“Spiritual power never operates for your good or my good; it cannot be used; it cannot be channeled or directed. There is no way of praying for your particular good or mine because in the eyes of God there is no “you” or “me” separate from all the other children of God. There would be no way to gain God’s grace for you or for me or to direct God’s presence or power to this individual or that individual. This is a personalized concept of Deity that has wrecked the religions of the world and has made prayer as ordinarily practiced ineffectual.”

“Only when God is understood to be a presence and power universally and equally available to all, only in that consciousness in which we do not see each other as separate and apart from the divine Being, can spiritual power flow. If we were to sit quietly, recognizing the invisible presence and power of God permeating all being, anyone who is receptive and in tune with divine love would receive blessings and benediction, Grace in some form or other. It might be as comfort, as peace, as greater health, or as some form of greater abundance, but it would happen; whereas, if an individual were to try to direct God’s grace to someone, he would be outside the realm of spiritual power, and he would fail.”

-Joel S. Goldsmith – “The Altitude of Prayer” – Page 55