In this YouTube video, Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles read “The Ladder of Prayer” (ACIM, S-1.II) from the Song of Prayer supplement of A Course In Miracles.
We talked about how the Course’s gradual process of forgiving ourselves for our (unconsciously guilty) belief that we committed an impossible crime – This process is like climbing a metaphoric ladder where we become lighter and see farther with each step. The gentle, gradual, long-term process is one of correcting our misperceptions of demanding (or at least praying) that the world meet our ego needs. We gradually learn that we can outgrow this futile attempt of having everyone “else” meet our imagined needs by discovering – with our Inner Kindness Teacher’s help – that what we really want – unchanging peace – has already been met, and can be experienced more and more by removing the blocks in our mind to the awareness of love’s presence (ACIM, T-in.1:7.) These blocks take countless forms as our egos – by default – have special love/hate relationships with literally everyone and everything where childishly we ask for what we’ll never find; the seek-but-do-not-find insanity of every variation of dualistic thinking. Our real need is for healing our minds of the belief in differences and separation, yet the Course’s Appointed Friend always meets us where we think we are.
Here are the first 3 paragraphs of The Ladder of Prayer section:
“1. Prayer has no beginning and no end. ²It is a part of life. ³But it does change in form, and grow with learning until it reaches its formless state, and fuses into total communication with God. ⁴In its asking form it need not, and often does not, make appeal to God, or even involve belief in Him. ⁵At these levels prayer is merely wanting, out of a sense of scarcity and lack.
2. These forms of prayer, or asking-out-of-need, always involve feelings of weakness and inadequacy, and could never be made by a Son of God who knows Who he is. ²No one, then, who is sure of his Identity could pray in these forms. ³Yet it is also true that no one who is uncertain of his Identity can avoid praying in this way. ⁴And prayer is as continual as life. ⁵Everyone prays without ceasing. ⁶Ask and you have received, for you have established what it is you want.
3. It is also possible to reach a higher form of asking-out-of-need, for in this world prayer is reparative, and so it must entail levels of learning. ²Here, the asking may be addressed to God in honest belief, though not yet with understanding. ³A vague and usually unstable sense of identification has generally been reached, but tends to be blurred by a deep-rooted sense of sin. ⁴It is possible at this level to continue to ask for things of this world in various forms, and it is also possible to ask for gifts such as honesty or goodness, and particularly for forgiveness for the many sources of guilt that inevitably underlie any prayer of need. ⁵Without guilt there is no scarcity. ⁶The sinless have no needs.”
(This video was recorded on January 8, 2023.)
If you have questions or comments about this video, previous videos in this ACIM-related video series, or other Course-related topics, please email them to us via the ACIMblog.com contact form. Susan and Bruce will review and try to respond to questions and suggestions for future conversations. We look forward to extending the conversation with you!
If you are interested in Susan’s excellent weekly Tuesday evening classes based on the teachings of Kenneth Wapnick, you can contact her here.
Here are some prior ACIM-related conversations with Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles.