In the fortieth miracle principle in the Urtext of A Course in Miracles we find the “miracle prayer”:
If you will tell me what to do,
Only that I will to do.
“This prayer is the door that leads out of the desert forever.”
For optimum results a recipe requires all the ingredients, and we have three in the recipe for miracles. They are: Listen, learn and do. We must be ready to listen, willing to learn, and able to do.
So now that we have the ingredients, let’s delve into this very delicious recipe!
First Ingredient: Ready to Listen
A Course in Miracles teaches us to discern between two voices: Ego speaks for fear, attack and limitation, and Holy Spirit speaks for love, union, and miracles. We’re told that we have a choice between fear and love, but it’s more like having only one choice because fear is almost always on automatic pilot!
One of the things I love about the Course is that it doesn’t teach that we should listen to the voice for Love; instead it reveals that we do listen to the voice for separation – constantly! The ego chats incessantly about literally everything we see, hear and do. Have you noticed?
Miracle-mindedness is a state of consciousness that requires vigilance. Being “ready to listen” means that we are to be increasingly aware of the ego’s voice, and then vigilant to choose again, vigilant to choose to listen to the Voice of Truth.
Second Ingredient: Willing to Learn
A prerequisite for being willing to learn would have to be the acknowledgment that, I do not know.
“Those who remember always that they know nothing, and who have become willing to learn everything, will learn it. But whenever they trust themselves, they will not learn.” (T-14.XI.12:1)
An aspect of my life that the inner teacher has used to teach me many lessons is running a business. Twenty-five years worth of lessons around money and trust, letting go of doubt and fear, and learning to get myself out of the way as I interact with the people who come into my office. I have learned that healing comes through recognition that I am most helpful when I remember that I do not have the answers.
I will be healed as I let Love teach me to heal.
Nevertheless, once in awhile doubt, fear and thoughts of unworthiness pop up again, serving to lead me deeper into the lessons of Truth. Fear is a sure sign that I’ve gone back to trusting myself, instead of the Truth that I Am as God created me.
Miracle-mindedness denies any thought of lack or limitation, and affirms the Truth that each one of us is a creation of an abundant Source of all good. Through listening to the voice of fear and separation, we have taught ourselves that we are limited, lacking and just not good enough. In order to be miracle-ready, we must be willing to learn from another teacher. The Course tells us that our part is very simple: Ask to be taught.
Is anything going on in your life that brings up feelings of doubt and fear? You can choose fear or a miracle, but you cannot choose both. Are you ready to choose again? If so, take a moment to think of God’s presence within you and silently pray:
In this moment,
I acknowledge that I do not know what I want,
I do not know what I need.
The Voice for God leads me
and knows the way, which I know not.
I trust that It will never keep from me
What It would have me learn.
“By this refusal to attempt to teach yourself what you do not know, the Guide Whom God has given you will speak to you.” (T-14.XI.6)
The reason we have the same problems occurring over and over again in different form, the reason tomorrow will look so much like yesterday, is because in the present, we don’t stop and acknowledge that we truly don’t know what we will need or want tomorrow. The miracle undoes the past by revealing to me what I Am now. What I Am now is not a being of lack and limitation.
When I am alert to thoughts of fear lurking in my mind, I need only remember that my part is to acknowledge that I do not know, and return my mind to the One who does know. Miracle principle eleven tells us that prayer is the medium of miracles. It is the means of communication of the created with the Creator. Through prayer love is received, and through miracles love is expressed.
Frequently, I have been receiving the inner prompting, “Sheryl, use your mind to pray.” This reminds me that I can leave the desert by clearing my mind so that I may hear the Voice I truly want to listen to.
Third Ingredient: Able to Do
At face value one might think: “Oh yeah, I’m going to listen, and I am going to learn, and then, I’ll do something in the world.”
That’s not how it works. This last ingredient is involuntary, which means: I don’t do it. It’s done through me. I need do nothing. My responsibility is to be ready to listen, willing to learn, and then to let Holy Spirit “do” through me.
There is such a sense of freedom in the realization that I don’t have to try to change the world, you, or myself; I only have to be willing to let go. “Able to do” is to let go and Let God.
Through readiness to listen and willingness to learn, my mind becomes a fertile ground for miracles. The Voice for Love whispers to me now:
Are you ready to listen
to My voice?
Are you willing dear child of Love,
to learn that you do not know?
When you are ready to listen to My voice,
when you are willing to learn that you do not know
what is best for you,
then, the Love that I Am
will extend through the Love that
You Are,
and the world
will be lit by miracles.
Note: Miracle principle 40 in the Urtext is number 47 in the "Original Edition". It does not appear in the Fip edition.
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Today’s audio on this topic is 39 min.
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