Last night’s experience opened something within me. Today, I prayed as I have never prayed before. In fact, I’m not sure that I have ever really prayed before! In the past, my prayers were so heavy with my own unworthiness as to be relatively ineffective because of the doubts my unworthiness brought with it. I had discounted “speak but the word, and my soul shall be healed.” Through His “speaking the word,” any of us can become worthy, effective instruments. Last night, the “word was spoken” for me, and my unworthiness, then my doubts, were healed. Thus today, I prayed and became God’s partner as He intends us all to be. I prayed with an intensity and confidence that I have only envied in others. I felt the power of the love of the God-within–me flow out into the world and effect His will. And, His will was my will, whatever its manifestation might be.

Last night, I learned, too, of prayer as a weapon. It’s not a weapon to be used against people, but against the influences of evil that enslave people. By the power of our prayers, we can be instruments in pushing back these influences and instrument in inviting God to fill the void thus created. This is why we must pray for our enemies. Our prayers can be instrumental in releasing them from the slavery that causes them to be our enemies. Once free, they can recognize us as their brothers and sisters. This is the way of peace. And so, today, I declared war on the influences of evil, so that I may be God’s instrument in the liberation of my brothers and sisters. Oddly, or not so, this is the very theme of one of my planned novels, yet I had never seen it on this level before.

Tonight, during my formal prayer period, my Father showed me that we are wounded in nature—imperfect—because He cannot create other gods. Gods cannot be created, and only gods are perfect! Therefore, we are less than perfect and thus will wander away from perfect goodness. Since He will not force Himself upon us—such force would be selfishness and against His all-goodness—He must win us back to Him. This is for our own sakes. He created us to be in His image and likeness. When we wander from Him, we are being less than what we were created to be, which is our loss. (1)

Through Fr. Peters’ comments about the wedding banquet of the Lamb, He taught me further about the Kingdom. The wedding is the unification of the Interior and Exterior Churches. Before this can happen, the Exterior Church must be unified—in purpose, though not necessarily in external forms. When such unification occurs, not only will we individuals of the External Church be the image and likeness of God, but the unified Exterior Church will become the image and likeness of the Trinity—multiple persons with one, unified nature. Only with this can come the Ultimate Union.

As Fr. Peters said, the wedding banquet is Heaven. It is the inherent bliss of the total union. Love will be the unifying factor—God’s love and our love.

Through Hosea 4 and Malachi 2:1-9, He taught me about knowing Him. If we genuinely know Him, then we know He has only our good in mind, and that only He has our total welfare in mind. To know Him isn’t just a matter of perusing the facts. It is to absorb them, to make them part of us, and to live them. God loves us. The only fully knowledgeable response to that is to love Him in return.

Through Jeremiah 2, Amos 3, and Micah 2, He taught me why He threatens us at times. It is a warning that we are lost without Him. The truth behind the warning is evident today. We ignore Him and chaos abounds in our society.

(1) Spiritual director: You sound like St. Thomas Aquinas! [smiley face] Is that why it’s a narrow path?