they used to ask, is it possible there could be a God? And if there is, could god do for you what you can't do for yourself um see step two took all of about 30 seconds that just answer those two questions is it possible there could be a god that's all you have to do and then three connect with that god i need your help and what happens there is these these barriers start uh coming coming away the second phase of the program is the correction phase all right i've connected to this god i'm going to now do an experiment and that was a big word in early aa uh and in the on we're going to try an experiment uh you know and the experiment was have god show you the things that are separating you from him from god and the things THAT ARE SEPARATING YOU FROM OTHER PEOPLE that became our fourth step and what they would do is take the four absolutes honesty purity unselfishness and love and uh and look at those and write down where am i dishonest where am i selfish god you show me show me this is not analysis it's guidance and then in five sharing that with another person uh and the sharing was back and forth six and seven we said with the four absolutes eight and nine are men's but but see i've connected and then if i'm going to be in relationship i have to do some correcting in my life well that's what these steps are about four five six seven eight nine half of the steps are are about correcting what's wrong primarily in my relationship here and here and then you get to where the action is which is direction their belief in the Oxford group was if you are willing to live by the four absolutes and you have turned your life over to God, God will then direct your life he will give you guidance and so this to me was where, oh now I understand steps 10, 11 and 12 10 I watch I watch myself where am I in my selfishness, in my dishonesty in my lust what's going on here in my food what's doing on here and one of the pioneers said if you don't watch you won't know what the hell to pray for well doesn't that flow right into it so prayer in in what we call step 11 is the result of watchfulness seeing what's wrong and asking for help and in 11 i'm going to receive guidance and then that guidance i'm going to, having had this spiritual experience or awakening, I'm going to carry this message. I'm gonna practice these principles in all my affairs. I'm gong to live out the guidance. I'm goign to do in my life what I'm guided to do. All right? So that's kind of a setup for a simple way of understanding the psychological dynamics and the spiritual dynamics that are really at work, I think, within the 12-step program. All right? So let's dive into this two-way prayer business, all right? Here's a quote from Frank Bookman. When man listens, God speaks. When man obeys, God acts. There's a dynamism that happens in this prayer process. That when I'm listening, I'm going to hear God's voice if I meet certain conditions. And when I am obeying, then I'm gonna change the world. Or at least I'm not gonna change my little part of the world and that is what you are responsible for. That is what I am responsible for, not responsible for the whole world, sorry. i am responsible for my little corner and and and if i change and i live my life in guidance i'm going to change that corner i'm gonna change my family i'm Gonna change my relationship with my kids right um it has to it has been and it's gonna change other people so this whole thing is about transformation it's about change and it starts with you starts with You whether you're do it or not and participate in the experiment all right uh again in the handout uh is the original oxford group pamphlet called how to listen to god and this is a 19 late 1939 actually when he came out uh but it's circle circulated pardon me in akron ohio was written by this chaplain john batterson who was a member of the oxford book so so it was it was pretty big in the Akron area, and it kind of gives a nice outline of what their beliefs were and what their two-way prayer practice was. So I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but you have the whole thing, and I encourage you to study it because what I want you to know is this is not something that's coming out of California, this two-day prayer. Sorry, you guys in California, but nothing personal. But this is our root heritage, and we've lost it. So some key points. And I'm going to start here. You know, God is invisibly – I'm starting at five. You can't see God, touch God, but God is here with you, beside you, surrounds you, in your heart. The great reality is within. That reality cares about you. That reality has a plan for your life. That reality can answer every need and problem you face. I'm not going to use the word God, because the God word, God, we've contaminated it so much. That reality will help you do anything that you are asked to do. Anyone can be in touch with this great reality at any time, at any place, under any conditions. This is what you have to do, be still and be quiet. listen be honest about the thoughts that come test the thoughts uh to make sure that they come from god and to obey the guidance that you receive all right so it goes on study it but what i did was basically take many of those directions and but then having worked with people i've been doing this practice for 28 years, I find some things that are effective and that work. And so I've added them into the thing. Oxford group people were not, it must be done exactly this way. And I'm not going to tell you that your two-way prayer must be a certain way. You want to know which way it should be done? You ask God how you should do it. That is the answer Oxford group people would always give to you, all right? You want to know how to do it? You ask God for guidance. So I took their basic program and tried to put it into a little bit more modern form. So that's what we're going to work from in this exercise. First of all, we need to commit to a daily practice, all Right? This is like going to the gym. You go to the gyms one time, you know, You are not going to have that beautiful body you've been searching for, all right? You got to commit and you got to do it daily. You got practice it in the morning if possible. Every spiritual practice recommends morning time when the mind is fresh, when it hasn't been filled with all the events of the day, you know? But, you Know, if you're a mom with three kids and you've got to get them off to school, get them all to school. You know, it has to be practical as well. But mourning is best. Try to choose a sacred space. Make it sacred. All right, I've got a chair over here in my office that I reserve for my two-way prayer. I don't read the paper in that chair. I reserve it for my prayer, all right? If you don't have a chair like that, create something sacred. throw a blanket over it so that you know when the blanket is on that chair, that is your sacred space. Our friends in India, I would be willing to bet most of them have a little altar set up in their home. And I don't care how poor you are in India. You're going to create a little sacred space there, right? And it has an effect on you psychologically, you know? So I really encourage you to do that. And then get yourself a notebook, just a cheap little notebook that you're going to use for writing your two-way prayer in. And let's see. So how do we do it? This is actually going to be quite simple. You sit upright in your chair. You don't slouch. All right? uh and every every meditation practice will point to this sit straight align your spine there's something about the energy it's going to flow so and once you're coming you're going to be meeting with god so i don't think you're gonna have your feet propped up on the desk you know read a text sacred to you now if you're a christian This is what they read, Sermon on the Mount, 1 Corinthians 13, Letter of James. All right? Sermont on the Mountain, absolute ego buster. 1 Corinthians13, The Love Chapter, you know? And they would practice loving. Love is patient and kind. So what they do, the pioneers, before the big book, before The Steps, all right, Charlie, we're going to go home this weekend and we're gonna practice being loving and kind, all right? And then we're not gonna do that again. We're gonna come back here next week and report how'd you do? Was you loving and kindly or was you not? And so they go home and they practice being lovin' and kind. All right? Well, hell, I didn't make it through the day. Well, tell us about that, Charlie. What happened? How'd you doing the next day? You take it to God. This stuff becomes alive. It's not just this holy stuff that I, you know, sprinkle incense and all that good stuff. It becomes alive letter of James. They almost named AA the James club when they were searching for a name because so much of the principles you're going to find in the letter of James five little chapters. Now, if these are not sacred to you, uh find something that is you know if you're a muslim use the quran uh if you are a hindu the vedas uh whatever it may be wherever you find god speaking to you and another thing that they used and to me this is important is god guided material so you find certain authors who speak to you, and when you read them, you know you're in touch with something deep, sacred. Let that become a holy book for you, all right? What I do not recommend so much is one of those books that takes you through the year and has meditations in it. I don't recommend those because i want you to write your own meditation and you don't read you really need to be reading somebody else's meditations now quick aside here uh we all know the the 24-hour book you know the 24 hours there's a big version of the 24 hour i think the 24 hours book uh that has the the meditation part in there a lot of people in aa sobered up with that i sobered it up the meditations in there are the two-way prayer writings of two women in england they took their their writings their two-day prayer writings and they put them into the form of meditations uh in a book called god calling god calling you can find that on the internet and probably get a pdf but you look at them and you know january the first is exactly the same as the writings of these women. So there are these two women listening for God's voice. They turn them into meditations, but they're their meditations. They're not yours. So everybody understand that? You're going to read for five, ten minutes from something that feels sacred to you. Okay? Now this is actually before we do a two-way prayer. This is really not a part of two-day prayer. This is part of what they call the quiet time, a morning quiet time. And so your morning quiet Time is going to have different parts. Whatever prayers you do, if you do yoga, incorporate that. If you do centering prayer, you can incorporate that two-way prayer is just a little part of it, right? That you're going to put into your practice. All right. So we're now going to focus on two-day prayer. I got to let the dog out. Go. Go, Rashi. I'm back. do some deep breathing all right a couple of deep breaths inhale feel god coming into you breathe out into god all right god is all around you all right so just a couple of deep breathes uh and then you're going to write a question a need a very honest need that you are experiencing all right So what is that? And then, all right, well, let me go on. Let me go ahead. Then you're going to listen for God's voice. And when God begins to speak to you, you're gonna start with a term of endearment. My beloved, my child, my beautiful daughter, my brother, if it's, you know, whoever, however that voice comes through you, but it is a loving voice. And I'm gonna encourage you to write a term with endearments to that voice. right or from that voice rather and you're going to write and then you're going to stop writing when it becomes strain how long does this take five ten minutes we're not we're talking about an hour of writing we're talking about finding the solution the answer to your need to your question all right so i'm going to give you several examples um christine maybe you could do the first one if you got a sample the folks could uh sure sure um i'll do the christmas eve one um christine okay dear dear god please help please help me to please help me to show up for myself and heal so that i may be useful in this life so that I may be helpful today and in this life my dearest child you are my child I have always been with you to love and care for you even when no one was around for you go deeper feel feel my presence it will give you greater joy and compassion for my other children you are okay you are Okay, I will always heal your heart and mind reach for me don't dwell in nothingness. Come with me and my children come with me my children we love you dear sweet perfect child we need your light and your love all right um it's kind of like receiving a love letter from god to you you've expressed your need now now sitting in the presence of absolute love love is going to speak to you i'm going to read you three or four more so you get an idea of it. Some early recovery stuff. This is a 15, 16-year-old kid, part of a study I did. He's having trouble with his stepfather. And his question is this, Father God, will so and so, his name, and I ever be able to have a real relationship. The voice says, my son, you two do have a real relationship. Practice being more loving to one another. Unite as one voice instead of two. You both love me. Steer the family towards me. All I would change is that you do it together instead of apart. You Both have different strengths and weaknesses that could unite to become stronger in me i love you my son hearken to my voice some others i kind of collect these from uh workshops that i've done um here's another guy my inner critic was sounding off telling me i'm a failure i'm lazy i'm disorganized that life is meaningless meaningless and that death is staring me in the face just another day in the life of an alcoholic right so his question was pretty simple god please help me what does he hear my child do you think the walls would fall without a fight all the shadows came out yesterday let this show you your inner life is unmanageable too you stand at the turning point now ask my protection and care with complete abandon refine refine refine it all comes down to this who do you listen to who will you follow trust me i'll never let you go hold my hand all right you you get the get the message uh another another one um uh i was i was again suffering from uh painful self-punishment i wanted to follow with fear and shame to lift. God, what is your will for me today? Gentle son, you are on the return home. You're beginning to grow sane again. I'm giving you that gift. My will for you today is to accept my love, my gentleness, my gift. Accept my acceptance of you and the gift of yourself to me. I am here with you now. I am illuminating you now our communion is just a divine use of your imagination i've made you body and soul mind and will imagination and intellect for me when you are using these faculties for worry or fear you need only gently return to me i am today you are safe in me now go here's a fellow in long-term recovery wrote this here's what he heard from God into a prayer my son I love you I never tire of saying I love and I know you never tire hearing it I loved you before your birth and I will love you after your death we will each we will love each other forever it is for that for that I brought you into existence to love and you to be loved by to be loved by you cherish these words put them on your wall read them off and meditate on them i love you let these words be on your mind when you die such joy when we see each other face to face such joy uh one more uh a young woman in treatment uh sober about two weeks god i've tried getting clean and sober before please tell me what i need to do that's different this time your child you're a brilliant young lady. You need to change the places you go, change the people you surround yourself with, the drugs you're doing or killing. Stop. Don't belittle yourself with this destructive behavior. Be clean. Be clear. Clear your mind. Fill your mind with cleansing thoughts. Take the time to love yourself. Everything will be okay. Love yourself first and foremost uh i am the light at the end of your tunnel all right you get the sense of what you do so what we do is kind of going back to that sheet you know uh you're gonna you're gonna write there's some examples on your on your uh handout there um i'll just read those so so we get a sense of it god i've tried getting clean and sober before tell me what i need to do that's different this time. If you're already sober, try looking at another addiction or a behavior in your life that has you stuck and ask for guidance with these. Another example, Heavenly Father, I feel so alone, so separated from you and from others. Please help me feel your presence. Another example. Father, Mother, God, I'm withdrawing. I'm isolating. I'll move in further away from my wife or my child or my husband, whoever it might be. Please tell me what to do. Lord Jesus, Spirit, my creator, I need your guidance today because boom, I'm going to see my probation officer. I've got an interview and I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my job. And something, whatever's really troubling you, that's what you need to bring to your prayer. The deeper the problem you bring, the more likely you are to receive the answer. And again, you listen for God's voice. You have your pen ready. if the connection isn't immediate and the words don't come say say in your mind if God were to speak to me what would he say and then you write the words without editing them just just start writing my beloved my sweet child my my darling daughter you know boom let it fly don't think just let it come it's coming from God and it is directed to you and you're going to stop in about 5 minutes so we're going to take 5 minutes to do this I'm going to take just a few minutes for any questions on the process but only on the process do you understand what you're being asked to do alright so we'll take 5 minutes write down the question take a few breaths imagine that god is speaking you uh and then write a term of endearment and let it come um they used to use this they used to use a an expression in the between stages there from a quote that they would use from samuel book of samuel speak lord for your servant is listening they just kind of say that in their mind and then they transition from uh into listening mode they would call it listening mode all right all right i'll sound the chime i'll keep the clock and we're back in five . Thank you Thank you Thank you. you you Thank you. Thank you you you Take one more minute and just try to finish up, please. Okay, I apologize for the you know holding you to the time limitation but we just need to do that because I want people to have an experience of this thing before you leave here or they'll never do it so I hope you had an experience and now it would take some time for the courageous ones in the group to share what they heard and you don't need to introduce yourself and the alcoholic stuff and all that good stuff just tell us uh what your your problem was and your question and uh and then what you heard and don't don't try to explain it just read it okay it's very helpful so we can listen because we're going to gain you see from what you're hearing is going to be helpful to me see i'm going to catch a message through you of something that perhaps I need to hear okay so Mike I'll put you in charge alright go ahead Sarah hi guys I'm calling from Bristol in the UK and I'm just going to keep it simple and read out certainly what you've just said so my question to God was God why is my twin sister ignoring me at the moment i don't get it it is not what my family especially my nan who i was really close to would want from us she was always telling me to be humble and kind to me here did we hear let's get to the answer okay sarah you need to contact me more fully than you are already it is not personal that your twin sister rachel is not talking to you i am giving you the opportunity for you to grow into my light and be the person you are meant to be let go fall back into my arms and trust me let the process unfold let it be exactly how it should be enjoy the space i am giving you you are you are becoming a more grounded woman in your own right growing into my light and not being overshadowed by the darkness or light of your twin sister she loves you i love you and you are growing into love for yourself by being the person I need you to be. Wow, that was beautiful and probably not what you were expecting to hear. So he took a problem and turned it into an opportunity. Very nice, very nice. Thank you. Was that helpful for you? i hope so all right next mike yeah it was sorry i was muting myself um i found the process very emotional there were a lot to take down my face as i was writing the words but i felt like i was connecting to the higher part of me my soul and not my ego that says oh i'm being rejected and God was saying no rejection is God's protection it's always what God wants me to be, not what I think I'll be so it's very very you heard from your mind itself, wonderful beautiful let's get some more, thank you so much go ahead your mic's on everybody thanks Mike, Steve here um my living god i am so bitter my heart is so hardened i am drifting away from my wife my children my sisters brother mother and father i'm running away from society friends and people please tell me what to do my son take a deep breath breathe in my peace Exhale your angst calm yourself through your breath Return to your breath if chatter reappears You must be calm to hear me. I'll trust that I will be with you breathe in my son. I love you Okay, wonderful Wonderful Yeah You come you're calm now you can rather than react your seeking direction. Beautiful Steve, thanks so much, thanks so much. A word of caution if I could on you know if the if your share is tremendously personal and you don't want to get it out in the world there are 200 people listening here you know I don't wanna hear from you you send it to me privately, but be cautious on some of this. I don't want to see anybody hurt with it.