Week #5 of the 7-Week Series, “7 Prayers That Will Change Your Life”
Click HERE to view Rev. Rogers’ guided meditation during the service.
Alright, you guys; are you ready for tonight?
So here’s my question for tonight: What’s the most outrageous spiritual idea that you’ve ever entertained? I want you to think about that. What was the craziest, wildest, most amazing spiritual idea that you’ve ever entertained? And what it about that crazy idea that so interested you that you were willing to entertain it?
Because those really big spiritual ideas; they put our whole belief system into conflict. If you grew up and believed you were not quite right, or something was wrong with you, and then you begin to entertain the idea that you were created in the image and likeness of God, that’s a game changer! If you truly believe that you were created in the image and likeness of God — really, totally — and not the other way around … not you saying, “God is like me.” Like, that’s not really that radical. Like, if my God was like me, God help us! [Congregation laughs] Right? But the idea that I’m like God — or I’m created in the image and likeness of God — that’s a radical idea!
If you believe that you’re worthy of unconditional love, that’s a radical idea! How many of you have ever made a mistake? How many of you have ever acted like a jerk from time to time? Right? So the idea that no matter what you’ve done; no matter what mistakes you’ve made; no matter how many times you’ve dropped the ball at the one-yard line, and the other team picked it up and ran it back, you were still worthy of unconditional love. That is a huge statement!
For some people, the idea that’s crazy is the idea of giving the first tenth of all that they receive to where they’re fed spiritually. That they would actually give the first tenth in acknowledgement of all the blessings of God — that’s a radical idea!
And I want us to be willing tonight to entertain another radical idea: an idea that, to your logical mind, may seem crazy.
You know, we’ve been doing this “7 Prayers That Will Change Your Life.” We began with “Let there be light”; “Thy will be done”; “Peace – be still”; “Be ye transformed” last week. And this week the prayer is, “All that the Father has is mine.” All that the Father has is mine! All that God is is mine!
And that — for our rational mind to get our arms around that — that’s just crazy talk! Like, that’s just crazy talk! Like, that all the God is is already mine. All that God has is already mine. That’s a crazy idea! It requires us to suspend our disbelief and move into a level of life that doesn’t make rational sense.
Because when you look at your life, you know what’s yours and what’s not yours. And if you take what’s not yours, they come and get you! Right? Because people are pretty clear about what’s theirs and what’s not theirs. Right? And our whole society is based on that you know what’s yours and you know what’s not yours, and that you’re not supposed to touch what’s not yours. Like, they frown on it. They discourage it. They incarcerate you over it. [Congregation laughs] Right? That this is one of those principles that it’s helpful to know.
But what if it’s not completely true? See, most of us learn to pray from the Charles Dickens approach to prayer. You know what the Charles Dickens approach to prayer is? In Oliver Twist, there’s a line where Charles Dickens writes, “Please, sir, may I have some more please?” How many of you have seen the musical or read Charles Dickens? And the line is, “Please, sir, may I have some more please?”
Now that’s the way most of us learn to pray. We go to “Big Daddy” God, right? And we say to Big Daddy God — who’s “out there,” so we have to raise our voice so Big Daddy God hears us — and we say to Big Daddy God, “Please, sir, may I have a little more?” And the idea in our prayer life is: “I’m not completely worthy of it; I know that and you know that. But I just would like a little bit more slack. So can I have another bowl of porridge, please?”
And our whole prayer life is based on that concept: that we’re trying to get a little bit more porridge out of the Big Guy. And some of us were taught that the more pathetic we get, the more we believe that God will cut us some slack.
So how many of you were raised in an environment that the more pathetic the prayers, you were hoping they would be more effective? How many of you ever played, “Oh, poor, poor, poor me”? Right? “Could you just cut me a little slack and slide a little bit more my way?”
And that many of us learned to pray this way. And today I want to take that on. Because at the age of about two or three, we develop the concept of “mine”: “Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.” Have you ever been around a two-year-old when they’re in this growth stage? And everything that they say is, “Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!”? I know, young man; I’m sure you’ve never said that! Right? You’ve never gone there; no! Right? But many of us have moved into that experience of “mine.”
Now when a child is born in this world, by and large they come into this world with no sense of separation. They don’t differentiate anything. They come into this world with a complete sense of oneness. They don’t differentiate themselves from their mother; they don’t differentiate themselves from their environment. They come into this world into a complete sense of oneness.
And then they begin to … Individually, they begin to define themselves. They begin to say, “This is mine and this is not mine.” And the idea is — ideally, the idea is — that as we go through life, we come in with a sense of one; we develop an ego; we enjoy our ego and experience its limitations. But the ideal state is that we leave this world from a place of oneness. So we take on separation to experience ourselves as separate from God, and we enjoy and experience that. But the ideal is that, before we go — before we pass on to the next realm — that we actually have let go of our sense of separation. So we come in in oneness and we leave in oneness.
Now the difficulty is that most of us come in from a sense of oneness, and we leave from a sense of separation. And it’s, I believe, only on the other side that we then get an opportunity to awaken to oneness again. I want to change that!
So every time a child is saying, “Mine!” I want you to see that they are actually defining their ego. That every time they say, “Mine!” it’s in the context of, “This is mine and this is not mine.” It’s actually an appropriate step in their development, where they begin to draw some lines to say, “This is mine and this is not mine.” And in the act of saying, “This is mine and this is not mine,” they are actually developing their ego.
But then Jesus — from his oneness place — says this crazy thing: that “Everything the Father has is mine.”
So from a place of your ego, is everything the Father has yours? No! What’s yours is what’s within your little circle! “This is mine; this is my stuff in my garage; this is the stuff in my closet; these are the clothes that I wear; this is how much money is in my bank account.” Right? “This is my stuff! This is my retirement …” Whatever “mine” is to you. Right? And we all define our own lines around what’s “mine.”
And we are completely right about what’s yours. Because you drew the line. And you can expand line; you can contract the line. But it’s your line.
But what if part of your spiritual journey is letting go of your belief in the limitations of what’s “mine”? What if part of your spiritual journey is to go back and claim it all? “Well, Richard, I can’t call everything mine, because that’s just wack-a-doodle.”
But what if it’s not? What if your soul knows the spiritual truth that everything has already been given to you?
Jesus said, “All that the Father has is mine.” He said, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Now, you can argue for your limitations, and you can draw a circle that says, “This is mine.” But what if it’s all yours? And what if, in an infinite universe, you claiming everything doesn’t take away anything from me? In an infinite universe, there can’t be a “mine,” because it’s all infinite. Like, it’s all yours; it’s all God! It’s all available!
Now, I know this is a radical idea! And you can walk out now; I would completely understand. But I’m going to invite you just to play with one more radical idea: that everything is yours!
I want you to have a mind that’s so big that it encompasses everything that God is. And I actually want you to go back into a three-year-old mindset and claim everything is yours! And I want you to actually confront your belief in limitation this week. And as you’re driving down the road, I want you to say, “That’s mine; and that’s mine; and that’s mine!” I want you to drive down your street and say, “That’s mine; and that’s mine; and that’s mine!” And I want you to blow your own mind! I want you to start claiming everything in the universe as yours. And I want you to feel the discomfort that creates in you. Because the rational part of you is going to be troubled by this wack-a-doodle behavior. And that’s what I want!
This week I want you to claim everything as yours.
When I was in ministerial school, one of my favorite teachers — Ed Ravel, just a saintly man — said there were two requirements to be fully involved in a higher level of spiritual growth. He said you had to be good-hearted and you had to be sane. Right? And I believe that! I believe that!
And I believe that, when you begin to claim everything is yours, I need you to be in the conflict of that statement. I need your ego to growl at that one. I need you to actually be a little uncomfortable claiming that much. Because I believe it’s our path to oneness. I believe that, as long as we continue to define who we are in a circle that excludes most of everything, we can’t spiritually move into the fullness of God.
Will you say with me, “All that the Father has is mine”?
Together: [with congregation] “All that the Father has is mine.”
Now, when you’re claiming everything is yours, I want you to see everything that you’re claiming as a physical representation of the infinite possibilities of God. Now, am I suggesting that you go open your neighbor’s garage and drive their Mercedes out the door? I am not encouraging that behavior! What I’m encouraging you to do [laughs]; I am encouraging this to be a mental, spiritual process, not car … what is that video game? Not Grand Theft Auto. This is not Grand Theft Auto! Right? This is a spiritual process where we are claiming more and more and more of God’s infinite good until we experience a level of oneness.
“All that the Father has is mine.”
Together: [with congregation] “All that the Father has is mine.”
Now, can you see how begging for a little bit more — going from five to 10 or from five to 100 or from five to a million — is just expanding the circle? But it’s still playing in the realm of limitation. I want to go to a dimension that’s beyond that. I want to play in the infiniteness of God.
“All that the Father has is mine.”
Together: [with congregation] “All that the Father has is mine.”
One more time: [with congregation] “All that the Father has is mine.”
So tonight I’m going to be using John 16. It’s where that verse lives. And I’m going to go through John 16. Because in John 16, Jesus is setting up his disciples for him being gone. So he’s talking to them heart-to-heart; like, “This is it. I’m about to boogie out of here. You need to know a couple of things before I go.” Alright?
So John 16:4:
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to Him who has sent me.”
Verse 12:
“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he does not speak on his own authority, but by whatever he hear. He will speak and he will declare to you the things that I have come for. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare to you. All that the Father has is mine. Therefore, I say that he will take what is mine and declare to you.”
Okay. I want you to see how frustrating it would be to be Jesus and have so much more to teach that they could not yet hear. Does that make sense? Like, if you knew all the mysteries; if you knew complete oneness with God … And it would’ve been his overwhelming joy to share it all with his people. He wanted to share it! But they had to be willing to receive it! They had to have a space to hear it, because they could only accept what they could accept.
So he took them, in three years, from where they were as far as they could go. He spoke to their hearts and their minds in the greatest way that he could to expand the possibilities of their lives. But he knew that he couldn’t give it all to them. That they couldn’t bear it; they couldn’t hold it. And it wouldn’t even be kind to do it. Does that make sense?
Because you can’t blow somebody’s mind over and over and over again and have them be okay with that. Occasionally I get away with it, but it’s just on occasion, alright?
So there was more that he wanted to give them, and he said, but don’t worry about it. The Holy Spirit is going to come and is going to finish the job. So that, wherever you are on your spiritual journey, it is the role of the Holy Spirit to make sure all the little ducks get home. Right? That all of us move into the enlightenment. That all of us move into the fullness of God. That all of us move into oneness. That all of us experience all that God is.
But you can only do it at the speed that you can do it.
Now, when you take your foot off the brake, does your car … Is your car able to go faster? Yes! So could your soul move faster than you’re moving now? Yes! But we all have our stories; we all have our resistance; we all have our pain; we all have our past. But we’re not limited by that! And so the more that we say to the Holy Spirit, “I am ready for my next spiritual step! Heal me; bless me; fill me up; transform me; open my mind; open my heart; fill me with all that you are,” the more that we accelerate our spiritual journey.
Now, let me go to one more. And I’ve got to hurry. The Prodigal Son, Luke 15. The story of the Prodigal Son:
“Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’”
The young son makes a claim against his father. And I want you to see that his father, you know … In the hierarchy, should the younger son have had a full share, or should the older son have gotten more? The older son should have gotten more, right? It was really his. But the younger son makes a claim on the father and says, “I want my half.” And the father goes about setting him up: gives him his half. Right?
Now, there is no part of this story where the father reacts in any way other than being generous. Like, the son wants his share — wants it now — and the father just says … Well, he doesn’t say anything; he just gives it to him!
And I want you to see that, in many ways, that is your relationship with God. That whatever you ask; whatever you claim – whatever! — that God just gives it to you! Whatever you believe, it is done unto it!
Verse 13:
“Not long after that, the younger son got it all together, and set off for a distant country, and then squandered his wealth on …”
In some verses it says “riotous living.” This verse says, “wild living.” I kind of like “riotous living” better but, you know, “wild living” will work! You get the context that he was having a good time. Right? And then it says:
“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and he hired himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed the pigs.”
Now, for a good Jewish boy to have to feed the pigs is not a good thing. Right? This is below bottom. If you’re in AA, talk about hitting bottom; this is bottom. This is where he was. Right? So that’s bottom, bottom, bottom.
“He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to my father: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and he went to see his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. And he ran to his son and he threw his arms around him and he kissed him.
“And the son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it upon him. Put av ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. And let’s have a feast to celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and now he’s alive; he was lost, but now he’s found.’ So they gave a great celebration.”
So did the father shame the son that he blew half of his estate? Not once! Like, in this model — in this story — the father really is infinitely generous! The son took half of everything he had and went and blew it on wild living. Right? How many of you would have a little bit of guilt or shame about that? Like, if in a year or so, two years after you just blew your family inheritance, you had to go back and say, “So sorry about that, but it’s gone. But I had a good time; thanks so much!” Right? We might have a little inner dialogue with that, right?
But in the story, what does God do? God just keeps giving!
“All that the Father has is mine.”
Will you say that with me? [With congregation]: All that the Father has is mine.”
Did the father once nickel and dime him? Did the father say once, “I can’t believe you just wasted half my estate”? Not once! Not once! That all that the father has was generously given over and over again!
So let me read back to John 16:23:
“In that day you will ask nothing of me. But truly, truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, it will be given to you in my name. Heretofore, you have asked nothing in my name; ask and you will receive it that your joy may be full.”
So his last line is that you don’t ask enough! But ask in my name; in my consciousness; in my oneness; in my awareness. Ask in that, and all that you ask for will be yours!
Like, this whole thing is not about your asking for too much! It’s not that you’re being a greedy little piggly wiggly! [Congregation laughs] It really is that you’re not asking for enough! You’re going with your little bowl and saying, “Please, God, give me another serving.” And God wants to slap us! No … just in my mind, I’m sure. Right? [Congregation laughs]
Like, the idea is that everyone has been given everything. And we’re nickeling-and-diming ourselves.
“All that the Father is mine.”
Will you say that with me? [With congregation]: “All that the Father has is mine.”
So here’s what I want you to do. I want you to claim everything this week. I do! I know it’s going to seem crazy; I know you’re going to hate it. I want you to claim everything you see. “That’s mine; that’s mine; that’s mine.” I want you to go back to your three-year-old mindset, only this time I don’t want you to differentiate anything. I want you to claim everything. I want you to claim everything. I want you to claim everything!
Because where we can know the infiniteness of God? Only in our mind. Only in our mind can we expand to the point where we can experience the infinite before it shows up in our life.
So the first thing I want you to do is, I want you to just claim everything you see: “Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!” I want you to be the biggest, greediest little piggy around. Okay?
And then, in your mind, I want you to imagine the infiniteness of God. I want you to imagine the greatest life that you could imagine. I want you to imagine having access to all the good that God is. I want you to begin to live in that state and call it in to your physical reality. I want you to let go of a sense of separation and move back into a state of oneness, where all that the Father has is mine.
Together one more time: [with congregation] “All that the Father has is mine.”
One more time: [with congregation] “All that the Father has is mine.”
Will you pray with me?
I want you to take a deep breath, and I want you to feel the activity of God that’s within us and all around us. That we today we claim it all. We claim every bit of God’s good. We claim the infinite Spirit of God; we claim that infinite reservoir of God’s good. And as we see the world around us, we know that everything we see is just a physical reminder of the spiritual abundance of God. That the true infinite abundance of God is truly only spiritual. And then we manifest it in the physical.
So tonight we give thanks for it all. That we no longer look for the bits and pieces; we claim a new relationship with life. All that the Father has is mine! And so it is. Amen.
Copyright 2022 Unity of Phoenix Spiritual Center/Rev. Richard Rogers