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168:4.1 On the way from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany Bethany] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pella,_Jordan Pella] [[the apostles]] asked [[Jesus]] many [[questions]], all of which [[the Master]] freely answered [[except]] those involving the details of the [[resurrection]] of the [[dead]]. Such [[problems]] were beyond the [[comprehension]] [[capacity]] of his [[apostles]]; therefore did [[the Master]] decline to [[discuss]] these questions with them. Since they had departed from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany Bethany] in [[secret]], they were [[alone]]. [[Jesus]] therefore [[embraced]] the [[opportunity]] to say many things to the ten which he [[thought]] would [[prepare]] them for the trying days just ahead.
168:4.2 [[The apostles]] were much stirred up in their [[minds]] and spent considerable [[time]] [[discussing]] their recent [[experiences]] as they were related to [[prayer]] and its answering. They all recalled [[Jesus]]' [[statement]] to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany Bethany] [[messenger]] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amman Philadelphia], when he said plainly, " This [[sickness]] is not really to the [[death]]. " And yet, in spite of this [[promise]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus Lazarus] actually died. All that day, again and again, they reverted to the [[discussion]] of this [[question]] of the answer to [[prayer]].
168:4.3 [[Jesus]]' answers to their many questions may be summarized as follows:
*1. 168:4.4 [[Prayer]] is an [[expression]] of the [[finite]] [[mind]] in an [[effort]] to approach the [[Infinite]]. The making of a [[prayer]] must, therefore, be [[limited]] by the [[knowledge]], [[wisdom]], and [[attributes]] of the [[finite]]; likewise must the answer be conditioned by the [[vision]], aims, [[ideals]], and [[prerogatives]] of the [[Infinite]]. There never can be [[observed]] an unbroken [[continuity]] of [[material]] [[phenomena]] between the making of a [[prayer]] and the [[reception]] of the full spiritual answer thereto.
*2. 168:4.5 When a [[prayer]] is apparently unanswered, the [[delay]] often betokens a better answer, although one which is for some [[good]] reason greatly delayed. When [[Jesus]] said that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus Lazarus]'s [[sickness]] was really not to the [[death]], he had already been dead eleven hours. No [[sincere]] [[prayer]] is denied an answer except when the superior [[viewpoint]] of the [[spiritual]] world has devised a better answer, an answer which meets the [[petition]] of the [[spirit]] of man as [[contrasted]] with the prayer of the mere [[mind]] of man.
*3. 168:4.6 The [[prayers]] of [[time]], when indited by the [[spirit]] and [[expressed]] in [[faith]], are often so vast and all-[[encompassing]] that they can be answered only in [[eternity]]; the [[finite]] [[petition]] is sometimes so fraught with the grasp of the [[Infinite]] that the answer must long be postponed to await the [[creation]] of adequate [[capacity]] for [receptivity]; the [[prayer]] of [[faith]] may be so all-embracing that the answer can be received only on [[Paradise]].
*4. 168:4.7 The answers to the [[prayer]] of the [[mortal]] [[mind]] are often of such a [[nature]] that they can be [[received]] and [[recognized]] only after that same praying [[mind]] has [[attained]] the [[immortal]] state. The [[prayer]] of the [[material]] [[being]] can many times be answered only when such an [[individual]] has [[progressed]] to the [[spirit]] level.
*5. 168:4.8 The [[prayer]] of a [[God]]-knowing [[person]] may be so [[distorted]] by [[ignorance]] and so deformed by [[superstition]] that the answer thereto would be highly undesirable. Then must the [[intervening]] spirit [[beings]] so [[translate]] such a [[prayer]] that, when the answer arrives, the petitioner wholly fails to [[recognize]] it as the answer to his [[prayer]].
*6. 168:4.9 All true prayers are addressed to [[spiritual]] [[beings]], and all such [[petitions]] must be answered in spiritual terms, and all such answers must consist in [[spiritual]] [[realities]]. [[Spirit]] [[beings]] cannot [[bestow]] material answers to the spirit [[petitions]] of even [[material]] [[beings]]. [[Material]] [[beings]] can pray [[effectively]] only when they " pray in the spirit. "
*7. 168:4.10 No [[prayer]] can [[hope]] for an answer unless it is [[born]] of the [[spirit]] and nurtured by [[faith]]. Your [[sincere]] [[faith]] implies that you have in advance [[virtually]] granted your [[prayer]] hearers the full right to answer your [[petitions]] in [[accordance]] with that [[supreme]] [[wisdom]] and that [[divine]] [[love]] which your [[faith]] depicts as always actuating those [[beings]] to whom you pray.
*8. 168:4.11 The child is always within his [[rights]] when he [[presumes]] to [[petition]] the [[parent]]; and the parent is always within his parental [[obligations]] to the immature child when his superior [[wisdom]] [[dictates]] that the answer to the child's prayer be [[delayed]], [[modified]], [[segregated]], [[transcended]], or postponed to another [[stage]] of [[Ascension Career|spiritual ascension]].
*9. 168:4.12 Do not [[hesitate]] to [[pray]] the prayers of spirit longing; [[doubt]] not that you shall [[receive]] the answer to your [[petitions]]. These answers will be on deposit, awaiting your [[achievement]] of those [[future]] spiritual levels of [[actual]] [[cosmic]] [[attainment]], on this world or on others, whereon it will become possible for you to [[recognize]] and appropriate the long-waiting answers to your earlier but ill-timed [[petitions]].
*10. 168:4.13 All genuine spirit-born [[petitions]] are certain of an answer. Ask and you shall [[receive]].[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_7] But you should [[remember]] that you are [[progressive]] [[creatures]] of [[time and space]]; therefore must you constantly reckon with the [[time-space]] [[factor]] in the [[experience]] of your [[personal]] [[reception]] of the full answers to your manifold [[prayers]] and [[petitions]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_168 Go to Paper 168]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 168 - The Resurrection of Lazarus]]
168:4.1 On the way from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany Bethany] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pella,_Jordan Pella] [[the apostles]] asked [[Jesus]] many [[questions]], all of which [[the Master]] freely answered [[except]] those involving the details of the [[resurrection]] of the [[dead]]. Such [[problems]] were beyond the [[comprehension]] [[capacity]] of his [[apostles]]; therefore did [[the Master]] decline to [[discuss]] these questions with them. Since they had departed from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany Bethany] in [[secret]], they were [[alone]]. [[Jesus]] therefore [[embraced]] the [[opportunity]] to say many things to the ten which he [[thought]] would [[prepare]] them for the trying days just ahead.
168:4.2 [[The apostles]] were much stirred up in their [[minds]] and spent considerable [[time]] [[discussing]] their recent [[experiences]] as they were related to [[prayer]] and its answering. They all recalled [[Jesus]]' [[statement]] to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany Bethany] [[messenger]] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amman Philadelphia], when he said plainly, " This [[sickness]] is not really to the [[death]]. " And yet, in spite of this [[promise]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus Lazarus] actually died. All that day, again and again, they reverted to the [[discussion]] of this [[question]] of the answer to [[prayer]].
168:4.3 [[Jesus]]' answers to their many questions may be summarized as follows:
*1. 168:4.4 [[Prayer]] is an [[expression]] of the [[finite]] [[mind]] in an [[effort]] to approach the [[Infinite]]. The making of a [[prayer]] must, therefore, be [[limited]] by the [[knowledge]], [[wisdom]], and [[attributes]] of the [[finite]]; likewise must the answer be conditioned by the [[vision]], aims, [[ideals]], and [[prerogatives]] of the [[Infinite]]. There never can be [[observed]] an unbroken [[continuity]] of [[material]] [[phenomena]] between the making of a [[prayer]] and the [[reception]] of the full spiritual answer thereto.
*2. 168:4.5 When a [[prayer]] is apparently unanswered, the [[delay]] often betokens a better answer, although one which is for some [[good]] reason greatly delayed. When [[Jesus]] said that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus Lazarus]'s [[sickness]] was really not to the [[death]], he had already been dead eleven hours. No [[sincere]] [[prayer]] is denied an answer except when the superior [[viewpoint]] of the [[spiritual]] world has devised a better answer, an answer which meets the [[petition]] of the [[spirit]] of man as [[contrasted]] with the prayer of the mere [[mind]] of man.
*3. 168:4.6 The [[prayers]] of [[time]], when indited by the [[spirit]] and [[expressed]] in [[faith]], are often so vast and all-[[encompassing]] that they can be answered only in [[eternity]]; the [[finite]] [[petition]] is sometimes so fraught with the grasp of the [[Infinite]] that the answer must long be postponed to await the [[creation]] of adequate [[capacity]] for [receptivity]; the [[prayer]] of [[faith]] may be so all-embracing that the answer can be received only on [[Paradise]].
*4. 168:4.7 The answers to the [[prayer]] of the [[mortal]] [[mind]] are often of such a [[nature]] that they can be [[received]] and [[recognized]] only after that same praying [[mind]] has [[attained]] the [[immortal]] state. The [[prayer]] of the [[material]] [[being]] can many times be answered only when such an [[individual]] has [[progressed]] to the [[spirit]] level.
*5. 168:4.8 The [[prayer]] of a [[God]]-knowing [[person]] may be so [[distorted]] by [[ignorance]] and so deformed by [[superstition]] that the answer thereto would be highly undesirable. Then must the [[intervening]] spirit [[beings]] so [[translate]] such a [[prayer]] that, when the answer arrives, the petitioner wholly fails to [[recognize]] it as the answer to his [[prayer]].
*6. 168:4.9 All true prayers are addressed to [[spiritual]] [[beings]], and all such [[petitions]] must be answered in spiritual terms, and all such answers must consist in [[spiritual]] [[realities]]. [[Spirit]] [[beings]] cannot [[bestow]] material answers to the spirit [[petitions]] of even [[material]] [[beings]]. [[Material]] [[beings]] can pray [[effectively]] only when they " pray in the spirit. "
*7. 168:4.10 No [[prayer]] can [[hope]] for an answer unless it is [[born]] of the [[spirit]] and nurtured by [[faith]]. Your [[sincere]] [[faith]] implies that you have in advance [[virtually]] granted your [[prayer]] hearers the full right to answer your [[petitions]] in [[accordance]] with that [[supreme]] [[wisdom]] and that [[divine]] [[love]] which your [[faith]] depicts as always actuating those [[beings]] to whom you pray.
*8. 168:4.11 The child is always within his [[rights]] when he [[presumes]] to [[petition]] the [[parent]]; and the parent is always within his parental [[obligations]] to the immature child when his superior [[wisdom]] [[dictates]] that the answer to the child's prayer be [[delayed]], [[modified]], [[segregated]], [[transcended]], or postponed to another [[stage]] of [[Ascension Career|spiritual ascension]].
*9. 168:4.12 Do not [[hesitate]] to [[pray]] the prayers of spirit longing; [[doubt]] not that you shall [[receive]] the answer to your [[petitions]]. These answers will be on deposit, awaiting your [[achievement]] of those [[future]] spiritual levels of [[actual]] [[cosmic]] [[attainment]], on this world or on others, whereon it will become possible for you to [[recognize]] and appropriate the long-waiting answers to your earlier but ill-timed [[petitions]].
*10. 168:4.13 All genuine spirit-born [[petitions]] are certain of an answer. Ask and you shall [[receive]].[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_7] But you should [[remember]] that you are [[progressive]] [[creatures]] of [[time and space]]; therefore must you constantly reckon with the [[time-space]] [[factor]] in the [[experience]] of your [[personal]] [[reception]] of the full answers to your manifold [[prayers]] and [[petitions]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_168 Go to Paper 168]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 168 - The Resurrection of Lazarus]]
