The Truth Concerning Prayer and why Jesus chose James E. Padgett

I am here, Jesus;

Well my dear brother, time is passing and the necessity for the revealing is very apparent, as men are longing and waiting for that which will satisfy the natural cravings of their souls and which the present religion called Christianity, has not in it the qualities to satisfy.

I am pleased that you are in so much better condition and that your love is again becoming active and awakened, and operating upon the qualities of your brain so that a rapport can be made, as recently explained to you by John in his message. And here I desire to impress upon you the necessity and desirability of your understanding thoroughly the truths set forth in that message, and of meditating upon the same and making a personal application of what is therein written.

I would like very much to deliver a message dealing with spiritual truth tonight, but do not think that your condition is such as will enable me to take possession of your brain, and control the same that the qualities and truths of my message, demands. And so I will not attempt to write the message, but instead will advise you somewhat upon the way in which you must think and act in order to perfect the condition, which you must possess that the rapport may be made.

John has told you to pray often to the Father so that the love may become more abundant and your soul become permeated with it, and to think thoughts of spiritual things until by such thinking your brain may become, as it were, infused with these thoughts and thereby receive those qualities that will make its conditions similar to the conditions of the minds of the spirits, who may wish to form a union with your brain and convey through it the truths that are waiting to be delivered.

And I confirm what John has written, and in addition say that your praying must be more frequent, so that the soul may be freed from the condition that the existence in it of thoughts not spiritual be established. You need not wait for occasions or opportunities to formally pray, but all during the day and evening let your longings for the love ascend to the Father. A long prayer, or even one formulated into words, is not necessary, as in order to have the longing it is not necessary that words should be used to give it form. The longing may be as rapid as unformed thought, and as effective for the Father to catch, as I may say. The longing is quicker than the thought, and the answer to the same will come with as much certainty and love as if you were to put the longing into the most exact form.

Prayers of this kind ascend to the Father and are heard and answered, and by a law of your relationship to the Father, affect the qualities of the brain in the way of preparing it for the union with the spiritual thoughts of the spirits who desire to write, as I have stated. Your thoughts of spiritual things or of the truths of the spirit world, as they have already been revealed to you - especially those which pertain to the love and mercy of the Father and to His will - in their passing and operating also affect the qualities of the brain so as to produce the condition which is so necessary for our rapport.

It may be surprising to you that this condition is required in the brain of the human and also the development of the soul - which really produces the condition - in order that a rapport may be made so that the spiritual truths may be delivered. And also surprising that you have been selected from all the men on earth in whom this condition and development shall be made. And it may be more surprising to know that it is true.

There are certain qualities in your constitution, both spiritual and material, that render you susceptible to the influence of our powers and to the use by us for the purpose of our design and work - which determines one to choose you for the work in the way in which I and the other high spirits have heretofore used you - and it may seem strange to you that in all the long ages preceding, I have not found one human with the qualification to fit him for the work.

I have used others before, but they have failed to submit their minds and souls and beliefs and forethought's to our influence and directions as you have so far done. Many humans have the qualified conditions of spiritual and material make-up to perform our wishes and work, but as they all have free wills, which we cannot compel, and as circumstances and environments and education and beliefs are elements, which affect and determine the possibility of our finding an instrument suitable for our purposes, we have not been able to find a medium who was qualified to be used for our work.

You, of course, understand that you were not selected because of any special goodness or freedom from sin, or because you were more beloved by the Father, or naturally - and I mean according to your course of living - by reason of any spiritual condition that you were in, for there were many superior to you in goodness and more in at-Onement with the will of the Father, and whose love and the results therefrom were more perfect than yours. So you will realize that you were not selected because of any special spiritual merits possessed by you.

As you have been told, all things in the spirit world, as well as on earth, are controlled by immutable laws, and all spirits as well as mortals are subject to those laws. The law of rapport and communication must be complied with by spirits no matter how much elevated, and also by humans. And no spirit by reason of the possession of any supposed power can set aside this law. But while spirits have not this power, yet they may have such knowledge of conditions that they can discern what qualities in the condition of the human are susceptible to the influence and molding by the spirits, so that as a result thereof the law may be brought into operation.

And this briefly will explain to you why I selected you as my medium and mouthpiece. For know this, that for a long time I have been endeavoring to influence and mold your mind and beliefs, so that your soul might become developed in such a way that conditions might be formed that would enable us to make a rapport, that would permit of our controlling your brain to convey these messages of truth.

You were naturally a medium and, for ordinary purposes, it was not difficult for the spirits to control and communicate through you the truths of the spirit world which are not of a nature such as I, and others have communicated in reference to the soul spheres and the relationship of God to man in the higher spiritual sense. As you read John's message, you will the better understand what I intend to explain at this point.

There is another phase to all this more personal to you, and this is that while we have been developing you for the purpose of doing our work and helping make effective our mission, your soul, as you, has been developed in its spiritual nature and you have become in closer union with the Father and have partaken to a large extent of His love and, to a degree been transformed into His essence, so that you have become a very different entity from what you were when your development for our purposes commenced; and as a consequence, you will derive all the benefits that flow from an experience such as you have had.

You are now one of us in the progress towards the fountainhead of the Father's love and have taken on a part of His immortality, and it depends only upon yourself how rapid your progress shall be towards a complete transformation, such as spirits who are inhabitants of the celestial spheres possess. You need not wait until you come to the spirit world in order to make a rapid progression, although it will be more difficult for you to progress while in the flesh, as you understand, but wonderful progress may be made while in the flesh, and you have been told the secret of this progress.

And I will further say that you have a closer association with spirits that are nearer the Father and more possessed of His essence and substance than have any humans of earth at this time. To you this may seem extravagant and improbable, but I declare to you that it is true that I and many spirits who come to you and write are in the celestial spheres of God's immortality.

Well, I have written a long time and you are somewhat tired. Remember my advice and pray often and earnestly, if but for a moment, and the condition will be yours, and we will come and continue our revealments.

With my love and blessings,

I am, Your brother and friend, Jesus

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