Sun Myung Moon
April 15, 1979
Excerpt
The Importance of Prayer
Belvedere, NY
Unofficial Translation
Sun Myung Moon -- May 4, 2012
You should create a good problem: be a heavenly troublemaker. Rev. Moon came to America as a good troublemaker. That's why America doesn't like me. After her independence, America has become the first class nation in the world and built a prosperous society and culture. However, I came to shake this nation up, as with karate chops and kicks. Americans resent my disturbing their peace. But I did not come to destroy America, only to warn this nation that there is danger ahead. If there will be a dam break, someone has to warn the people and bring them out of disaster. You know there is a big battle coming so you must ready yourself in body and spirit.
Have you prepared your mind and body and spirit readying for such a danger ahead? After you go, first you can ask God to come and help you with anything you lack. Then God will say, "My child, I am right behind you." If you seriously pray in those circumstances, God will encourage you, saying, "Go right ahead." God will be convinced thinking, "This man and this woman are resolute and firm. They are totally committed." For, if God is assured and confident about you, an avalanche of help will come to you. In my case, by just thinking about some problem and not even praying about it, already God knew my thoughts and fulfilled what I was thinking. I have such experiences. God went one step or several steps ahead of me. When I discovered that my thinking had been fulfilled, He smiled and said, "See what I did?"
You need to build up the basic attitude, atmosphere and foundation for prayer. Otherwise, no prayers will work. In order to gain them, you must go out to your Home Church area and knock on one more door in order to save one person, even if people spit at you with contempt. That is more valuable than sitting for hours in a dark room praying. Prayer is only needed after you have exerted all your energy and it was not enough. Then, you can ask God praying, "I gave all I had. Please come to help me." When you can do it, then you don't have to ask God, but can tell Him to relax.
Do you think God prays sometimes? Let's think about this. Think about your father or mother. Sometimes without thinking a parent murmurs to himself or herself, "Oh, I wish my son would do this, or be that way." God does that, too. That is His prayer. God is murmuring about you, about me and about the Unification Church. He says to Himself, "How is it going for the Unification Church today? Oh my son and my daughter, be bold and strong and then press on. I am always behind you." This is an emergency and He is engrossed in His concern. That is God's prayer. You don't even have to sit down to pray; you can just talk to yourself as you go, whispering and murmuring to God, saying, "Because God and Rev. Moon proclaimed that this is an emergency time, I must do this and that. I should do more for such time as this." That's prayer.
In practice, you may pray first, and then go out for action. But, in my view, prayer and action are one. So, for your case, praying and doing at the same time is your life. Praying and waiting is not your life. If you pray unconsciously in everyday life, then undoubtedly you are becoming sons and daughters of prayer. You give your last ounce of energy but it is not enough. Then, ask God for assistance and your prayer will be answered. If that were not the case, how could we ever subjugate Satan? Satan has given unending anguish and heartbreak to God for 6,000 years and if there were no way we could finally subjugate him, then there would be no end to it. There must be a way.