Understanding the Nature of Inner Spiritual Guidance
Dr. Meredith J. Sprunger
Basic Conditions Which Facilitate the Reception of Spiritual Guidance
I. Basic conditions which facilitate the reception
of spiritual guidance: Seeking to recognize and follow spiritual
guidance is the most important aspect of human life. It is central to the teachings of Jesus and the great religious prophets of history.
A. Wanting to do the Father's will more than anything else.
1. A categorical will decision to dedicate one's life to God.
2. The source of an all-pervasive motivation for our lives.
3. Learning to discipline and master our minds—we need to control, guide, and direct our
thinking as it is the key of all personality development and growth.
a. Develop a habitual spiritual frame of reference.
b. Eliminate the garbage and emotional poisons from our thinking.
B. Take short retreats for relaxation, thought clarification, and recharging the
spiritual resources of our soul.
C. Engage in prayer and worship. It is important to understand the essential principles of creative prayer and
worship.
1. Prayer and worship are complementary. Prayer has
an element of self or creature interest and concern. Worship in the contemplation
of God and is an and in itself. Prayer may lead to worship and be an aid to worship.
2.Prayer is communion with God which expands insight. It is both a sound psychological
practice which augments self-realization and an effective spiritual technique
to expand the soul.
3. Prayer is not a technique to escape life's
difficulties but a way in which we can learn to face conflict and suffering meaningfully
and courageously. Prayer does not change God's mind but it may change the person
praying.
4. Primitive and immature prayer attempts to plead or
bargain with God for health, wealth, power, or preference. Prayer, however, cannot
be used to circumvent universe laws and the limits of time and space. The spiritual
level of people is revealed by the nature of their prayers; however, the more
mature should not criticize or ridi cule the naive and the immature.
5. Words are not important in prayer; God responds only to the true and sincere attitudes
of the mind and soul. We should pray for divine guidance to solve human problems,
not for some cosmic, miraculous solution.
6. To pray effectively we must face reality honestly and intelligently, attempt to solve problems creatively
through spiritual guidance with the resources which we have, be dedicated to doing
the will of God, and have living faith. Efficacious prayer should be: unselfish—not
alone for oneself, believing—according to faith, sincere—honest of heart, intelligent—according
to our insight and knowledge, and trustful—in submission to the Father's all-wise
will.
7. Only prayers which are rooted in spiritual reality and
sustained by faith are answered in the frames of reference of the petitioner.
Prayers are answered in terms of true spiritual needs. We should not attempt to
use prayer as a substitute for human ingenuity, and action; it cannot be used
to escape reality. Some prayers because of their visionary aspirations and all-encompassing
nature can only be fully answered in eternity.
8. Prayer is a vital and indispensable factor In spiritual growth, Even immature and presumptuous prayers
expand the soul's potential. Prayer is a major resource for the achievement of
human self-realization, effectiveness, and inner peace, Prayer also has great
social repercussions and is an antidote to personality isolation. (See "Conditions of Effective Prayer," The Urantia Book, 91:9.0)
9. Worship is spiritual communion with God; it is the part identifying with the Whole.
It should not be confused with psychic or mystical experiences. God-consciousness
is humanity's greatest opportunity and challenge.
10. Worship is the most creative activity of personal growth. It renews the mind, stimulates
soul growth, eliminates insecurity and personality isolation, and greatly increases
the total resources of the individual. Worship should alter with service; it is
ancestor to the highest joys of humankind.
D. Making decisions and taking action—grappling with specific life opportunities and problems.
1. The clearest spiritual guidance comes through experience, not theoretical
contemplation.
2. Spiritual guidance is especially communicated through the process of service to our fellow human beings.
3. The spirit of God can most effectively adjust, guide, and direct when we are engaged
in the concrete activities of human life—when there is something tangible to
guide and direct.
4. The feed-back of human experience is the most substantial and reliable channel of receiving spiritual wisdom, direction, and
vision.
5. The spirit of God indwelling each of us has a plan for our lives. Our greatest adventure in life is discovering and actualizing that plan.
II. How Do We Test the Validity of Spiritual Guidance?
A. First we must realize that our minds are quite capable of deceiving us. If we do not
critically examine our inner leadings, it is easy to mistake our own subconscious
will for the will of God (superconscious direction). Even genuine spiritual guidance
can be distorted—often leading to half-truths and fanaticism.
1. Spiritual guidance is often on the unconscious level. God's leading is so benign,
subtle, and unimposing, so admixed with the ordinary things of life that we often
cannot be certain whether our inclinations have their source in our subconscious
motivational needs or our superconscious value direction.
a. We hear naive, fundamentalistic Christians glibly declaring "God spoke to
me..." or "God told me to do this or that." Even as a small boy
when my parents attended one of these emotional groups I had some doubts about
the 20/20 spiritual vision of some of the statements I heard.
b. The phenomena of voices heard by the mind's ear and visions seen by the mind's
eye have been relatively frequent in religious experience. Such unusual events
are impressive to the person experiencing them; however, we should not over-react
but apply to them the same tests for validity that we give to the "inner
leadings" of our every day life.
2. Who can say for certain
that the coincidental circumstances which seem to focus meaning or value in our
lives are of divine direction or are merely the chance happenings of experience
a. Usually our first response to an inclination, leading, or idea is
intuitive. We "feel" it is right, wrong, good, or questionable. Many
of our decisions are made at this intuitive level.
b. Over the years as one observes these "meaningful coincidences" and ponders their
precise timing one begins to suspect and then often believe that some kind of
spiritual planning and guidance must have been involved in the production of such
meaningful juxtapositions of events.
c. Since so much of our spiritual guidance seems to be associated with the common experiences of every day life,
one suspects that the presence of God is a matter of using circumstantial manipulation
as a communication technique.
3. Following our intuitive reaction
to inner leadings, we need to use our common sense and logical thinking to evaluate
our inclinations. We ought to be particularly wary of those leadings which logically
could have origins in our conscious or subconscious fears and anxieties or those
which reinforce our egocentric psychological needs—pride, selfishness, security,
justification, importance, prestige, etc. It is dangerous to uncritically accept
our own human desires and needs for divinely inspired direction. Conversely, if
we have a tendency toward guilt and self-punishment, we ought not reject leading
simply because they contribute to our fulfillment as sons-and daughters of God.
B. All of this subjective difficulty in evaluating and testing spiritual guidance
points to the need for some objective standards by which we can assess our inner
orientation.
1. We should apply objective criteria to complement our subjective evaluation.
a. Is it harmonious with the highest teachings of The Urantia Book? Is it something Jesus would approve?
b. Is it harmonious with the highest values and thinking of human religious culture?
c. Is it contrary to scientifically verified facts and the best scientific orientation?
d. What do the people whose judgment I most respect think about it? The approval
of others is not of paramount importance but listening to the wisdom of others
may be helpful to our discernment.
e. How does time and experience affect this leading or sense of mission? We need to "sleep on it," to
allow days, weeks, and months to see how inner convictions look over a period
of time.
f. After we are confident in our thinking that the idea
or action contemplated is good and consistent with the highest and best that we
know it is time to get experiential validation—we need to act.
2. After taking the leap of faith-in action, service, and living what does this experience
reveal? How does it measure up to the following seven-fold pragmatic experiential?
test
a. Does it improve one's physical health?
b. Does it improve one's mental functioning?
c. What social effects does it have — does it promote love and unity or fear, anger, and disharmony?
d. Does it contribute to the spiritualization of one's every day life?
e. Does it enhance one's appreciation of truth, beauty, and goodness?
f. Does it conserve one's most basic and highest values?
g. Does it increase one's God-consciousness?
h. Does it help bring God to humankind and lead humankind to God?
(From 91:7.5 in The Urantia Book)
3. The feedback of experience will give us information and wisdom which thinking and theory cannot reveal. In
this testing of our "inner leadings" through thought and action, and
altering our behavior on the basis of the feedback of experience we have exhausted
our human evaluative capacities. We then must live in faith and inner conviction
that we are following the will of God for our lives because we are living and
acting on the highest and best that we know. Our lives are then enhanced by the
power of the Spirit.
