The Way Of The Spiritual Leader

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Section 1. Minister And Prayer (Part 1)

1. The Prayer

1) Reasons for Prayer

If man did not fall then the savior is not needed, and religion and prayer are also not needed. We must understand that the need for savior, religion and prayer are the unfortunate gift of the fall. (1974.3.9)


Why do we have to pray? We must stand in the position that is horizontally 90 degrees in relation to the vertical realm of the heart. We cannot make a mistake. We must stand horizontally at 90 degrees and by receiving vertical stimulation, depending on the magnitude of that stimulation, based on that standard, my sphere will expand. If that happens then this kind of sphere is formed. It results in a perfect circle (or the original image) in which one hundred percent give and take can occur.

Therefore, we can not afford to not devote ourselves sincerely. You cannot waver. You must pray in that situation. "How have I attended you Heavenly Father?" In attending parents, am I a representative of family, society, tribe, people, or nation? This can be known at once, where my tears have been shed and flowed. This is the formula. Fallen man cannot attend the Heavenly Parents without tears, without repentance, without cleansing the recreation of that environment is not possible. Do you understand?

When thinking about the nation, do your tears fall? When thinking about the world, does wailing occur? There is the problem. When Heavenly Father is doing that, the subject is doing that, the horizontal standard must stand in the same realm and in the participatory realm. It is not possible without being one. (171-19)


One does not become a central figure with confidence. Do you understand? One does not have confidence. Even I have never thought myself as feeling confident. Because I realized before myself must come what God likes, and I realized I must like that person whom God goes after. When I look at a given situation, what matters is how can I start off by having such a heart. If I can be connected to that heart, there is nothing which cannot be accomplished. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished. We must have a mind which can make other people joyful, and console the sorrowful person.

Have you loved God as much as the food when you are severely starving? We must love that much. Even when we are so famished, we must be able to search for God holding the food, and when we starve and hold rice in our hands, we must search for and care for the loving family (church) members. We must do so. If you are such a person and if you starve and fast, then that village will fall into ruin. It will be overcome.

For that reason, where ever a person is, whom God loves, he never starves. Do you understand? Father has never thought about food until now. Father has never thought "I must make money to survive." Would father starve because he doesn't think that way? Where ever father goes, food is waiting for me. Isn't that right?

As such a responsible leader, you must know how to follow this essential principle track (orbit). Therefore you must pray. Pray deeply about the relationship between God and myself, how much does God love me? Also, you must pray and invest for members. How much relationship have I made with members? Until the relationship becomes round . . . For that you must pray. You must pray.

How many hours do you spend on eating meals in one day? Is it over one hour and half? At least it requires about one hour and half, doesn't it? [Yes] You spend on average one and half hour for eating meals. For spiritual work, you must invest more than the amount of time you spend on eating. You must invest much more. Father has understood this fact through numerous years of own life of faith. (70-171)


As we realize more and more, that the path we must walk today, is a path which we must break through anyway, we feel that we cannot not do this with our own energy alone. Therefore, we must understand that a person of faith must pray. (1975.5.5)


What is the most important and necessary thing in your daily life? It is prayer life. Through prayer we understand the enemy that is not visible and also discern the visible enemy. (19-146)


Prayer is also needed for the perfection of purpose. (9-197)

2) The Content and Order of Prayer

When praying, first pray for this nation and this people, then pray for the Unification Church, and then pray for the descendants who will succeed the proceeding generation. (1968.11.4)


When you pray, you should pray first for your nation. And then pray for the world, then pray for the liberation of God. Do you think God is in a comfortable situation? Without knowing what one must do, without knowing how the fortune of this world is changing, he or she is saying "Oh lord, please send me to the Heaven." (14-65)


Today you must pray for the ancestors who have toiled until this time and are now in the spiritual world before praying for your own son and daughter. You must be in such a frame of mind that you long for all of humanity to live well before expecting yourself to live well. Before dancing, you must seriously worry about the humankind which is still in the realm of lamentation. Also, you must have the mind-set which can represent the situation of Jesus who could not show a happy expression even when he was happy, and could not express joy even when he was joyful. (4-125)


Those who have faith in religion for one's own benefit will abandon God when he or she receives the blessing. It is because receiving the blessing is the goal. After living for a while they will fall apart. You must pray from the viewpoint which seeks to find what God desires. Then we must pray God to bestow blessing upon the world. (1983.5.1)


A person of faith must pray a public prayer for something greater. (28-271)


The one who sheds tears for the miserable nation shall received a national blessing, and the one who cries for the miserable church shall receive a church-level blessing, and the one who shed tears for the world shall receive a world-wide blessing. (1958.4.6)


If one has a spiritual experience, then that person will pray for himself or herself at the very last. If you can enter into the realm of the sanctified spiritual world, you will come to pray for God first. Don't you think it should be so? At the moment when you meet your owner, you must invoke blessings upon him. Then afterwards you must also pray for Jesus; only after that you will understand the historical heart. And then you must pray in place of and representing the multitude of people who have fought for the great dispensational will of Christendom. Following the footsteps of all those innumerable prophets ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, you must pray, "Please allow me to become an offering that can resolve (cleanse) all their sorrows." After that is all fulfilled, you can pray for your loving children, and then pray for yourself. That is the way heavenly law is.

Today if I claim to walk the correct path of faith, then I must shed tears holding onto this world, must cry tearfully holding heaven and earth. I must cry holding my nation, holding my church, holding myself, and at the last, pray requesting that the responsibility be given to me. (1959.10.18)

3) Answer to the Prayer

Prayer always is fulfilled. Through prayer we receive energy and we are taught about the future prospect of how this problem will unfold. You will be taught "In this kind of situation do like this, and in that kind of work, do like that." By knowing this you can accomplish a great things. Only through prayer, you can pioneer that kind of path. Do you understand? [Yes] You must know prayer is more essential than eating your meals.

That is why Father likes nature and has a hobby of treasuring the time of solitude. Father likes a tranquil night. Even if father does not talk about these things, would father not have them? They are not apparent because father does not show. You must know that establishing such background foundation of richness of life is not possible without the way of prayer.

You can feel love in that world, in that position, but in an ordinary position it is difficult. Upon such foundation, only if you can stand in the position to reinforce (reinvigorate) energy by yourself, you can walk the life of faith by yourself. If you can go forward only when father is pulling you then what would you do if father is no longer here with you? To acquire that hidden aspect of life, you must know that prayer is necessary.

Therefore, whether or not somebody watches I must do my work by myself. We must be able to keep well the promises that we make with God. In night and day, praying for the sake of whole, that becomes the living prayer. Then, every several years, the prayer that I want changes, the title changes and develops. Therefore, you must know what significant time is the present time. You must understand that you have to possess that kind of hidden aspect in life through the prayer life. Do you understand? [Yes]

Among you, please raise your hand if you pray. If so, how did you pray? You must pray for that nation and that righteousness. (104-111)


When I pray in a situation in which you pledge in front of God that I shall advance one victorious foundation at the cost of sacrificing my body, God will take responsibility and fulfill it. To fulfill the content of my prayer, God does not walk the idle path. In order for God to arrive at the place where you are praying, he must go through many stages. When you stand in the most miserable situation like God is, then God can directly take action; however, otherwise God cannot take direct action. In other words, even if I am at a sacrificial and sorrowful situation, if my true mind can stand in a position where God wants me to be, then God will come to recognize and sympathize me. We must know that God is a being of such heart. (18-269)

4) The Standard of Father's Prayer

Before his sermon, Father spends more time praying for the member than praying for the sermon itself. Father prays with sincere investment: "Heavenly Father! What must I do to raise these people? Is it this or is it that?" and after that he gives sermon as his mind directs. (9-81)


Father never wants to loose to anyone in devotion (Jeung Seong). Also regarding heartistic aspect, I never want to be indebted but to give to others. From now on, a person in a responsible position must at least establish heartistic condition concerning one's own responsibility. If not, then the Unification Church cannot develop. (16-309)


When father is in deep prayer, all members of the Unification Church falls in love with him with the result that even on their way to the grocery store they come and visit. That is the way it is. They tell others that they are going to the market place and they end up in the church. It doesn't matter man or woman, all are enchanted. Those things are not caused by me. Love made it so, love. When they see me, they feel joyful without knowing why. When ever they can, they want to sell anything they have and bring something to me. They want to give, give and give again. What can cause such phenomenon? It is true love. Give, give and give again, then you come to possess new thing to give 'continually. Do you understand? After giving in all directions, a place for me to sit down emerges. A high place emerges. (121-231)


How many members with longing, yearning heart have you met? Father has met numerous such people. They visit from the end of the world to bow to father! Why is that? Because father already threw the line of heartistic love to the end of world, and because he has already sent electricity through, that they understand the direction. What small men you were? You came expecting to hear praises from father, didn't you? Have you come to hear praise or rebuke? You came to hear real explanation.

In order to pave this way, father sat down and prayed until his cotton pants become so soaked that water is dripping. Father shed his tears. Father prayed for seventeen hours, twenty hours a day. Father lived such a life. Through such effort he found this way. Can you inherit this easily? The realm of harmonious heart has to be connected to one standard. Does heaven and earth play in different beat?

Therefore, you have lived without understanding the (true) tradition of Unification Church. You have lived without knowing (true) Unification Church. You have lived without understanding father. Such value-less beings. . .

I am not a worthless person. I am a being who will only exist once in history. Can you meet me again? Do you think you can ever meet me at another time? Can you meet me again? [No, we cannot] The fact that you have met me at this period is a most precious thing which cannot be traded even with the cosmos. However, haven't you treated this precious reality so rashly? What is he proposing (advocating) and what is the way he is walking? You should feel something about your given environment and the world, and also feet that even a flying bird signifies something for you. Your realm of heart should be such. Give the recognition of participatory value to everyone and be able to respond to each other as you and 1. By you having the content of harmonious (assimilative?) value, Heaven should be able to approve (recognize) you. Without going through "inyun" (fateful relationship, connection) that content cannot be approved (recognized). (171-32)


When you pray you must shed tears. When father first began this path, in 1944, 1945, father guided members at the Sangdo Dong church. At that time, the wooden floor of the prayer place in the church center never became dry. Do you understand what father is saying? The wooden floor. You must shed tears. In such situation, God is with that church night and day.

As you march on for the sake of God's Will, you should become immersed in lonely sadness several times a day without even you yourself realizing it, and you should be always connected to and reflect the heart of God. I came until this day with those things in mind. I do not know about you.

You can know at once whether or not God is with you if you think. There is such a thing. When someone talks to you, some meaningful words are spoken, then your mind is naturally pulled. It is natural that you know these things.

Father does not know how many times he prayed until his cotton pants became all wet-how many times he pledged in his mind, going over the valley of death. (19-19)


Are you the owners of the Kingdom of Heaven? You should really wake up and pray. For three years the wooden floor never became dry, and until now father has the callus from praying. God moves only from the highest and most position, not from the place of secular games. (1974.2.9)


In 1957, for the first time we selected 120 locations and went out witnessing. Until that time, father never slept in the prayer room, even at night time. People at that time would know. I usually did not sleep until 2 a.m. and often until 4 a.m. In average I slept only two hours. Always I sincerely prayed and invested. Without doing that I could not lay the foundation. In order to lay the worldwide foundation and to place a cornerstone of the nation, I must be able to pray and invest so that many people will become my hands and feet. (56-50)

5) Minister's Prayer for the Members

A Minister must pray for the members at least once in three days. Even when father spent almost three years in Hungnam prison, in the midst of such hardships, father has never forgotten his prayer for those several members from the meal time until the resting time. Father continuously prayed even for those who fell away. Then that person appeared spiritually in front of father and mournfully reported with tears. He reported miserably that due to the weakness of flesh he has to leave father and said his farewell.

At such a miserable scene, father couldn't help but to feel pity for him. Even though that person left in such a way, father must continuously pray for that person. Why? Because that person could not fulfill the responsibility, until his successor appears I must pray for that person. As long as such foundation of "jeungsung" (sincere prayer and investment, true heart, earnest, devotion) exists even if that member falls away, God will surely send a righteous person.

Therefore, never be discouraged if a member falls away. A very interesting phenomenon is that if a member falls away, then a similar person who resembles that person's character and even the way he walks joins the church. From every angle, the new person who joins resembles amazingly the person who fell away, and yet he is much better. When we see such phenomenon, we can understand that sincere investment and prayer is never lost. This is an absolute fact.

Whenever we meet anyone, we must not end with the meeting itself. Especially if we meet someone centering on God, we must never forget that relationship. Even if that person stopped coming to the church, you shouldn't cut him off or despise him. Even if that person falls away, you must never abandon the relationship that you have made with him.

When you sincerely pray, it is better to do so for one person than for many persons. There is a big difference between praying for one person and for many people. All four different directions become different. Therefore, when there is a subject, it should decide on one object. Then, centering on that object a line should be drawn. Only then the four directions can be drawn. Until that four directions are clearly drawn, the subject must have absolute relationship with its object. Only if that is achieve, then a round circle can be drawn.

Then among the members, is there such a person? This is the problem. You must think according to the Principle. Therefore, before attempting to witness to many, think to witness from one person. Only when you have number one object, you can have the number two object. (42-165)


The basic organizational structure for the prayer group should be four wives make one team, and twelve people from three teams make one group. Men should organize themselves in the same number in conjunction with the women and if those 24 people pray hard, then a great result will come. (1970.4.23)


Pray tearfully for that one life with the heart of a parent. Then surely that person will join. In so doing if you witness one person per month, then if our number is then thousand now, then how many hundred thousand would we be? We will become 100 thousand. In two years, we will become 1.2 million, and in three years, we will become 12 million. If so then every year the number of our members will increase ten fold every year. If we achieve this, then the restoration of Korea is no problem. When we think about this, we must fully march toward the goal of one person per month. (22-342)


If you pray earnestly for three people, then at least one person will join. Now is such time. Therefore, please you make plan for the whole year, twelve months. Organize that at this month, this is number one candidate, this is number two candidate, and this is the number three candidate. Mother, father, older sister, and younger brother would be included in that plan. If it is your younger brother, then you can say, "Hey, younger brother, let's go." What do you have to be concerned about? If he does not listen with persuasion, then you can even forcefully bring him here. (22-345)


The important thing is to pray. Please pray. You should think, "Because I am trying to liberate God and humanity, they should ask favors to me." You need to think that way. Do you understand? [Yes] So, we should clean up all the habits that we picked up until now. (128-174)

6) Prayer Directed toward Center

The regional leaders should renew their sincere prayers for the Headquarters. Don't you think the 70's should be better than 60's? It should be better. (29-78)

0 <(

You should pray for Father's future plans. (1974. 2. 9)

0 <<

How much have you prayed for and how much have you longed for Father? If you really sincerely desired to see me and prayed for me, then just seeing my physical presence is no longer the issue. (23-52)

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home