Neville Goddard Lecture: “The Secret of Praying” (1967)

13 Jul Neville Goddard Lecture: “The Secret of Praying” (1967)

By Neville Goddard 10/6/67

Tonight’s subject is “The Secret of Praying.” He who has learned how to pray has learned the greatest secret of a full and happy life. You’re told in scripture that his followers said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” He gave him a prayer (Luke 11:1). But that is not teaching man how to pray. So we’re told in other passages that he told it in the form of a parable, “And he told them a parable that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Then he told the story of persistency. “There was a judge and he neither feared God nor regarded man. In that city there was a widow and she came to him and asked him to exonerate her, that these enemies of hers were persistent. At first he did not respond, but then he said to himself, ‘Although I neither fear God nor regard man, yet I will exonerate her, because by her much coming she bothers me and she’ll wear me out’” (Luke 18:3).

And so all parable is like a dream. Every dream has a single jet of truth, so when you read the story we see the necessity of persistency in prayer until you master it. When you master it, the most effective prayer in the world is “Thank you, Father,” the most effective prayer in the world, after mastery. But until mastery then there is a technique. And persistency is like an art. You must practice any art in this world. First you must find a good method and try to find the best method. When you’ve found it, then it requires daily practice, any art in this world. If you don’t practice, well, then you become rusty. So find a good method first and then practice.

After you’ve practiced you’ll find it so easy that it’s automatic, all through the day. And it’s simply one of thanksgiving, “Thank you, Father!” For the most effective prayer recorded in scripture we’ll read in the 11th chapter of John, when he gave thanks to his Father: “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. For thou always hearest me” (verse 41). And here, something that is dead, something that is gone from the world, but nothing is dead if you know how to pray, but nothing, I don’t care what it is. Even those who are gone beyond and you cannot touch them, you cannot see them with mortal senses, you can, if you know how to give thanks, move from this body of darkness into the world of light and encounter them. You can. I am telling you from experience. So he who has learned how to pray has learned the greatest secret of a full and happy life.

Now, here tonight, we’ll take a technique of prayer and show you how it works. All the prophets orient themselves towards Jerusalem when they pray. Now, every name in scripture has a great significance. So what is Jerusalem? It first appears in the 33rd chapter of the Book of Genesis, under the name of Shalem. And here in this 33rd chapter, Jacob comes safely into the city of Shalem, which is in the land of Canaan, and he erected an altar. And then comes a Hebrew word, which simply means…the word is El-Elohe-Israel. So you find it capitalized in your Bible, and you find a footnote giving an interpretation of the word, which means “God, the God of Israel.” So he comes to that.

So the first appearance of the word is in that 33rd chapter of Genesis. So every prophet orients himself towards Jerusalem. Well, the word literally means “to direct; the true direction.” So I direct truly with the hand, Yod. Then comes the name, which is translated “to be safe in mind, body or estate.” I point out safely and then I realize it. So we find in the Book of Daniel, he orients himself through the open window and looks towards Jerusalem. We find in the Mohammedan world they always point towards what they call Mecca. But here, you point towards Jerusalem. Now I’m telling you Jerusalem is within you. This whole drama takes place within man; it’s not on the outside. I don’t prostrate myself and look toward some eastern point in space. I simply adjust myself mentally inwardly.