What comes to my mind are the words of spiritual teacher Joel Goldsmith, “…understand yourself to be the instrument of God’s grace, and the benefit that you can be to anyone is in proportion to your receptivity.” We cannot reach the experience of being one with Spirit through our mind alone. Our emotions, our soul, and our energetic field all must be involved in that realization. When we catch a glimpse of the nature of God, the Absolute, we begin to know our oneness with it. We realize that there is nothing else other than that. It is all there, and it is all there is.

Now we can begin to relax into that oneness and stop trying desperately to reach God, as if he was the old man sitting on the cloud. Being receptive and responsive allows us to experience our unity with the One. If we’re looking up to God, wanting God to do something, give us something, fix something, we are approaching from desperation, trying to influence God to do our will. The realization that we are one with It leads us to know that our true needs are understood and our highest good is being taken care of. It is then that we relax and allow ourselves to receive, and to surrender to the divine design. A different way of understanding prayer is not begging and beseeching God but being in a state of silence in which we feel united with Spirit, receptive to grace.

Aligning our will with the will of the Creator is, to me, the wises and healthiest way to live. It leads to peace and to a greater ability to serve and contribute, since it offers us the highest point of view and the ultimate support.

Nomi Bachar is a counselor and self-actualization coach who works with individuals and groups. She is the founder and Director of the White Cedar Institute for Expanded Living, LLC, and the creator of the Gates of Power® method. Ms. Bachar is dedicated to the art and craft of human growth and transformation. She is trained in psychodrama, Gestalt, bioenergetics and primal therapy – all psychotherapeutic modalities that utilize expression, creativity, imagination, and intuition. Nomi has been counseling and coaching for over 26 years, as well as lecturing, leading groups, training individuals and facilitating workshops. Her book, Gates of power: Actualize Your True Self, was published in May, 2014.