Sun Myung Moon
April 15, 1979
Excerpt
The Importance Of Prayer
Unofficial Translation
Sun Myung Moon and Haj Ja Han, May 15, 2011
You know your limits and weaknesses don't you? That is why you need prayer. Where can you get the necessary help and guidance? Is there anyone to turn to? The most important thing in prayer is the attitude of the person who is praying. The most essential thing is your promise and commitment to God that says, "I will go toward this destiny without reservation." If anything wants to block you -- even a hurricane or tornado is coming at you -- you must go forward. Once you gain such grit saying, "I am ready for anything! Let it come at me anytime," then nothing will stop you. That is the decisive promise and attitude. Unless you have that absolute pledge and commitment first, God will not be able to help you. This pledge is the beginning of your prayer.
God does not want to waste His time either. Can you imagine how many times He has been betrayed in history? People make promises to Him; but within a second, they broke their promises to God. This has been repeated over and over again throughout the human history. How can God believe that you will not break your pledge? Before He would help you, you must show Him some kind of proof. What God needs to see is proof of what you are and how strong your commitment is. You may tell God you are totally committed, but He will shake His head and think, "I have to wait three more years and see." If God sees that something isn't quite right in you, He will wait before sending down His help. God is foolish if He gives His help freely but then at the end of several years the person is all in pieces. If I were God I would also wait and see. Suppose you were God, what would you do? (We would do the same!)
You must have a strong conviction. You may tell God, "God, I am a genuine Moonie. I will go forward even though I may face suffering or persecution." Then God will notice and look more closely, but no matter how firmly you pray, without this basic commitment, nothing will happen. You may be just wasting your time. You may be better off without praying. Do you follow what I am saying? (Yes) You must have a decisive attitude that says, "God, I am getting older – I was 20, then 30 and now 50 years old – yet I still remember my pledge. I am living as a Moonie and I will die as one."
Do you think I made a commitment to God that I would never change, not for fifty years or the rest of my life? (Yes) I prayed first for the absolute faith which could say, "Even if not a single person in this world can believe, I will believe and follow in whatever incredible course You give me." Second, I asked for absolute knowledge and wisdom. Third, I asked for absolute and perfect love. I prayed for these three things throughout my life, and now in looking back I see that they have been fulfilled, even when I didn't know it was happening. There is no other power that could go beyond the boundary of race and nation. Since God could give me this absolute wisdom, I could search and find the Divine Principle and the truth about the world.
An absolute pledge to God, an attitude of absoluteness is the basis for everything. Nowadays, most of you think in terms of when you will get married, thinking that you are getting older and older. If this worries you then your absolute commitment is starting to shake. Instead of shrinking, you can make your commitment by following my example. When you face great problems and agony, after you finally overcome them your faith will be like iron.