We hereby continue the methodical study of "The Gospel According to Spiritism" by Allan Kardec, the third of the works of the Kardecian Pentateuch. The first edition was published in April, 1864. The answers to the questions suggested for discussion are at the end of the text below.
Questions for discussion
A. What does God give to him who prays with faith?
B. How does a prayer operate?
C. Where do the evils of life originate, and how does a prayer relieve us from these evils?
D. What kind of prayer has more merit in God's eyes?
Reading text
366. Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will obtain and you will be given whatever you ask." The effectiveness of prayer is generally contested based on the principle that if God knows our needs, it becomes useless to expose them to Him. Now (say those who think like this), if everything in the Universe is linked by eternal laws, our prayers cannot change God's decrees. (Chapter XXVII, sections 5 and 6.)
367. Undoubtedly, there are natural and immutable laws, which cannot be abolished by each one's will. However, to believe that all circumstances of life are subject to fate goes a great distance. If so, man would be nothing more than a passive instrument, without free will and initiative. Nevertheless, man being free to act one way or another, his deeds will cause him and the others, consequences according to what he does. Therefore, man through his initiative can achieve success, which is not linked to fate and does not oppose the harmony of the universal laws, in the same way, as a watch advances or delays and this does not revoke the law of motion on which its mechanism is based. (Chapter XXVII, section 6.)
368. It is possible, therefore, that God agrees to certain solicitations, without going against the immutability of the laws governing the whole, and it is always according to His will. (Chapter XXVII, section 6.)
369. However, one should not arrive to the conclusion that "you will be given whatever you ask for in prayer." It does not mean that by simply asking for you will obtain. It would be unfair to accuse Providence when it does not grant what we ask for, since it knows what is better for us. Our Creator proceeds as a careful father who does not give his son what is contrary to his interests. If suffering is useful for our future happiness, God will let us suffer as a doctor lets his patient suffer the pain of a surgery that will heal him. (Chapter XXVII, section 7.)
370. What God will always grant, if asked with faith, is courage, patience, resignation and He shows us a way to solve our problems too, by using the good Spirits to suggest ideas for the solution, thus letting man have the merit of his action. God helps those who help themselves, according the maxim "Help yourself and God will help you" but does not come in aid of those that expect everything from an external assistance without making use of their own capacity. (Chapter XXVII, section 7.)
371. If the angel who accompanied Tobias had told him, "I am sent by God to guide you on your journey and protect you from all danger," Tobias would have no merit. Relying on this angel, he would not even have the need to think. This is why the angel only made itself known when they returned. (Chapter XXVII, section 8.)
372. A prayer is a summoning, whereby man, by means of his thought, communicates with a being who he addresses. The purpose of a prayer may be a request, an acknowledgement, or a glorification. The Spirits in charge of fulfilling God's will hear the prayers we address to Him. The prayers directed to the good Spirits are taken to God, because nothing happens without God's will. (Chapter XXVII, section 9.)
373. When directing our thought to any being on Earth or in space, embodied or disembodied, or vice-versa, a fluidic chain is established between them, and thought is transmitted from one to another, in the same way the air transmits sound, because the fluid is the vehicle of thought. That is how the Spirits hear the prayer addressed to them and that is how they communicate with one another and pass to us their ideas and inspirations. (Chapter XXVII, section 10.)
374. Through prayer, man obtains the assistance of good Spirits who come to support him in his good decisions and inspire him sound ideas. He acquires thereby the moral strength to overcome difficulties and, if he has left the straight path, he returns to it. Through prayer, he can also keep evils at a distance, which might have come his way due to his own faults. (Chapter XXVII, paragraph 11.)
375. If the evils of life were divided into two parts, one consisting of the evils that man cannot avoid, and the other of the troubles caused only by himself, due to his negligence or excesses, we shall see that the second part overpasses by far the first one. Therefore, it is evident that man is the author of most of his afflictions of which he could spare himself, if he lived with wisdom and prudence. (Chapter XXVII, section 12.)
376. All these miseries are the result of our offenses to the laws of God, meaning that if we followed them sternly, we would be entirely blissful. If we were more careful in satisfying our needs, our excesses would not cause us ailments and we would not suffer their consequences. If we could hold back our ambition, we would not have to fear the ruin. If we did not want to climb higher than we should, we would not have to fear the fall. If we were humble, we would not suffer the disappointments of our belittled pride. If we practiced the law of charity, we would not be gossipers, jealous and excessively attached, and would avoid disputes and dissensions. If we did no harm to others, we would fear revenge and so on. (Chapter XXVII, section 12.)
Answers to the proposed questions
A. What does God give to him who prays with faith?
What God will always grant, if asked with faith, is courage, patience, resignation and He shows us a way to solve our problems too, by using the good Spirits to suggest ideas for the solution, thus letting man have the merit of his action. God helps those who help themselves, according the maxim "Help yourself and God will help you" but does not come in aid of those that expect everything from an outside assistance without making use of their own capacity. (The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter XXVII, section 7.)
B. How does a prayer operate?
Spiritism teaches us how prayer acts, by explaining how thought is transmitted. All of us, embodied and disembodied, are immersed in the universal fluid, which occupies space and which is the vehicle of thought. This fluid receives an impulsion from will, so that when directing our thought to any being on Earth or in space, embodied or disembodied, or vice-versa, a fluidic chain is established between them, and though is transmitted from one to another, in the same way the air transmits sound. That is how the Spirits hear the prayer addressed to them and that is how they communicate with one another and pass to us their inspirations and establish a relationship at a distance with the embodied. Man acquires thereby the moral strength to overcome difficulties and, if he has left the straight path, he returns to it. Through prayer, he can also keep evils at a distance, which might have come his way due to his own faults. (Ibid, Chapter XXVII, sections 10 and 11.)
C. Where do the evils of life originate, and how does a prayer relieve us from these evils?
The evils of life are divided into two parts, one consisting of the evils that man cannot avoid, and the other of the troubles caused only by himself, due to his negligence or excesses. Assuming that man can do nothing regarding the evils that he cannot avoid and, therefore, all prayers are then useless to get rid of them, would it not already be good enough to have the option to exclude the evils that are only caused by himself?
Therefore, we can easily understand the prayer and its action since its purpose is to attract the inspiration of the good Spirits and they give us the strength to resist bad thoughts, which could strongly harm us if put into practice. In this case, they do not remove the evil, but rather distract us from the evil thoughts that can harm us with no prejudice to the fulfillment of God's laws, nor do they cancel the course of Nature's laws. They only avoid that we violate them by guiding our free will. However, they act without our knowledge, imperceptible, not to overpower our will. In this manner, man is in a position of someone who asks for good advice, but maintains his freedom to follow it or not. (Ibid, Chapter XXVII, section 12.)
D. What kind of prayer has more merit in God's eyes?
The prayer of the righteous man has the most merit in the eyes of God and it is more effective too, because the vicious and wicked man cannot pray with the unction and faith that is only given by the true feeling of compassion. In a selfish heart, or the one who prays with his lips, only uttering words, you shall never find the feeling of charity that gives to prayer all its power. (Ibid, Chapter XXVII, section 13.)
