The Golden Key to Prayer

by Emmet Fox

"Read The Golden Key several times. Do exactly what it says, and if you are persistent enough you will overcome any difficulty." -- Emmet Fox

Prayer will enable you, sooner or later, to get yourself, or anyone else, out of any difficulty on the face of the earth. It is the Golden Key to harmony and happiness.

To those who have no acquaintance with the mightiest power in existence, this may appear to be a rash claim, but it needs only a fair trial to prove that, without a shadow of doubt, it is a just one. You need take no one's word for it, and you should not. Simply try it for yourself, and see.

God is omnipotent, and man is His image and likeness, and has dominion over all things. This is the inspired teaching, and it is intended to be taken literally, at its face value. Man means every man, and so the ability to draw on this power is not the special prerogative of the mystic or the saint, as is so often supposed, or even of the highly trained practitioner.

Whoever you are, wherever you may be, the Golden Key to harmony is in your hand now. This is because in scientific prayer it is God who works, and not you, and so your particular limitations or weaknesses are of no account in the process. You are only the channel through which the divine action takes place, and your treatment will really be just the getting of yourself out of the way. Beginners often get startling results at the first time of trying, for all that is absolutely essential is to have an open mind, and sufficient faith to try the experiment. Apart from that, you may hold any views on religion, or none.

As for the actual method of working, like all fundamental things, it is simplicity itself. All that you have to do is this: Stop thinking about the difficulty, whatever it is, and think about God instead. This is the complete rule, and if only you will do this, the trouble, whatever it is, will presently disappear. It makes no difference what kind of trouble it is. It may be a big thing or a little thing; it may concern health, finance, a lawsuit, a quarrel, an accident, or anything else conceivable; but whatever it is, just stop thinking about it, and think of God instead -- that is all you have to do.

The thing could not be simpler, could it? God Himself could scarcely have made it simpler, and yet it never fails to work when given a fair trial.

Do not try to form a picture of God, which is impossible. Work by rehearsing anything or everything that you know about God. God is Wisdom, Truth, inconceivable Love. God is present everywhere; has infinite power; knows everything; and so on. It matters not how well you may think you understand these things; go over them repeatedly.

But you must stop thinking of the trouble, whatever it is. The rule is to think about God, and if you are thinking about your difficulty you are not thinking about God. To be continually glancing over your shoulder, as it were, in order to see how matters are progressing, is fatal, because that is thinking of the trouble, and you must think of God, and of nothing else. Your object is to drive the thought of the difficulty right out of your consciousness, for a few moments at least, substituting for it the thought of God.

This is the crux of the whole thing. If you can become so absorbed in this consideration of the spiritual world that you really forget for a while all about the trouble concerning which you began to pray, you will presently find that you are safely and comfortably out of your difficulty -- that your demonstration is made.

In order to "Golden Key" a troublesome person or a difficult situation, think, "Now I am going to 'Golden Key' John, or Mary, or that threatened danger"; then proceed to drive all thought of John, or Mary, or the danger right out of your mind, replacing it by the thought of God.

By working in this way about a person, you are not seeking to influence his conduct in any way, except that you prevent him from injuring or annoying you, and you do him nothing but good. Thereafter he is certain to be in some degree a better, wiser, and more spiritual person, just because you have "Golden Keyed" him. A pending lawsuit or other difficulty would probably fade out harmlessly without coming to a crisis, justice being done to all parties concerned.
If you find that you can do this very quickly, you may repeat the operation several times a day with intervals between. Be sure, however, each time you have done it, that you drop all thought of the matter until the next time. This is important.
We have said that the Golden Key is simple, and so it is, but, of course, it is not always easy to turn. If you are very frightened or worried it may be difficult, at first, to get your thoughts away from material things. But by constantly repeating some statement of absolute Truth that appeals to you, such as There is no power but God, or I am the child of God, filled and surrounded by the perfect peace of God, or God is love, or God is guiding me now, or, perhaps best and simplest of all, just God is with me -- however mechanical or dead it may seem at first -- you will soon find that the treatment has begun to "take," and that your mind is clearing. Do not struggle violently; be quiet but insistent. Each time that you find your attention wandering, just switch it straight back to God.
Do not try to think out in advance what the solution of your difficulty will probably turn out to be. This is technically called "outlining," and will only delay the demonstration. Leave the question of ways and means strictly to God. You want to get out of your difficulty -- that is sufficient. You do your half, and God will never fail to do His.

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Awakening we begin to see things from the Inside Out, so to speak, and before we ask the prayer is answered, and we now know how to pray as we ought, because we recognize the Truth: there is nothing to heal, change, or make right, for all is already finished, done, perfect in Reality. Come away from the illusion that things are either this way or that way in a world of opposites, or opposition. Come into the Reality of a Creation declared very good. Realize that nothing went astray or awry except our thinking!
GOD in a Box
by Jane Woodward

The oneness and allness of God is self-evidently the fact of this Awareness which has forever been alone and All to everyone. Yes, the key is the singleness and all-inclusiveness of this very Awareness. This Awareness of existence, that is right here, right now, is divine! It is God's Awareness, not 'mine'.

A man fraught with fear and consternation came to the author with a terrible tale of tribulation. He wanted someone to do something about all his troubles. After a few moments of simple, light-hearted conversation relative to the Reality that is rather than the sorrow that seems, the man said, “I see! I understand! God is all that is here. God is this very Awareness I am.” He left and fearlessly set about doing all that was necessary to appear happy and prosperous. Many months later he told me that nothing had upset his equanimity since the day of that conversation. 2+2=Reality By William Samuel

Things will disappear only as man changes in consciousness. Deny it if you will, it still remains a fact that consciousness is the only reality and things but mirror that which you are in consciousness. So the heavenly state you are seeking will be found only in consciousness, for the kingdom of heaven is within you. As the will of heaven is ever done on earth you are today living in the heaven that you have established within you. For here on this very earth your heaven reveals itself. The kingdom of heaven really is at hand. NOW is the accepted time. So create a new heaven, enter into a new state of consciousness and a new earth will appear.

AT YOUR COMMAND
By Neville
1939

Reader, your 'salvation' is simple and easy. It is to come out and be separate from Bill, Mary or whatever you call yourself. It is to cease identifying as an enslaver of God, as a possessor of Infinite Awareness. It is to start right now and identify correctly as Awareness itself. There is no yourself, myself or any other self but God. God is being this Awareness. This is who and what you are. You are not a miserable, suffering mortal, so you can stop acting like one. God, Perfection Itself, is being 'you.'

I have known those who have seen and understood this Light instantaneously. Their problems,  consternations and fears were shed as quickly and easily as one takes off his coat. These were the ones who were humbly ready, willing and eager to let God be all that God already is, leaving no place for an ego that puffs itself up and claims to have an awareness of its own. 2+2=Reality By William Samuel

 I was listening to a tape from Robin Duncan ( www.FreePrayerBook.com ) yesterday and although she was talking about ACIM it was very similar to The Golden Key of Prayer.

Pray, focus on what God means to you and go on with yur life with the faithful expectancy of it’s fruitation. Can’t pay a bill? , Pray, make out the check, focus on God and go on out about your business.

Ervin Seale mentioned once about Miss Eleanor Mel staying at the Waldorf during a convention without any money. She got up Sunday, went down to check out, asked for her mail, there was a letter with $70 in it. She promptly paid her bill and left. Seale said neither he nor Emmet Fox ever went anywhere unless they had the money to pay the bill.

 

Thomas Troward's view of this was "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you." "The Kingdom of Heaven is within vou." - first find God in yourself and you will find Him everywhere else," It is a case of "you press the button- and we do the rest."