Godmindfamily, Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Knowledge of God and Prayer

‘This is eternal life, that they know you, the eternal God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.’ (John 17:3)

Prayer can boost the effectiveness of belief when dealing with dysfunctional relationships or symptoms. Indeed, belief in Jesus and in a positive outcome are prerequisites for miracles, which can heal relationships and behaviours in the same way they heal diseases of the body and the mind. That belief is built via knowledge of God, which is developed through reading Scripture. To briefly summarise here, there are five main proofs of God.

1. Scientific evidence for God. A) The Big Bang Theory furnishes abundant evidence that there was a time when matter and energy did not exist. Therefore, the world was created out of nothing, and the material universe, space and time were caused by a supernatural nonmaterial force – God.[i] B) The precise set of instructions in DNA (DioxyriboNucleicAcid), highly reminiscent of computer code, the kind of code that in our experience only originates from an intelligent author. The odds of this kind of exact code being produced by the random mutations of materialistic evolutionary theory are very slim.[ii] C) Criticisms disproving evolutionary theory (see the previous chapter).

2. All the prophecies in the Bible that have already been fulfilled, including those surrounding Jesus’ First Advent and his role as the Messiah and Son of God. King David described a death by crucifixion from the Messiah’s perspective (Psalm 22) in the 10^th century BC. David wrote, ‘they have pierced my hands and feet’ (Psalm 22:16) and ‘All my bones are out of joint’ (Psalm 22:14), both accurate descriptions of crucifixion, made centuries before the invention of crucifixion, which was not popularised until the 6^th century BC. Moreover, there are details specific to Jesus’ crucifixion in that psalm, such as ‘They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots’ (Psalm 22:18), a prophecy of the Roman soldiers who gambled for Jesus’ clothing (John 19:23–24).

Isaiah (7:13–14) foretold the Virgin Birth from the 8^th century BC: ‘“Listen now, house of David: is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’’ There has been much dispute over this prophecy, centred around the original Hebrew words ha almah, translated ‘the virgin’. Scholars have argued that almah means a young woman of marriageable age, not necessarily a virgin. But in ancient Judaic society, the word almah was assumed to be a virgin. The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible written long before the birth of Jesus, translated almah as parthenos, which generally means virgin.[iii] Moreover, the birth of a child to a young woman of marriageable age would not be a ‘sign’ from God (Isaiah 7:13) or a miracle, but a virgin birth definitely was. Isaiah, again writing in the 8^th century BC, prophesied that the Messiah would be a suffering servant, pierced for ‘our transgressions’ (Isaiah 53:5). ‘Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6) and, ‘They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, though he did no violence’ (Isaiah 53:9) make it plain that this figure was to be killed unjustly for the sins of humanity. That is exactly what happened to Jesus during the passion and Crucifixion, and he was buried in a rich man’s tomb: Joseph of Arimathea’s. Isaiah also specified that he would endure these things without complaint, like a ‘lamb’ ‘that is led to the slaughter’ (Isaiah 53:7).[iv] Jesus has always been likened to a lamb; he was even laid in a manger after birth (Luke 2), which is what the Jews of that era did to lambs immediately after they were born. In his account of the Crucifixion, John wrote that Jesus’ legs were not broken, to fulfil the Scripture: ‘a bone of him will not be broken’ (John 19:31–36), a requirement during the slaughter of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12), but highly anomalous practice for a Roman Crucifixion.‘But you, Bethelehem Ephranath, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting.’ (Micah 5:2). Those verses were written by the prophet Micah, centuries before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In the 6^th century BC, Zechariah (11:12–13) correctly predicted that Yahweh would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver – the amount Judas was paid (Matthew 26:14–15) for betraying Jesus. Zechariah also wrote that the Messiah would be called Yeshua (Zechariah 6:12), which has been anglicized as Jesus. [v] The prophet Daniel, writing during the Babylonian captivity (6^th century BC), provided the means to calculate the years of Jesus’ birth, ministry and crucifixion (Daniel 9:25) in his prophecy of ‘weeks’, and correctly predicted the date when he was ‘cut off’ (Daniel 9:26): killed on the cross.[vi] Via rich animal symbolism, Daniel accurately prophesied the succession of Middle Eastern empires that would follow the Babylonians (Daniel 7). In one of Daniel’s visions, a male goat with a large horn, identified as the ‘the first’ ‘King of Greece’ (Daniel 8:21), who came from the west and struck down a ram with two horns in Daniel’s vision, had a large horn that was broken and replaced by ‘four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky’ (Daniel 8:8). This large horn of the goat was Alexander the Great, the Greco-Macedonian king who conquered the Persian Empire, symbolised by the ram (Daniel 8:20). Alexander died young, due to poison or fever, and his empire was split into four notable parts, led by four of his generals: Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander and Lysimachus. Additionally, Daniel prophesied that ‘one like a son of man’ would come ‘with the clouds’ to rule all nations and kingdoms (Daniel 7:13–14). Jesus later identified himself as the Son of Man (Mark 2:10).Outside the life of Jesus, the Bible also correctly predicted the fall of Nineveh (Nahum, Zephaniah 2), the desolation of Babylon (Isaiah 13:12), and the penultimate global regathering of the Jewish diaspora to the land of Israel (Isaiah 11:11), centuries before these events occurred. If a book consistently predicts what has occurred in history, then a reasonable person would conclude that it is a true account, and that the as yet unfulfilled prophecies in the same books of the Bible pertain to future periods and will definitely happen. That includes all the content about the rapture, the Second Coming and the mass resurrection for judgement.

3. The historicity of the gospels, and the entire Bible. For example, Mark’s gospel is commonly dated to 65–70 AD. The received dates for the original compositions of the gospels are probably too late. Paul’s letters are generally dated by historians to between 48 and 62 AD,[vii] and they contain many references to Jesus’ sayings, his Olivet Discourse and the gospel accounts. Therefore, the gospels predated those letters. The main events of Jesus’ earthly ministry such as the fact he performed healing miracles, his message about God’s Kingdom, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, are corroborated by all four gospels. That’s a good amount of historical evidence. Roman historians who were not Christians, including Flavius Josephus, Pliny the Younger and Tacitus also documented Jesus’ existence.[viii] The gospels are always attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the earliest manuscripts.[ix] Matthew and John are eyewitness accounts, and the gospels of Mark and Luke are drawn from eyewitness accounts. There are more than 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, 10,000 Latin ones, and thousands of others. Modern translations of the Bible generally draw upon thousands of these manuscripts, many of them ancient, and they are relatively similar, giving them a solid basis.[x]

The Bible’s authors and copyists believed lying was a sin, and there are historical reports of the gospel authors’ upstanding behaviour. Almost all of the apostles were martyred for their faith. The apostles and evangelists didn’t benefit financially, they suffered persecution, poverty, chastity, imprisonment, torture, exile and execution. Of course they do not lie in the books of the New Testament.

Then there is the fact a small Messianic movement headed largely by fishermen became the biggest religion in the world, in fulfilment of Jesus’ prediction that the gospel would be preached throughout the whole world (Matthew 24:14), a prophecy that has been proven correct relatively recently, thanks to God’s will. This seemed unlikely in the early days of the church, when the various pagan religions were prevalent. The composition and editing of the texts that comprise the Bible was God’s will to give humanity a book containing the truth.But how should we read the Bible? Literally, metaphorically, or both? As a Preterist or a Futurist? The Bible is intended to primarily be read literally, but there are metaphors and symbols, which are normally pretty obvious. For example, when Jesus called himself ‘the door’ (John 10:9), he did not mean he was a literal door, but that he was the metaphorical gateway to the Father and eternal life for believers. The beast with seven heads and ten horns that are mountains (Revelation 13:1;17) is obviously a symbol for the Antichrist.Moreover, much of the Bible that believers interpret literally, is also symbolic. Many parables are literally true statements and stories about fishing and farming, but they obviously have hidden esoteric meanings, because Christ told us they do, when he said to his apostles: ‘“To you is given the mystery of God’s kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables, that ‘seeing they may see and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest perhaps they should turn again and their sins should be forgiven them’” (Mark 4:12). Most of the Bible can be read in this way: there is the obvious literal meaning, which is true, and the hidden symbolic meaning or meanings, and they are also true. Sometimes the literal description of the events themselves are symbolic, typological or prophetic. For example, the wood of Noah’s ark prefigured the wood of the cross – both saved humanity.[xi] The only way to comprehend the Bible as much as possible is to receive the Holy Spirit from God, who is a great counsellor (John 14:26), and will explain the hidden things over time.

4. Prayers addressed to God and Christ that have been answered, as well as medically confirmed miracles, including those at Lourdes (over 70 as of 2026), subject to stringent verification methods by a team of doctors. These include a boy who was paralysed and suffered from severe tuberculosis, a woman with severe rheumatic heart disease and a man who was blinded by a mine blast.

There are also Jesus’ healing miracles that were recorded in the gospels, including the healing of a man born blind (John 9), lepers (Luke 17), a paralysed man (Matthew 9:1–8) and a woman with a chronic haemorrhage (Matthew 9:20–22). The more your prayers are answered successfully, the greater your confidence will be that subsequent prayers will manifest, too, which actually increases the efficacy of your prayers, since they are generally reliant on faith. You can ask Jesus to increase your confidence that prayers have been granted by leaving 888 synchronicities in your path as confirmation signals that ‘it is done’. According to gematria, an ancient practice that assigns numbers to letters and words, the number of Jesus’ name in Greek (Iesous) is 888.

5. I am not overly concerned with the evidence for the reliability of the Bible as a historical document, though some of it has just been given, because there are more direct ways of verifying the gospel message. The one who has spiritual hearing backed by faith will act upon the instructions contained in the gospels and thereby receive all the proof he or she needs of the truth of the gospel, directly from God. After salvific experiences, there can be no doubt, because then you know the truth, and are thereby set free, and you know it accords with the gospels. The Resurrection is a stumbling block for many, because it falls outside of their own experience, but those who have been reborn know that Jesus was resurrected, precisely because of their own experiences. The truth is that if the gospels were a record of ordinary events they would not be questioned, such is their historicity, but because of their extraordinary nature – not for lack of evidence – and sin, many people don’t believe them.In any case, near death and out of body experiences have been well documented. For instance, one woman was clinically dead for 17 hours and returned to life.[xii] There are many similar cases. In light of this evidence from otherwise ordinary people, is it really so hard to believe that Jesus himself, who was in no way ordinary, could come back from the dead?Once there is sufficient belief in Christ and God the Father, and their miracle-working powers, several other conditions must be met.1. There must be a strong desire for the objective of your prayer.[xiii] Beliefs are extremely powerful, for good and for ill, but ultimately, as Caesar said, ‘men believe what they want to believe’. It is the strength of the desire to improve relationships, symptoms and dysfunctional behaviours that will determine the beliefs which are chosen, the actions taken on the basis of those beliefs, and therefore the outcome. The people Jesus healed had to really want to be healed, to come to him, and they had to believe in him and his miraculous powers. When Jesus came to the pool of Bethesda, whose waters were reported to have healing properties, he encountered a disabled man who had been there 38 years. ‘When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”’ (John 5:6).Jesus asked this question because in fact many sick people do not really want to be healthy. They may be getting some financial benefit or avoiding unpleasant work, a hidden incentive that reduces the desire for healing. More commonly, these reluctant types feel guilty and hate themselves because of some sin. Sometimes of course people just lack the knowledge or cannot heal for another reason. That’s why Jesus said to the paralytic man, ‘your sins are forgiven you’ (Matthew 9:2), implying that sin and the associated guilt were the cause of his condition. It’s also why Jesus, finding the man from the pool later at the temple, told him, ‘sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ (John 5:14). As it turned out, the man at the pool of Bethesda did want to be well. When Jesus told him, ‘arise, take up your mat and walk’ (John 5:8), he did as he was commanded, and he was healed. Interestingly, the man did not actively come to Jesus for healing, implying that he probably may not have believed in the Lord’s abilities as a thaumaturge, but had instead placed his faith in the waters of the pool Bethesda. This interpretation is reinforced by the man’s answer, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool while the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.’ (John 5:7). Nonetheless, the man was healed as an act of mercy by God – but even in the case of a special miracle like that, which did not require faith from the recipient, the man had to at least want to be well, which is why Jesus asked the question. God respects free will. The motivation to heal, and the feeling that you deserve to heal, can be increased by planning to do something good or helpful with your health when you are well. The divine bargain can help in this regard. That prayer goes something like this: ‘God, please heal me so I can serve you (or serve you more effectively).’

2. Then there has to be a belief that Jesus’ assistance is available on request, that he wants to help you.[xiv] God generally wants people to heal. For example, Jesus healed many sinners: again, the two paralysed men he healed sinned seriously, because Jesus forgave the one his sins and told the other not to sin again. And there was a female sinner in Luke 7 whom Jesus also forgave. The servant of a Roman centurion was healed (Matthew 8:13), and he was part of the occupying army. Matthew was even forgiven for collecting taxes, or he would never have been accepted as a disciple (Matthew 9). John wanted to use the power of God to destroy a village that rejected Jesus and he was forgiven (Luke 9). To find an example of someone who asked God for healing but did not receive it, you have to look at a villain like Antiochus Epiphanes, an awful tyrant who tortured people to death (1 and 2 Maccabees). A more common problem than God withholding healing is that people either don't believe in God, don't believe they deserve healing from God, or don't believe that they will be healed for some other reason, misconceptions which can be corrected by a proper understanding of history, TMS and the Christian holy books.

The concept of the atonement is important in this regard. Isaiah wrote that the saviour was made ‘an offering for sin’ (Isaiah 53:10) and ‘Yahweh laid on him the iniquity of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6). ‘The punishment that bought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5). These verses make clear that Jesus’ passion and death on the cross not only bought the forgiveness of our sins and our salvation, but also our healing.[xv] This is reinforced by Jesus’ comparison of himself to the serpent on a pole in Numbers, when he said ‘as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up’ (John 3:14).[xvi] The serpent was placed on the pole by Moses so that all who suffered from snakebites, and looked at the serpent with faith, were healed by Yahweh (Numbers 21:8). The serpent being raised up on a pole is presented as foreshadowing Jesus being raised up on the cross, because Jesus’ Crucifixion enabled all who look to him with faith to be healed. Healing is part of Christ’s atonement on behalf of humanity, but like salvation, that free gift has to be claimed and taken by faith.[xvii]

3. You must have faith, not only in God and Christ, and their powers, but that you will receive what you have asked for in prayer. For example, two blind men came to Jesus because they believed in his miraculous powers. He asked them if they believed he could heal them. They said yes. The Lord said to the blind men, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ (Matthew 9:29). And they could see.But understanding how exactly miracles and prayer work can increase faith. The short answer is that the Spirit of God acts on the minds and bodies of the recipient(s), and provided sufficient faith is present in that mind, its work will manifest in healing the mind, the body, or a relationship. Unless God just really wants to do it anyway.I will provide an example from the gospel that illustrates the operation of the Holy Trinity. Shortly after Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist, John testified: ‘“I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me ‘On whomever you will see the spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’”’ (John 1:32–34). This spirit is elsewhere described as alighting on Jesus ‘in bodily form as a dove’ (Luke 3:22). Note that the Spirit comes from heaven, where the Father is, and descends upon the Son, and that it is ‘in bodily form’.This is illustrated in the iconic painting The Baptism of Christ by Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, in which the Father’s hands release the dove-like spirit that flies down onto Jesus’ head, the physical location where the Holy Spirit resides in the saved. That is why the saints are depicted with haloes, like John the Baptist in the aforementioned painting. As Paul wrote, the body is the new temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and the inner sanctum of this new temple is the skull: the first and second temples of Jerusalem were in fact symbols for the body-temple. In Luke 3:22, this dove descends on Jesus ‘in a bodily form’, underlining the physicality of the salvific experience. That is why Saint Paul called the Spirit the ‘pledge’ (Ephesians 1:14) and guarantee of eternal life for those who receive it; it’s a guarantee because you know it’s there, and can tangibly feel it in your skull, when you have it, and it has you. Anything less is not salvation, but dangerous complacency. 

Father, Spirit and Son, is the order of movement here, with the Spirit as the power of God, that then passed to the Son of God, who proceeded to baptize in the Holy Spirit and do amazing deeds with the same – this is called filioquy (Latin: ‘and from the son’), and it is clearly described in John’s gospel (John 20:19–23), even if the Eastern Orthodox Church doesn’t believe in it. Jesus was indeed born the biological Son of God, conceived as he was by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, but his baptism marks the beginning of his ministry as the Messiah, his anointing, the moment when his soul merged permanently and totally with the Word of God. In the secondary meaning of the trinity, which applies to the individual as a microcosm of the cosmos at large, Father stands for spirit, Holy Spirit is the mind or soul, and the Son is matter or the body. The three function in that order, the order given in Scripture and Verrocchio’s Renaissance masterwork.The meaning of matter is clear enough, as is the meaning of the physical body, but the difference between spirit and soul is more subtle and has befuddled many of the brightest minds for generations. The word spirit is a translation of the Hebrew Ruach (Old Testament) and the Greek pneuma (New Testament), both of which mean wind, breath, and life force. Wind is used in connection with the Spirit because it is invisible, yet it moves visible objects, but unless that spirit is consciously integrated via drinking the blood of Jesus, who had the spirit since the events of Luke 3:22, it is not fixed in the body and departs from soul and body after death. Jesus tells us, ‘it is the spirit who gives life’ (John 6:63), equating spirit with life, and eternal life – the spirit is immortal, because ‘God is spirit’ (John 4:24). The presence of the spirit within the head is what confers eternal life.The word soul is an English translation of the Old Testament Hebrew Nephesh, which means sentience, selfhood and encompassed a creature’s psychology, and the Greek psyche, defined as the mind, including emotions, thoughts and personality. The soul is not the life principle and it is not immortal, though it outlasts the physical body, passing on to the afterlife, and can reincarnate in other bodies (see Chapter 12: Reincarnation chapter).By contrast, the goal of Christianity is to impart the eternal property of the spirit not only to the mind or soul, but also to the body, and this can only be done via absorbing the Body of Christ (which contains the Spirit of God) and will be consummated for the majority of the saved at the resurrection and the Last Judgement. Spirit first, mind second, body third is also the sequence of creation, since God, who ‘is Spirit’ (John 4:24), created Adam first in his image (Genesis 1:26–27) as a disincarnate being, then made him from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7), as a material creature. The fall into our present material world, and the associated curses, was the third stage of creation (Genesis 3).

Note that John baptized in water ‘that he would be revealed to Israel’ (John 1:31), and ‘he’ is Jesus. John did not water-baptize to save the soul, but to reveal the Son of God to Israel, to designate the Messiah by means of a visible ritual, while an invisible one was taking place. It is Jesus who saves the soul, not by baptizing in water, but by baptizing in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). This is why Saint Paul wrote, ‘For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the good news’ (1 Corinthians 1:17). Many priests and churches never understood this, because placing salvific emphasis on the ritual of water-baptism reinforces their temporal power as gatekeepers to God, when in reality, God wants a direct relationship with his flock, and the role of priests should be to make the introduction as soon as possible. Water-baptism is the outward sign and the Holy Spirit baptism is the substance the sign is pointing to, although the former may be associated with the latter, provided the other conditions are met. Since these conditions include faith, which infants are incapable of, they are sometimes saved by baptism itself.

Faith in the outcome is a necessary precondition for the realisation of most prayers because the power of the Holy Spirit, dispatched by the Father or the Son, manifests through the mind or soul of the recipient, and that mind can block the manifestation of God’s intervention.Knowledge of the mindbody processes outlined earlier, including the nocebo and placebo effects, can increase faith in recovery and thereby also facilitate healing prayer.

5. You must pray or receive divine intervention in some other recognised manner. A good prayer for Jesus’ healing is: ‘Christ, please heal me completely and permanently of all symptoms.’ This covers the symptom substitution. The outcome of such a prayer depends on faith, and on acting according to that faith. The words typically must be said, and the request made, although there are exceptions here, like the woman with the issue of blood, who did not pray and was not given healing words by Jesus but simply reached out and touched his garment. Jesus healed many by laying his hands on them (Luke 13:13; Mark 6:5), and so did his disciples; for example, Peter healed a paralysed man via taking him by the hand and pulling him to his feet (Acts 3:7) and Ananias laid hands on Paul to restore his sight (Acts 9:17).[xviii] The mechanism here is that the power of the Holy Spirit flows from the one who has received it to the body of the infirm through the hands. This ability is available to all of God’s servants, but it is not necessary to heal people by laying hands on them; other mechanisms also work. Healings and salvation can also be administered by direct commands from God (which may also be made via his servants) even in the absence of others’ belief, as evinced by the way Jesus healed the man at the pool and drove the demons out of the possessed, who were not sufficiently compus mentus to believe in him or in a positive outcome.

For example, Jesus came across a man who lived in the desert, wore no clothes and lived in tombs (Luke 8). Seeing Christ, this man fell down and the demons recognised Jesus as the Son of God. Terrified, they begged that they be allowed to go into a herd of swine, rather than being sent down to the abyss (Sheol, Hell). Jesus permitted them to do so, and the pigs ran off a cliff to their deaths, in a symbolic warning about the dangers of the herd instinct, a form of demonic possession. Afterward, the formerly possessed man was fine. It may be objected that the man recognised Jesus as the son of God, but that was the demons in him, who were possessing him, not the man’s ego.In any case, when Jesus rebuked an epileptic boy, the demon came out of him and the boy was healed in that hour (Matthew 17). The disciples had previously failed to heal the child because they didn’t have enough faith – implying that the boy also lacked faith to some extent, because the apostles healed many other people. Nonetheless, when Jesus spoke, the demon went out of the boy.‘A mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him. When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke.’ (Matthew 9:32–33). Again, there is no description of this mute having any faith in Jesus. When Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, she could not have believed at that moment, because she was dead, although Jesus told her parents, ‘don’t be afraid. Only believe’ (Mark 5:36), implying that their belief would help in some way, even if it was only for their own comfort. His words are also extremely succinct advice for anyone praying for healing or help – belief helps the prayer to manifest; fear tends to block it. As he entered the room in which the 12-year-old girl lay, people ridiculed the Lord because they believed she was obviously dead. Jesus barged past them and said, ‘child, arise’ (Luke 8:54). The girl was resurrected.

6. Act on the basis of that faith in the outcome. For example, the woman with a long-term haemorrhage grasped Jesus’ garment and was thereby healed. First of all, she had to act, to push through the crowd around Jesus in a condition considered ritually impure in Judaism.[xix] This was a courageous and controversial thing to do, but she did it anyway. Secondly, Jesus did not speak healing words to her or lay hands on her. She was healed just by reaching out and touching him – an unconventional mechanism.[xx] Thirdly, Jesus told the woman, ‘daughter, your faith has made you well’ (Mark 5:34), indicating that he did not resent her for taking the healing power out of him, since it was offered freely to all.[xxi] The word faith here is a translation of the Greek pistis, a variant of pisteou, which means belief, with an implication that actions will be taken on the basis of that faith. We see this more clearly in the example of the paralytic. After Jesus healed that man, he told him, ‘Get up and take your mat and go to your house.’ (Matthew 9:6). That is, he got the man resuming normal functioning, like Doctor Sarno told his patients to do.To recapitulate, the following conditions are not all necessary for successful prayer, but they can help: 1) believe in God and Christ, on the basis of knowledge which may include – the scientific evidence of design from the Big Bang Theory and DNA, the historicity of the gospels, direct mystical experiences of the divine, all the provably fulfilled Bible prophecies, and other knowledge; 2) believe that Christ has the power to work miracles, which may be based on Scripture and modern evidence such as answered prayers and the healings at Lourdes; 3) have a strong desire for what you are asking for; 4) know that Jesus wants to help you; 5) have faith in the outcome; 6) understand how prayers and (optionally) mindbody healing works; 7) pray, receive a direct command from God or one of his servants, or receive your blessing through another recognised mechanism outlined above; 8) act according to your faith in healing, and keep that faith going. Love for the person you are trying to help, even if it is yourself, and for God, assists with all of these steps. And of course it must be God’s will to grant the prayer, or it just will not happen.Indeed, the one who prays may be the recipient of the prayer, or the recipient may be a third party or parties. If you are praying on behalf of someone else, then you must typically satisfy all the above conditions and the recipient must at least be unopposed to the prayer’s objective, whether they know you’re praying for them or not. It is usually but not always necessary to tell someone how they have been healed in order for them to be healed by God, though it is good practice to credit the author of the miracle, Jesus. It’s also better and more likely to be successful if they believe.

But as some of Jesus’ miracles make plain, God’s power is not strictly limited to those who have faith in him and the manifestation of their prayer. There is another exception to the faith requirement. God has made unconditional promises before, to Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3), Jacob (Genesis 28:14), David (2 Samuel 7:16) and their offspring in the Bible, and others outside of the Bible. These promises will be fulfilled regardless of whether all of Abraham and Jacob’s descendants believe in them or not; they are unalterable, iron-clad assurances, for God keeps his word. You could pray to receive what you ask for, unconditionally. That means, provided God decides to grant your wish, you don’t need to maintain faith in the outcome, or even necessarily in God, in order for the prayer to be successful. But such miracles are exceptions to the rule, because God wants his creations to have faith in him, so that they can obtain the other benefits of that faith and give him proper reverence and service, which are in their best interests, too. When you pray and it works, then your faith is strengthened, and you know God exists, he has awesome power, and that he is helpful.

‘Have faith in God!’ said Jesus. “I tell you that if anyone should say to this hill ‘be lifted up and hurled into the sea!’ without ever a doubt in his mind, but in the faith that what he says will be done, he would find that it would be. And therefore I say to you, ‘have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be.’ (Mark 11:24, Open English Bible). In this passage, Jesus revealed the only condition for the manifestation of a prayer – asking for healing or anything, provided it conforms to God’s will – was faith that what the person asked for or commanded would be given to them, or better yet, that it has already been given. The mindset needed is one that sees the matter as settled as soon as the prayer or command is said; the supplicant must believe that they already have what they have requested.I use the words ‘or command’, because in Mark 11:23 Jesus did not specifically recommend that people pray to obtain a result (he did that in Mark 11:24), he told them of the possibility of commanding and being obeyed – by the world, the hills, other people, demons, anything. Although Jesus did pray to his Father sometimes ­– for his glorification and the glorification of his followers (John 17), and that the Father’s will be done in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42) – Jesus did not need to pray to God the Father to work miracles, he could issue orders, that were obeyed.The same goes for the apostles. For example, in Lystra, Saint Paul commanded a man of faith, paralysed from birth, ‘Stand upright on your feet!’ (Acts 14:10). The man ‘leaped up and walked’ (Acts 14:10). This requires that the commander is in fact one with the Lord in spirit and purpose. As it says in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, when two make peace in their one house, they will say to the mountain, move, and it will move. The two are the Spirit of God and the soul of the servant, and the house is the physical body. Giving commands requires more self-confidence – or rather, confidence in one’s unity of purpose with God – than praying to God. It is normally easier to start with prayer.

Do not be dismayed if God does not answer your prayer immediately. While the miracles in the Bible were often manifested instantaneously with a word or a touch, it is more common for healing prayers to take several hours to manifest. Sometimes it takes minutes, sometimes hours, sometimes days, sometimes weeks or months, especially when it comes to asking for something external, like a friend, helper or spouse, which can take time to arrange, logistically. Beware of imposing artificial delays on the process, however – if you believe it will take months, it might, when actually, if you believed your prayer would be answered within a few hours, it may well have been. That’s why it’s better to believe you already have that which you ask for, as Jesus advised.

Salvation is the most important thing that anyone can pray for, bar none. But first it helps to understand some more about what salvation actually is, how it works and what the reward is; ‘ask, and it will be given you’ (Matthew 7:7) is a truism, but people won’t ask for something unless they want it. ‘I and my Father are one’, said Jesus (John 10:30). ‘God is Spirit’ (John 4:24), and as such, he is immortal. Jesus equated spirit with life, and eternal life, when he said, ‘my words are spirit, and are life.’ (John 6:63). Jesus, via his oneness with the Father, is immortal. He called himself, ‘the bread of life’ (John 6) and said, ‘if you don’t eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves’ (John 6:53). This is true because Jesus is one with the Father, who is the eternal life principle, and Jesus is the only one who currently has an immortal, glorified body that is available to eat. ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6). This eating is an absorption of the spiritualised Body of Christ, which due to Jesus’ oneness with the Father, also contains the Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit. Those who receive the Body of Christ and keep it will go to heaven upon death. They will eventually pass the Last Judgement, with the reward of eternal life in immortal resurrection bodies on the new earth (Revelation 21:2). These individuals are saved, meaning that they are safe from destruction on Judgement Day. Those without the spirit will die and go to Sheol – the place of the dead, Hell – to await the judgement. On that day they will be cast into the lake of fire, their souls and bodies destroyed completely. This is called the ‘second death’ (Revelation 20:14–15), because after death and Hades are thrown in the fire, ‘death will be no more’ (Revelation 21:4–5). Therefore, when something goes into the lake of fire, it no longer exists. There are however a few exceptions.

The mainstream Christian concept of Hell as a fiery place of eternal torment or discontent apart from God is a misunderstanding that conflates the lake of fire – a place that normally causes total annihilation – with Sheol, the afterlife for the unsaved, a temporary holding cell that isn’t ideal like heaven. The lake of fire is called ‘eternal fire’ (Matthew 25:41; Jude 1:7) on several occasions but that does not mean all the condemned will burn in that fire eternally, as most Christians have wrongly assumed…Christ’s words, ‘fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna’ (Matthew 10:28) mean that the immortality of the soul is conditional. Saint Paul wrote that immortality must be sought (Romans 2:7), implying that it is not the default state of humanity, and is therefore conditional. Conditional immortality is also why Christ kept offering believers eternal life: ‘This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.’ (John 6:40). The implication is that those who don’t believe in the Son will not have the life eternal – that they will end. This is underlined by the verse, spoken by Jesus, ‘he who does not obey the son, will not see life.’ (John 3:36). To continue to exist forever, you have to integrate I AM THAT I AM, existence itself, or you eventually stop existing…. Understanding the incentives for salvation, and the alternative, increases the desire to be saved, which is an essential first step. You have to want something to get it.

To pray for eternal life, say or write, ‘Christ, I let you into my house as a servant,’ or words to that effect. You need to truly mean it, have faith and trust in the Lord. The clearest description of the salvation process in the Bible comes from Jesus’ address via John to the assembly at Laodicea: ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and him with me. He who overcomes, I will give him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.’ (Revelation 3:20). The house is the physical body. The one in the house who must open up the door is the soul or mind of the believer. Opening the door is letting Christ in to live with you in your house, i.e. in your body. Dining with Jesus is consuming the bread of life, his spiritualised flesh. Letting Jesus in and dining with him are one and the same thing: the reception of God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Body of Christ. When you receive one, you get all three, due to the union of the persons of the Holy Trinity. Then, all going well, Jesus will take the one who opens the door to his throne, which is in heaven, in a rebirth experience.

The terms rebirth and born again originate with Jesus’ words: ‘Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he can’t enter into God’s kingdom.’ (John 3:5). The water here is the living water (John 4) Jesus offered the Samaritan woman at the well, a codeword for the Spirit of God. In rebirth, the Spirit of God enters the body (one is reborn in living water by drinking it) and leaves it for heaven, together with the soul (a birth in the spirit), before returning to the body. When we were born, we left a body. When you are reborn, you also leave a body: your own. That is the meaning of rebirth in water and spirit, in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which in this sense is the spiritual realm, heaven.Rebirth may also have been what Saint Paul was referring to when he wrote ‘I know a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven fourteen years ago ­– whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows.’ (2 Corinthians 12:2). In another sense, though, water (as in living water) and spirit are synonyms, and the assimilation of God’s spirit is salvation. Anyone who takes the spirit and keeps it, but does not leave the body for heaven and return to it, whether for lack of time or some other reason, is nonetheless saved.

Not everyone must undertake a grand ministry, and God will not ask you to do more than you are capable of, but ‘to whomever much is given, of him will much be required’ (Luke 12:48). Salvation and virtuous behaviour are impossible without having God’s spirit fixed within you. That’s why the virtues are called ‘the fruit of the spirit’ (Galatians 5:22). God doesn’t expect you to be perfect right away, though; sanctification is typically a gradual process, with plenty of annoying mistakes and forgiveness along the way. The main thing is to stay on the path, keep striving for perfection, and allow God to make you better over time.

‘Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.’ (James 1:12). James was not talking about a metaphorical crown of life: the crown of life is a reward given in heaven – accessed ‘in the spirit’ (Revelation 1:10) – to those who endure temptation, often by some work. In Revelation 2:10, Jesus (via John) promises those who are ‘faithful to death’ – those who suffer martyrdom for Christ – the crown of life.The meat and potatoes of sanctification is serving God. Serving God usually means helping others and being useful. This can take various forms, depending on the individual’s means and abilities, and what God asks of them. Giving to the poor (Matthew 6:3), healing, and preaching the gospel for the salvation of souls (in speech and/or writing) are the three main ways of being helpful, but there are others. When it comes to good deeds, prayer is a force multiplier – as is commanding. That is, you can preach about Jesus to a crowd, without praying or commanding, and you will probably do some good, but multiple times as many souls would have probably been saved if you prayed to God to save as many as possible with your preaching before you opened your mouth. The same goes for when you talk about healing or addressing family dysfunction.The sanctification process culminates in what the orthodox call theosis, and what Catholics call divinization. These are two different words for becoming a god. Theosis literally means divine (theo) state (sis). The only way to become a god is by channelling God himself, allowing him to help you serve him, and to be rewarded by God with divine status in heaven for performing mighty and beneficent works, that are worthy of a god or a saint. Theosis is the crowning achievement, the highest honour to which almost everyone can attain, and the ultimate purpose of human life. But even if God makes you a god, it is imperative to stay humble and remember you are still human.

The Orthodox believe that while theosis is participation in the divine nature it is not the same as total identity with God. Theosis was only rendered possible by the incarnation of the Son, and the offering of his blood and flesh for consumption, so that believers can merge with him via theophagy (God-eating), and partake in his divine nature, and do his works on the earth, and help to save others: only through Christ can you do good (John 15:5).That is what Jesus meant when he prayed (John 17:1–26) before entering the Garden of Gethsemane, prior to the Crucifixion. This was the prayer that facilitated Jesus’ Resurrection in his glory body (an immortal physical body), and the salvation of believers: ‘Now Father glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed….not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in me; that they may be perfected into one.’ It is also what Jesus meant when he said: ‘Most certainly, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I go to my Father.’ (John 14:12).

Prayers can be applied to relationships between people. Jesus’ power extends beyond healing physical and mental diseases; for example, he walked on water (Matthew 14:22–23) and turned water into wine (John 2). The message of the gospel is, Jesus can solve any problem that he wants, provided the one who asks, asks with sufficient faith.

The best way to know God’s will is to follow the principles laid down in the Bible. It can be difficult to know how to apply biblical teachings to a given situation, though. To help with this, you can pray to God for mental clarity and discernment. Solomon prayed: ‘Give your servant therefore an understanding heart, to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil’ (1 Kings 3:9). God was very pleased with Solomon’s prayer (1 Kings 3:10), and so it was granted, and the king was rewarded not only with incomparable wisdom (1 Kings 3:12), so that no one was like him, but also with ‘riches and honour’ (1 Kings 3:13). The story of Solomon, and his eventual corruption, demonstrates that riches and honour are not evils in themselves and would be blessings if people could handle the temptations they afford, but they almost always can’t. A good simple adaptation of Solomon’s prayer goes as follows: Lord, please give me discernment.

When it comes to applying prayer to the family context, a good starting point in the formation of a family would be to simply ask God, ‘Lord, should I marry?’ If the answer comes back in the affirmative – and this can happen in various ways, including through your God-given discernment – then a logical next step would be to ask God to arrange a meeting with a suitable partner. This takes a considerable amount of uncertainty and anxiety out of the equation and enables a good degree of compatibility, provided your actions are in alignment with God’s will and there is sufficient faith for the prayer to manifest. It might be a better idea to leave the choice of spouse to God or you may make the wrong selection, though it is difficult to tell if this is the person God wants you to be with or not; discernment can help with that, combined with taking the time to get to know the person properly before getting married or having sex. People have been choosing their own relationships and spouses for centuries, based on their own desires, and the result is often dysfunctional, with that dysfunction typically being passed on in some measure to their children, as Bowen observed. Women are often attracted to ‘bad boys’ and a lot of men like femme fatales because people are easily misled by lust. Some people are also masochistic and terrible sexual prospects promise to satisfy that deep-seated need for self-punishment, a consequence of sin. It’s not always self-sabotage, however: sometimes people are just naïve. The wrong choice of partner can not only be fatal, it can kill the soul. Once a commitment has been made, it should be honoured and made the most of, but in the case of marital infidelity via ‘sexual immorality’, Jesus excused divorce (Matthew 19:9).There are exceptions to monogamy in the Bible: Abraham had three wives (Genesis 11;21;16;25). Jacob had two wives and two concubines (Genesis 32:22), and even after the law restricting kings from having ‘many wives’ (Deuteronomy 17:17), David was given at least eight wives and multiple concubines by God: ‘I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the House of Israel and Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more things’ (2 Samuel 12:8). Only when he killed his friend to take the man’s wife Bathsheba, did God step in and punish David (2 Samuel 12). The patriarchs had multiple wives and concubines largely for the propagation of their bloodlines: God saw their good character and wanted more people like that. Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3), though his wives eventually turned his heart away from God, to the worship of idols (1 Kings 11:4), which is precisely why kings were banned from having ‘many wives’ (Deuteronomy 17:17). Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and the other biblical polygamists belonged to older dispensations. In the Church Age we are in, the rule laid down in the Bible is one man – one wife – in a loyal, monogamous marriage. This is presented by Paul as damage control, a concession to the weaknesses of the flesh, although the married couple will still suffer on account of their sexual relationship and its worldly obligations, including the duties of providing and caring for children (1 Corinthians 7). Paul rightly presents the single celibate life that he led as superior, because ‘he who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord; but he who is married is concerned for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.’ (1 Corinthians 7:33).Infidelity is horrible. That is why God likens Israel’s breaking of the Mosaic Covenant to adultery (Jeremiah 3, Hosea, Ezekiel 16). Multiple wives, mistresses and concubines engender hideous jealousies. A wife sees the husband taking delight in a new favourite and is hurt badly. She then betrays the husband with another man or in some other way, the husband is furious and punitive violence may ensue. That is why a harem or multiple sex partners, though they may sound appealing, are really bad ideas that can have absolutely dire consequences, including death and consignment to Hell.

The Bible contains numerous pieces of advice on how to raise a family. 1 Timothy is notable in this regard. ‘The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching, not a drinker, not violent, nor greedy with money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, nor covetous; one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with reverence (but if a man doesn’t know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the assembly of God?)’ (1 Timothy 3:2–6). These verses clearly state that the father should be a virtuous head of the household, with children who are willingly subordinate, because they revere him. The means for achieving this are given in Hebrews 12: disciplining the children out of love, for their betterment, like the Father does with his children. The father should also be a role model for his children, not only by telling them how they ought to act, but showing them by example, as stated in Deuteronomy 6. This is because God understands the power of role modelling and self-fulfilling prophecies on a young mind better than anyone. Parents – especially patriarchs like Oedipus – are vital to the process of family self-fulfilling prophecies, because of their authority in the family unit. If the father believes a prophecy, the chances of the rest of the family believing it increase significantly. Paul also stated in Timothy 3:6 that the leadership of the family is a proving ground, in which the individual demonstrates he is fit to lead the larger organisation of the church, with the implication that if a man cannot successfully manage his family, he will probably not be fit for a leadership position in the church. ‘But if anyone doesn’t provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.’ (1 Timothy 5:8). This verse demonstrates the responsibility people generally have to look after their own families, financially and spiritually.

Murray Bowen and Michael Kerr were right in that if even one person in a family system increased their SD and controlled their emotional reactions to other family members, then it disrupted the flow of anxiety throughout the system and elevated the entire family, without that individual necessarily having to try and ‘fix’ their relatives.

What we witness with better life outcomes for people with high SD is not merely that controlling negative emotions typically makes for healthier, happier people who are better able to be successful at getting what most people want (spouse, children, money), there is also an esoteric dimension, whereby life becomes less annoying, awkward and difficult for the highly differentiated, they meet less irritating people, encounter less ‘unlucky’ circumstances, and people respond to them more favourably, precisely because they are confident and can cope well with rejection, other annoying behaviours and challenging circumstances. That is a lesson the high SD do not really need to learn, so it is not one they are continually taught. We have all witnessed how people with tempers seem to be subject to far more frustrating situations than calm people, and how the anxious, like little Tim, seem to attract bullies, whereas psychopaths, who feed off fear almost vampirically, are generally less interested in confident people, because they don’t give them what they need to drive their demonic possession. The deceiver operates like a bully.

One of the reasons for the pervasive awkwardness and difficulty of our era is that it is meant for people to develop emotional control in the face of obstacles. The world is a boot camp, and relatively few will make the grade. Looking at the challenges of this era as opportunities for character building is an old-fashioned platitude, that is nonetheless true, and makes those challenges seem less frustrating. People behaving in ways commonly thought of as annoying – e.g. playing loud rap music at 2.a.m. in a communal apartment building – is not necessarily annoying, though they are definitely sinners, because they obviously don’t love their neighbours, and don’t treat them as they would want to be treated, a breach of the golden rule. A feeling of irritation just becomes associated with obnoxious people and that kind of behaviour, but the annoyance doesn’t necessarily have to follow the behaviour, if you don’t expect it to. People simply condition themselves to get annoyed or upset by the actions of others, or other inconveniences, when this is not a necessary or inherent property of that behaviour or experience itself, especially when it comes to minor irritants. If you do spot yourself complaining about trifles, just reset and move on ASAP. As Kerr observed, it’s not events that cause stress, its people’s reaction to those events.[xxii] The Lord doesn’t tempt (James 1:13–14), but he tests, not to assess (he already knows where you are), but to build fortitude, so that you won’t be tempted.

When it comes to the family, relationships, sanctification and healing, the most useful prayer is, ‘Christ, please give me much higher differentiation of self from the deceiver.’ This is because SD is the main variable determining how people relate to others, as Murray Bowen theorised. As described above, prayer relies on faith, in the existence of God, in Christ’s status as God, in his willingness and ability to help, and confidence that the desired outcome will be brought to fruition. Sometimes prayers are granted, but then something happens which shakes that belief, there is a backsliding and the SD level returns to pre-prayer levels, which may necessitate restarting the prayer.There are four potential ways around this issue. Number one, add the word ‘unconditionally’, to your prayer, as described above. You may get more than you bargained for with unconditional prayers as God sometimes has to put you through an experience or two to get you where you want to be. You should really think through your prayers and the potential consequences very carefully beforehand. Number two, believe that you will not backslide, that the prayer will remain granted. Another tip in this regard: if you backslide with some undesirable emotions or behaviour, don’t give up the prayer and assume it has failed. Even the highest differentiation people – even Saint Paul – have had their blips, their temporary dips in the graph, but the overall levels of emotion and behaviour they experience and exhibit, are high differentiation. Number three: You could pray for demons to be removed from your mind and body and for a protective shield to be set up that prevents them from getting in.Now, this requires some unpacking. In the case of the Gerasene demoniac, the demons who possessed the man were called ‘legion’ (Mark 5:9). They were absolutely terrified of Jesus sending them to the abyss (Luke 8:31). Therefore, they begged him to send them into the pigs instead, and he obliged (Luke 8:32). Legion, as their name suggests, was not unique. Demons dread the abyss. The above prayer, if you have sufficient faith or God chooses to grant it, erects a highly sophisticated invisible missile defence shield around you, that intercepts incoming fire from the enemy before it can do any damage. Without all that demonic garbage cluttering the mind, it is easier to realise who you really are and what you must do. Ultimately though, demons are just TMS. They are illusions that lose all power when you realise they are just total nonsense and ignore them.The fourth and most powerful way to ensure higher SD is to increase your love, as described earlier. Just remember that love – even love with a lot of agape – still needs discipline and boundaries, or it is a Sid and Nancy-style disaster of uncontrolled passion.

Differentiation of self is a valuable concept and being overly fused with other humans definitely has its downsides, but I disagree with Bowen/Kerr that becoming a more independent self is the goal of life (this is also a critique I have of Jung’s individuation concept). The human self – no matter how strong – is just too fragile on its own, too ignorant and easily led astray by powerful emotional forces. The overwhelming need for fusion, approval and dependency that Bowen identified and tried to address, exists because humans were built to fuse – not so much with each other, but with God. That does involve becoming more dependent on Him, although really that relationship should be a two-way street. Union with God also lowers the need for fusion with other people as a substitute.

Chapter 6 Summary: Godmindfamily Implementation Steps

What follows are the steps needed to implement the Godmindfamily approach to dysfunctional relationships within and outside the family. These steps can also apply to symptoms, which are basically equivalent to dysfunctional behaviour, to salvation from sin and to any other kind of problem. With the exception of prayer, the same process applies to negative self-fulfilling prophecies as positive ones. That is, the individual (typically unconsciously) wants a bad outcome, so they attract false or harmful information, take a negative belief from it, and act accordingly, leading to real-world results that entrench the belief, and so on. Some may find this repetitive, so I will justify the repetition. I use repetition, and it is in the Bible, because of the importance of the points and many people's resistance to understanding and remembering the truth and reading the whole book.

1.     Desire (and Love). All the steps require a strong desire to improve one’s differentiation of self from the deceiver to work, since people generally believe what they want to believe. This is largely determined by one’s level of love, for oneself, others and God. The more you want to believe, the more you believe. The more you want to know, the more you learn, etc.

2.     Knowledge. Know God, know how to pray (chapter 7), know the family and human behaviour. Understand the dysfunction in the family. Basically, this can be achieved by reading Scripture, Godmindbody (especially Part 2) and Godmindfamily, with good comprehension and belief. This works best if you actually know God, via salvation experiences.

3.     Belief. Based on that knowledge, abandon limiting, negative beliefs that are causing the problem (or low self-differentiation in general) and believe that the dysfunctional relationship, symptom or behaviour will resolve.

4.     Prayer. Whilst inessential for results, which can be had with belief alone, is recommended to boost the power of that belief. ‘Christ, please give me higher self-differentiation except from God.’ Or go for this one: ‘Christ, please give me the maximum level of self-differentiation except from God.’ This covers a lot of bases, because low SD results in all manner of sin and suffering. The wording of the prayer can be carefully crafted so as to minimise the possibility of loopholes for the deceiver.

5.     Action. Act according to your new beliefs.

The more desire there is to improve one’s SD, the more likely you are to find the knowledge necessary to do so, and the more knowledge one has about God, prayer, the family and human behaviour, the more desire there is to develop and the more belief one has that the dysfunction can be improved. Prayer backed by belief strengthens the power of that belief and leads to positive actions, which demonstrate the truthfulness of the information and the power of belief, and the enjoyment of the benefits of higher SD, leading to an increase in desire, and knowledge that the method works, and faith in God and the process. Put simply, love, desire, knowledge, faith, prayer and action are all good, interrelated and reinforce one another when it comes to achieving a positive goal.

Desire–Knowledge–Belief–Prayer–Action (DKBPA) Feedback Loop

[i] Meyer, Stephen C. 2021. Return of the God Hypothesis: Breakthroughs in Physics, Cosmology and Biology Seeking Evidence for the Existence of God. HarperOne.

[ii] Meyer, Stephen C. 2021. Return of the God Hypothesis: Breakthroughs in Physics, Cosmology and Biology Seeking Evidence for the Existence of God. HarperOne.

[iii] Hindson, Ed. LayHaye, Tim. 2011. Exploring Bible Prophecy From Genesis to Revelation PB: Clarifying the Meaning of Every Prophetic Passage. Harvest House.

[iv] For a detailed breakdown of these fulfilled prophecies, see Godmindbody, P3 Chapter 3: https://www.robertensor.com/post/godmindbody-part-3-chapter-3-isaiah

[v] For more detail on the minor prophets, see Godmindbody P3, Chapter 7: https://www.robertensor.com/post/godmindbody-part-3-chapter-7-the-minor-prophets

[vi] For detailed calculations and dates pertaining to Daniel’s weeks, see Godmindbody P3, chapter 6: https://www.robertensor.com/post/godmindbody-part-3-chapter-6-daniel

[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_epistles

[viii] Wes Huff. Can I trust the Bible? YouTube videos.

[ix] The Kirkwood Center. April 15 2024. Who Wrote the Gospels? (with Wesley Huff). YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgzTbq-xjp0

[x] Ibid.

[xi] Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho.

[xii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_syndrome#:~:text=not%20be%20saved.-,Record,support%2C%20she%20revived%20and%20recovered.

[xiii] Walker, D. 2021. How To Receive Your Healing.

[xiv] Ibid.

[xv] Ibid.

[xvi] Ibid.

[xvii] Ibid.

[xviii] Ibid.

[xix] Ibid.

[xx] Ibid.

[xxi] Ibid.

[xxii] Kerr, M. 2019. Bowen Theory’s Secrets: Revealing the Hidden Life of Families. W.W. Norton & co.

Read the next chapter here: https://www.robertensor.com/post/godmindfamily-chapter-7