Article April 1, 1985 Issue

Blessing and salvation

STEPHEN D. HELMER

Our heavenly Father, divine Love, showers blessing on His whole precious creation, from the least manifestation of Truth or Life to the full image and likeness of Himself, His spiritual sons and daughters—you and me. How much we all desire to experience this blessing, long for it, pray and work to attain it! Yet sometimes we don't receive what we ask for, at least not as fully as we'd like. Why?

It may be that our prayers are not quite on target. We may "ask amiss," James 4:3. as James has it. Now, those who James felt had missed the boat were blatantly and thoroughly selfish, so inwardly absorbed with their own pursuits as to have virtually slammed the door on the blessings they outwardly prayed for. By contrast, most of us have learned something about unselfishness, know what it is to feel genuine affection for those around us— and show it. Still, we'd all have to admit there are times when we don't urge God to bless others quite so enthusiastically as we urge Him to bless us! By narrowing the scope of our asking we necessarily restrict the blessing that flows back to us. In fact, such unconsciously one-sided praying affects our very salvation.

Why is this? Because praying to bless ourselves without including our neighbor falls short of that Christly ideal to which we all really aspire as followers of the Master, Christ Jesus. It lacks the all-embracing affection that is characteristic of the divine sonship as taught and lived by Jesus, the genuinely divine nature he manifested, the unbiased, universal outpouring of tenderness that is the character of God Himself, our all-loving Father-Mother.

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