What is a relationship with god?

April 2005

What does it mean to have a relationship with god? Certainly, it means having a connection or communication with the divine.

How is this relationship actualized? Through prayer to the divine?

What is a prayer? Isn't prayer simply directing our thoughts in a certain direction? If we think that god is outside of us, and we pray to god, then we direct our thoughts to some being outside. This may sound like, "Dear god, please help me with my job." "Dear lord, please help the poor." "Dearest god, I want to do well in [fill in the blank]."

But do our thoughts change depending on where we direct them? Are the mechanics of a thought different if you think, "I have to do this project," "That's funny," or "Dear Great Pumpkin, please help me"?

The direction we give to a thought is only were we "think" it is going, but one thought is actually no different than another.

In other words, when we pray to god, we are simply directing a thought. Thoughts are powerful, and thoughts also reflect our intentions. So, the way we direct the thoughts - to what we want to achieve, for example - are the steps we take to create and fulfill intentions. When we pray, we exert powerful intentions.

Fundamentally, when we pray, we simply communicate with ourselves. Actually, we communicate with our inner divinity, which is the same as and interconnected with all the rest of divinity everywhere. The divinity is the Universe, the energy that is everything, which you can think of as god. if you'd like.

Therefore, having a relationship with god really means having a relationship with yourself, your divine self, which is the energy of the Universe.