The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
At the Sea of Galilee (John 6)
- Chapter 123 -
On prayer and the worship of God.
Said the female priest of Minerva: "O Lord, one could keep on asking for an eternity; but to what use since we cannot grasp Your answers in our present state anyway! But send us soon Your promised spirt who will guide us in all truth and with all that we will be more than content what we until now have received fromYou. Only one thing would worth mentioning, and it would be good to have also have in this regard the right instructions.
2
Behold, in all teachings of God to the people, the praise worthy demand is given that a God being must be worshiped by us humans! Now, for our false gods we had a whole legion of approved and also not approved prayers. The approved and thus effective prayers were made by the priests - of course of the highest rank - and were only allowed to be prayed at certain ceremonies and at certain times in a day and belonged to the so called mysterious gods service. Subject to strict punishment such a prayer was not allowed to be prayed by layman and unconsecrated people, and one had to go to a priest to bring him for all cases a predetermined sacrifice, so that the priest could then quite monotonously and absolutely absent-minded mumble some approved prayer for him in a temple accompanied the necessary ceremony. However, the unapproved and therefore also ineffective prayers were also allowed to be prayed by the layman, with the only reason that also he could exercise himself to marvel about the gods and thereby familiarize himself with the effectiveness of the approved holy prayers of the priests.
3
Now, that such is before Your eyes and ears a horror, nobody needs to explain and prove furthermore; nevertheless, people should worship and call a true God even more so with certain selected god-worthy words, other than he speaks and talks to his fellow-man. And in this regard we also would like to have from Yourself a word as a guideline."
4
Said I: "My disciples have anyway given to you the prayer I taught them and which every person can pray in his heart with the same effect; every other prayer with the lips is repugnant before Me.
5
From eternity I always have been the same in the spirit and forever will not change in My being, effectuation and will. I now have been three days with you and have taught you what you need to know, to believe and to do - everybody by himself -, to obtain the everlasting life of the soul. Did I say anything about any special prayers or anything about an effective mysterious, only Me pleasing God service, or about any certain holy days like the Sabbath of the Jews, which they call a day of the Lord Jehovah of the Jews, on which the priests forbid the people all kind of work, while they themselves as priests on this very day of the Lord commit the biggest and most shameful fraudulences and at the same time are of the unscrupulous opinion to thereby provide God with a good service? No, about all this you not have heard a single word from My mouth and I say it to you as the full truth:
6
Do away with all your ceremonial prayers, away with all holy days, since every day is a true day of the Lord, and away with all priesthood! For every person who recognizes God and loves Him above all and does His will, is a true and right priest and is thereby also a right teacher, if he gives this very teaching which he has received from Me, to his fellowmen.
7
Who therefore does My will, speaks the Lord now, truly prays and prays without interruption; and everyday on which a person provides his fellowman in My name with a welfare deed, is a true and to Me pleasing day of the Lord.
8
If somebody provides an act of charity to his neighbour, he should do so quietly and should not talk or boast about it before other people! Since who does this has already taken his spiritual reward from Me, in that he received a worldly fame for his noble deed: however, it never strengthens the soul but only spoils it because he makes it conceited and self-complacent.
9
It is the same with asking for any mercy. Who wants to receive something from Me by his request, should pray quietly in his love-filled heart to Me, and it will be given to him for what he asks, as long it is conducive with the life-salvation of his soul.
10
Likewise also two, three or even more can be united and pray for themselves and the whole congregation - however, without the congregation knowing about it -, and I will certainly listen to such requests. However, if the two, three or even more went and tell it to the congregation that they on this or that day or at this or that hour of the day had prayed for them, so that the congregation would praise them, yes, in the end even paying for such devout prayers, - truly, such a prayer will never be heard and thus will be of no use to those who prayed and the congregation! Since all this, also the heathens have done and still doing it, by moving in large crowds from one idol temple to the next, carrying all kinds of the most silly carved figures, flags, vessels and a lot more of other stuff, making a lot of noise, blowing the horns, hit the drums and jangle with shields. They also arrange for long pilgrimages to extraordinary and special idol mercy pictures, and once arriving they carrying out the most silly acts of repentance and give to the idol large and often quite considerable sacrifices, by which of course the idol priests benefited a great deal, but never the stupid pilgrims. Thus, such general prayers and requests are never heard by Me!
11
Who wants to have his good request be heard, should make a pilgrimage to his heart and in all quietness carry his request before Me with natural and undecorated words, and I will listen to him. But this I also say to you, that nobody should come to Me with a devout looking behaviour and face! Since wherever during a prayer certain deceitful devout facial expressions occur, the request will also not be heard; because who does not come to Me in a natural manner he is, and will not pray in the right spirit of the fullest truth, will not be heard, but only him who truly loves Me, does My will and comes to Me without splendour and compulsion, just like he is, will always be heard by Me.
12
It is an old custom, even with the Jews, that the blind and stupid people wear special, enhanced and better clothing for their requests and prayers, because they think that people cannot do enough for a so called greater honour of God. However, such fool does not think about it, that there are many poor, who barely can cover their nakedness. How must the poor feel, if he sees the rich abundantly clothed in a prayer house honouring God, while he himself cannot do so and thinks by himself that he in his rags can only offend his God!
13
Truly I say to you: whoever prays to Me with certain better clothes on, will also never be heard - and even less so a priest in his stupid, bounty magic coats and skirts!
14
There also exists an old bad habit during prayers to God, that one should use a certain foreign language for it and regards this for God the worthiest. Where such nonsense will subsequently ever exists, the request will also never be heard.
15
People should only decorate their hearts for Me and speak only their mother language and I will listen to their request!
16
I want, that all the old follies should be completely abandoned and that the people should become totally new, true and pure people. And where they will be like that, there I will be among them; however, the blind world-fools should from now on be punished, thereby, that their requests will not be heard!
17
God has created man without clothes and created him to His own image, and God was pleased with the form of man, because it was His own image. But God also showed man how to make clothes for himself so that he could protect his skin against the cold; but God did not taught the first people to make clothes for themselves, so that they can wear them as a haughty adornment of their limbs. And God even less so taught man to make himself bounty clothes, as the only means to be worthy to worship God.
18
Therefore dress yourself according to your standing, but simple, and do not place any value on skirt and coat other than to cover the body; what is beyond is already evil and carries no good fruit.
19
And as such you also know in this regard what to do and I'm of the opinion - since it is already the middle of the night -, that we should get some rest!"