Longing for clarity about some situation in your life? The means might be easier than you've ever let yourself imagine. Here Ronnie shares a simple and direct approach to gaining a clearer perspective when you need one. -Editor
A year or so ago I wrote an article about “the most powerful phrase I know.” I want to share another phrase from the Heavenly Doctrines that I have found to be powerful as well. While the phrase I wrote about in my first article was one in which Divine Power could be called upon to help us, the phrase I want to share with you now is one in which a person can call on spiritual enlightenment whenever it is needed. This phrase can help a person when they desire to know the truth about something or receive guidance from the Lord on some important spiritual decision.
Here it goes:
“Lord come with light.”
Sounds simple right? But it really works! The passage which shows up in Apocalypse Revealed 956 goes on to say if one prays that “the Lord come with light” and also “loves truths” then they will “receive them from the Lord without their own work.”
So let’s test it out. Think of an issue that has been bothering you lately, something that has brought you much confusion in your life, something you want to understand better.
Now pray with these words: “Lord come with light.” You can even say “Lord come with light [to this issue].”
Now wait and see if a new perspective comes into your mind. Hold on to the first thing that comes into your mind. It might be something that seems stupid, it might be something that sounds like your own mind making things up, or it might even be totally off topic. But take that thought and roll it over in your head a little. Follow it back and see where it stems from. Does this insight or memory point back to some teaching that you know to be true from the Word? Can you see what the Lord might be offering in that thought? The Lord has given you a new perspective here and when you see it, you may find yourself saying “wow, that’s good!”
In my own experience the Lord has called my mind back to memories of lessons that I learned in the past, at other times He has called my mind to scripture that I have learned as a child only this time with a new sight of what was there. At other times powerful images have been called to mind that gave me comfort in hard times. At other times the Lord has pointed out something completely off topic, but which brings my current issue into perspective. Praying that the Lord come with light is a powerful way to shine perspective on anything you might want perspective on.
More than this, as a person starts to turn to the Lord for light, a light goes on inside of them which will eventually be perpetual. Apocalypse Explained 825[3] talks about this:
“So far as one lives according to their religion, so far they are led of the Lord...Every day...they are taught of the Lord what to do and to speak, also what to preach or what to write; for evils being removed they are continually under the Lord's auspices, and in enlightenment. They are led and taught, however, not directly by any dictate, or by any perceptible inspiration, but by influx into the spiritual delight in which they are, whence they obtain a faculty of perception according to the truths from which is their understanding.”
In all this time I have found that turning to the Lord for His presence has never failed to reveal light. When in times of real darkness, I have prayed to the Lord for light and have sometimes been amazed by what the Lord has shown me. Things that have lifted me from pits of confusion and doubt.
The Lord’s Word walks with a person wherever they go, and when they need it, all they need to do is simply remember to ask, “Lord come with light.” The most difficult part is remembering to ask.
While the Lord’s Holy Spirit won’t ever tell you anything new, He can use what is already in your mind from the Word to show you things. He can put things into perspective by bringing certain truths and lessons of the past to the forefront of your mind and softening those thoughts that may be blocking the sight of truth. Now if you find that the Lord is saying something that is not found in scripture, and/or is not rational, you may want to go back to the Word to wash your mind and try again with fresh eyes. The Lord can only work with what we already have in us from the Word, and sometimes He needs some new material to work with to get across what He wants to say.
So there you go—another tool for your spiritual tool-belt. Any time you really want to know how to move forward with some issue in your life, or you are just looking for a new perspective, pray these words: “Lord come with light.” I think your day will be a little brighter in light of this passage.
Ronnie served last year as a teacher at the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania teaching religion, and will soon be heading to Pittsburgh to serve as the assistant to the pastor there. In recent years Ronnie has traveled in Africa and helped run young adult events. Ronnie has always enjoyed spending time in nature, and has enjoyed using many of Swedenborg's teachings on correspondences to understand nature on a deeper level. In the future he hopes to stay involved with the New Church abroad.