Unity Spiritual Life Center Blog

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect priceless works of art. They had everything from Picasso to Van Gogh. They would often take time out from their busy schedules and admire their immense collection.

They had planned a buying trip to Europe, but the Iraq war interrupted their plans. The son’s reserve unit was called up and he found himself in Baghdad.

On his second tour of duty the son was killed by a roadside bomb. The father had lost his wife to cancer and now he had lost his only son.

A little over a month later, just before Thanksgiving, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door holding a large box.

He said, "Sir, you don’t know me, but I served with your son in Iraq. He saved my life. He was the bravest man I’ve ever seen. He often talked about you, and your mutual love for art."

The young man held out the box. "I know this isn’t much. I’m not a famous artist, but I think your son would want you to have this."

The father opened the gift. It was a portrait of his son in military uniform. He stared in awe at the way the young man had captured his son’s personality.

He thanked the young man and offered to pay for the painting.

"Oh, no sir." Insisted the young man, "I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift for you." They spent the afternoon talking about the man’s son and the arts.

The father placed the portrait over the mantle. Every time friends visited he showed them the portrait of his son before he showed them any of his other artwork.

On New Year’s Day the man made his own transition. Some of his closest friends believed it was from a broken heart. At his request upon his death, he wanted his paintings auctioned. Many wealthy people and art collectors came to add his rare paintings to their own collections.

The portrait of his son was perched on the auction easel. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "We will start the bidding with this portrait. Who will bid for this painting of the son?"

You could hear a pin drop, then murmurings. Finally a voice from the back of the room shouted, "We’re not interested in that one. We’re here for the Picassos, and Rembrandts, and Raphael’s."

However the auctioneer persisted. "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100? $200?

Another voice shouted defiantly, "We didn’t come to bid on this painting. We’re here for the Van Gogh’s and the DiVincis."

Undaunted, the auctioneer continued, "The son. Who will take the son?"

Finally, a voice came from the rear of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I’ll give $100 for the painting." Being a man of modest means, it was all he could afford. He loved the man and his son and felt the son was his son too.

"We have $100. Who will give $200?"

"Give it to him for $100. Let’s see the master’s works, the real art work." Someone shouted.

$100 is the bid. Won’t someone bid $200?

The crowd became angry. They didn’t want the inferior painting. They wanted the priceless investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, going twice, SOLD for $100.

The room broke out in applause. One man handed $10 to the gardener as a token thank you for speeding up the auction, but the gardener refused. "They always made me feel like I was part of the family," he confessed. "I have always enjoyed my employment with them."

His purchase of the painting was a prayer answered. He had wanted a memento, and now he had one. He had gotten a small inheritance from the man’s will, but the painting of his son was truly wonderful.

All at once, the auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I’m sorry, but that concludes the auction. The auction is over."

"What?" shouted the audience. "What do you mean the ‘auction is over?’"

"I’m sorry for such a sudden end to these proceedings. When I was called to conduct this auction I was informed of a stipulation in the will. I can now tell you what that stipulation is. Only the painting of the son was to be auctioned. Whichever bidder bought the painting would inherit the entire estate! The man who bid $100 for the son gets everything!"

It is through the dynamics of prayer that we find peace, and rest, and answers, and wealth. Like the gardener, we have ready access to the Omnipresence of Supply. Our prosperity is waiting for us. It is just a prayer away. All we have to do is turn to the Son, the Christ Spirit within.

Although the way we pray differs, most people have learned from the faith traditions in which they grew up to ask, to petition, to beg an external anthropomorphic deity for things they want. They believe in ‘dial-up’ prayer instead of instant, high speed access prayer.

In this 6th in a series of "Get Over It" talks we have selected the familiar New Thought phrase ‘Be careful what you pray for’ as a phrase which should be buried with the embedded theology which gave birth to it.

It is a phrase which adds credence to the anthropomorphic deity myth which has kept our eyes concentrated on a super-being ‘out there’ who will save us if we’re obedient, patient, and gullible.

The help ‘out there’ motif is perpetuated by the mythological Superman, Batman, and Super Hero characters which Hollywood has so skillfully produced for us.

We have all grown up with the belief that the Messiah will come from ‘out there.’ That the Messiah must be some kind of super hero with super powers. Essentially the message is we are too unworthy, weak, and whinny to save ourselves.

In his book, Dynamics for Living, Charles Fillmore said, "The way to attain health and wealth is to put your prayerful words and creative actions to work and bring into swift action the Superman Christ within."

The super hero is within us. It is the Superman Christ part of us. When we get to the point that we identify with our Superman Christ within, and not with fictitious superheroes ‘out there’ we master our human experience.

The same thing goes when it comes to prayer. We believe there is a collective wisdom at our core, and shared by all of us, that senses an unseen spiritual Presence. A Presence that is Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent.

In Matthew 21:22 the Christ said: "Whatever we ask in prayer, believing with faith, we shall receive." The word ‘ask’ really means ‘affirm or declare.’ And ‘prayer’ means ‘direct, unobstructed communion with Spirit.’

So, what Matthew 21:22 really means is when we affirm our oneness with Spirit by communing with Spirit to make that connection, and believe that we have instant access to Universal Supply, we will receive all we need to manifest our good. This verse is the key to manifesting our good.

It is praying FROM this unobstructed oneness, that we move toward our good. It is FROM this interior place of alignment with the Allness of God that we position ourselves to receive.

So we do not have to pray TO a God ‘out there.’ There’s no need to dial-a-prayer! We don’t have to be careful for what we pray believing that if we don’t pray right we might get something other than what we prayed for. That’s not how prayer works!

There’s no dispensing God ‘up there’ waiting for us to make a mistake in our prayer languaging so It can surprise us with something we didn’t expect. There are no prayer police watching our prayers to see if we’re asking for the right things.

‘Be careful for what you pray for’ is fear-based theology. It is not wise to build guilt, and fear, and anxiety into a prayer experience.

What is useful is to live a prayer-conditioned life, one which is characterized by absolute trust in your oneness with Spirit.

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.