Moscow, March 20, 1997

On Receiving the Answers to Prayer
 
Now I want to give, by way of answer to what you 
mentioned about communicating with God, part of the 
testimony of Rev. Mrs. HSK, the National 
Messiah to Russia, and the first member of the Unification 
Church to join in South Korea, who met Father on the very 
same day that he finished writing the Divine Principle book. 
 
Here is part of her testimony, from 1986, before American 
Christian ministers: 
 
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There was an old lady by the name of Mrs. Auk who had 
followed Rev. Moon from North Korea and had rejoined 
him in South Korea, an elderly lady, and she was talking to 
me and said, "Look at him -- he is a great man. He is a really 
excellent and great man. God really loves him so much." 
And so I said to her, "Why do you always brag about this 
man? he is just a man. Why do you keep on bragging about 
him like that?" And so she said, "I understood who he is 
through a revelation from God. So I asked, "What do you 
mean a revelation from God? Did God actually speak to 
you?" She said, "Yes, I heard the voice of God talking to 
me." And so I said, "What does it sound like, the voice of 
God?" She said, "Well, it sounds similar to a man's voice." 
So I said, "Well, I have been a Christian for a long time, and 
I have never heard the voice of God. I have never heard 
God speak, so next time when you hear the voice of God, 
why don't you invite me?" 
 
	So she said to me, "When God speaks it is a 
spiritual experience, and that time only one person, the 
person who is spiritually open, can hear it. So if I hear it, it 
doesn't mean that you can hear it at the same time." So I 
asked her, "How can I hear the voice of God?" She 
answered, "If you throw away your selfish thoughts and 
you pray with a sincere heart, and you completely abandon 
your own thoughts and just open yourself up to the voice of 
God, to the love of God, then He can speak to you." So I 
went to my church and I started praying but nothing 
happened. I was waiting for God to say something, but he 
didn't . But then after a few days, finally, suddenly, I heard a 
Bible verse spoken. It was from Philippians, Chapter 3, 
verse 20. ["But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly 
await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."] I heard 
that verse spoken very loudly, in a loud voice, but nobody 
was in the church. I was looking around, and I was looking 
for a hidden microphone or something. But there was 
nothing. There was nobody in the church except for myself. 
But then it kept repeating the same verse, three times. I 
heard the same verse spoken very distinctly, very loudly to 
me, but there was nobody I could see. So I went to Rev. 
Moon and I talked to him and I said, "Listen, I was praying 
and I heard voices. What's happening." And so he said, 
"Are you going crazy or what?" "Why, what do you mean 
I'm going crazy? I'm trying to believe straightforwardly. I'm 
trying to believe in the right way about Jesus Christ. How 
come I am going crazy?" And so he said, "Don't worry. If 
you are going crazy for God, that's okay." 
 
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That is the end of the relevant part of Mrs. Kang's testimony 
which I wanted to share with you, which I thought relevant 
to your question about how to communicate with God. Now 
I want to add some of my own comments or suggestions on 
what you have said. 
 
God wants to communicate with us. When we pray, we 
believe that God is hearing our prayer. Maybe He will 
answer and maybe He will not -- generally indirectly, and 
generally by taking some time. 
 
What constitutes "communication with God"? 
Communication is a two-way affair. We talk or share our 
heart, and also we hope or expect to hear an answer, or that 
some kind of response or effect will come about at some 
time. 
 
Now, ideally, if we can communicate with God, we should 
be able to ask God some question, sincerely, and be able to 
quickly receive an answer, especially if it is an urgent matter 
upon which our own response is also depending. We have 
many times to make decisions. So we ask God's guidance. 
 
Before we ask, "How will God guide us?", we must ask, 
"Upon what conditions will God guide me or listen to me?" 
 
Then we realize something similar to the points of the 7 
Essential Points of U.F.T.: Especially I call attention to: 
Know God's Heart, Know God's nature, Know God's Will, 
Become a godly person, Know the reality, Do God's Will. 
 
Basically, the meaning is that, God can pay attention to you, 
take you seriously, when you are in the position of knowing 
His Heart, His Providence (plan or purpose), and ready and 
willing to do His Will (His bidding or commandment to 
you). 
 
God's more bright spirit, clear guidance, and active help will 
come to you who are doing His Will. This is demonstrated 
time and again by our brothers and sisters in the Unification 
Movement. Then the issues of your life take second place, 
and God's Will takes first place, the surging mainstream, 
and naturally He will help you and bless you and protect 
you so that you can do His Will. 
 
What is God's Will? It can be big or small. There is God's 
Will for you personally, for your family, for your Church, 
for your city, for your nation, for mankind. Also, on time 
scales, there is God's desire on a moment by moment basis, 
like which direction you step in, and also day by day -- 
somebody you should meet, some purpose or project which 
is in God's Will, etc. Also, more long-term projects and 
directions connected to Father's directions, which 
specifically apply to you or to the Church members in 
general, or to mankind as a whole. 
 
You should have goals and plans in line with God's Will. A 
daily goal, weekly goal, monthly goal, year's goal, 7-year 
plan, 10-year goals, 21-year period, goal by the age of 40, 
lifetime ambition or goal in line with God's desire, and even 
goals for 100 years for your nation, even you can pray for 
your nation and for the human race ten thousand years from 
now, even 1 million years in the future. Mankind will be 
conducting God's Will very actively on an intergalactic level 
a million years from now! 
 
So, back to the point: How to receive God's message? 
 
Here are some of the gifts God has given us for receiving 
guidance from Him: 
 
(1) Intuition: Father has said intuition is the highest gift. 
 
(2) Heart: The God-centered heart is guided by God. We 
should "heartl", or "heart-love", or "shimjung" -- a 
Unification term. It is like emotion, but deeper, more 
connected to eternity and God's Own Heart. "The heart 
knows best what is right." 
 
(3) The brain, or intellect. God gave us our brain (mind) to 
think. We should remember the human mind is not like a 
physical computer or some such apparatus, but primarily 
spiritual, and the brain itself, with many levels and 
hierarchies and functions of sung-sang, is rather like a 
mediator or transceiver for the highest spiritual level of our 
existence. Our mind must be educated by Divine Principle 
so that we can reason out what is right and true and 
"Principled". Whatever you hear, or whatever comes to 
mind, check it out by Principle. That's why you should also 
know and practice Principle thoroughly. Many times God 
does not answer a question directly. Then the approach is to 
think, "What is God's purpose, how does His purpose relate 
to this matter or question, and what is the Principled way to 
work out the answer or solution?" Then, by thinking it out 
and taking responsibility for it yourself, God will be even 
more pleased. You can think and do "in advance of or ahead 
of God". This is a true Son or Daughter of God and True 
Parents. God and True Parents are very pleased with such a 
mature son or daughter. 
 
(4) The physical body. You know, you "get a gut feeling". 
That is something like intuition. But, since our minds or 
spirits are foggy, then God works to warn or remind us 
through our physical organs -- like our heart, stomach, even 
womb -- in the "Inside Belly Church" of Lady Ho Ho Bin, 
when she received revelations, her womb would move. 
Because your physical organs have a sung-sang dimension, 
and the physical body itself is actually purer than our fallen 
mind, then God can work through it. But you have to offer 
it to God, and you may have to make conditions of 
indemnity to place yourself in the position for God to guide 
you without the false interference of evil spirits. As you 
know, for example, your sexual organs are very vulnerable 
to evil spiritual influences -- even when you are not looking. 
 
(5) The Bible. You can pray, ask a question, and open the 
Bible, Divine Principle, Way of God's Will, or most any 
holy book, and you can often receive a surprising direct 
answer to your question. God may tell you something you 
may not want to hear, or which is painful, or a scolding to 
you. But you will see that God or some angel has directly 
given an answer to you. However: Do not worship the book 
alone as the ultimate authority to God, as some Christians 
do, even not listening to their heart, conscience, nor True 
Parents and spiritual Jesus, for that matter. So they make a 
mistake. 
 
(6) Your central figure. God works through central figure. 
Ask him or her. Amazingly, in the position of Central 
Figure, he/she is given a kind of common sense or God-
centered, whole-purpose viewpoint by which to clearly 
distinguish or judge a matter that may be obscure to you. 
 
(7) True Parents. I have had the opportunity to see True 
Parents many times. I can tell you: If you have a question in 
your heart, when you see True Parents, they will almost 
invariably address your silent question, and you will be 
most amazed to see that they know your mind and heart as if 
personally. Furthermore, if you ever have the chance, as I 
once did, you may be able to ask True Parents a direct 
question. I received a big one-and-one-half hour answer to 
my question to Father once. God works most directly 
through True Parents, because they are the Messiah, Parents 
to mankind and to you personally, and the True Son and 
Daughter of God, the first ones ever, since Jesus Christ 
walked on earth. 
 
(8) Your own parents. Believe it or not, through several 
steps, it was really because I listened to my parents' advice, 
that I ended up meeting the Church. My father said, "Get on 
the bus and go to San Diego, or I will stuff you in the car 
and drive you there myself!" So I met the Church and 
joined. Even after joining, occasionally my parents gave me 
good advice. My mother said, "Listen to your wife. She is 
very sensible. She knows what is good for you." Yes. You 
too? 
 
(9) Cain. Yes, listen to Cain. Cain is the person who is not 
in the position closer to God, but is criticizing, even 
accusing, and, possibly, hating and trying to destroy you 
and your work. Listen to Cain. Why? Because Cain is most 
sensitive to Abel's faults and failings and weaknesses. Cain 
is closely observing Abel and ready to accuse anything even 
slightly unprincipled. So you can be educated by Cain! 
BUT: Cain is not coming from a parental heart in general, 
and, in general, the person with a parental heart, who loves 
you, can help you with the most eternal, spiritual benefit. 
Cain is not shy to point out the fault, whereas Abel often is 
so polite, and says nothing but embraces with love. 
 
(10) Nature. God speaks through or works through nature. 
Ask for a sign. The ancients looked for signs in the 
heavens, in the animals (eagles, frogs, bullocks, etc.), and 
the trees and rocks. They were very sensitive and perceptive 
to these. Then they would base important decisions on this 
sign, like to go to war or not, to listen to a messenger's 
warning or not. God can work through nature because it is 
pure and unviolated. Again, some kind of condition is often 
necessary, in order to get a reliable sign from nature. 
 
(11) An altar, or conditional object. When you set up an 
altar, it is specifically directed toward God or heaven. Then, 
how God responds to your offering is most significant. We 
have not emphasized the aspect of God's response or 
reciprocal action to our offering, but in the ancient days, an 
offering was clearly accepted by God or rejected. Even fire 
would come down. Or the sacrificial animal would have an 
interesting appearance in its internal organs. Something like 
that. The altar is an offering of purity. The offering should 
be combined with tears and sincerity of heart, utmost 
desperate entreaty to heaven. 
 
(12) Inner voice. As Mrs. Kang's testimony, also Joan of 
Arc and many others, the internal voice can be an answer 
from heaven. Be careful though: The voice may be your 
own, or an evil spirit, or your "socially educated 
conscience", or your "Principle-educated conscience", or a 
holy saint or good ancestor, or a very high spirit, or even 
God Himself. Another point about the inner voice: even a 
good spirit, who can guide you well, also has some point of 
fallen nature, or is limited at a certain level of historical 
providence, and needs to be restored, and can only be 
restored by you, so they can help you up to that point, and 
then, their level of heart comes out to be limited, and they 
may even tempt you to go the wrong way. Then you have to 
be subject and guide them instead, and do the right thing. 
Otherwise you may fall to a temptation. This is a very 
common danger. 
 
(13) Dreams. Dreams come from different sources: From 
your psyche or inner psychological makeup and situation, 
so they serve to let you know what is your inner state -- the 
state of your soul, or psychological well-being. You can be 
spiritually healthy, going up, and yet psychologically 
neurotic. So the dream can show you the state of 
contradiction within you. Secondly, the dream can come 
from your interests or desires, but not necessarily indicate 
God's will, nor be prophetic in nature. Thirdly, the dream 
can be an indication of the spiritual state of things in the 
providence on a worldwide level, or a more personal level. 
You don't need to take a dream too seriously, but take note 
of it, reflect, think, pray about it, write it down. Even keep a 
"dream diary". Fourthly, the dream can be a definite 
prophecy or warning. This is rather rare, but for some 
people it is very significant. Basically, don't take dreams all 
too seriously, except in special cases. Report it to Central 
Figure for advice, if you feel so. 
 
(14) Mediums (soothsayers). They are gifted, but generally 
tainted or conditioned by complete immersion in the fallen 
world. They usually have self-centered motivations, and are 
open to a certain low level of spirit world. They can often 
truly see, but they are under the clouds, whereas you are 
high in the stratosphere in the sunlight of God, spiritually 
speaking. Honestly, even Father has consulted or suggested 
to people to consult mediums, and taken their advice 
seriously. The true medium should testify to Father and the 
Kingdom of Heaven, and give warnings of the Last Days to 
the nation and its people and leaders. But generally it is not 
necessary or even desirable for us Unification Church 
members. 
 
Remember, you are subject, and the dream or any other 
spiritual medium is object. You are on earth doing God's 
Will at the tip of the spearpoint of the providence, or at least 
along the shaft. God Himself is watching and loving and 
concerned about you, and wants to make sure you go the 
right way. So He will really try to guide you in your life and 
your daily life. You are a historical and important person. 
 
I hope this may help you to distinguish God's Will and 
receive His guidance, and to be in the position to do His 
Will. Then it will also certainly benefit your life, in the long 
term, for the sake of others and for the sake of your nation, 
and in the more spiritual sense. 
 
To rightly know God's Will, consult Principle, ask Central 
Figure, offer indemnity conditions, pray, and keep your 
physical and spiritual senses open. 
 
Oh, another thing Father said, in the Way of Tradition: To 
receive the help and guidance of spiritual world, your spirit 
and heart should be calm as a lake. Usually in the early 
hours of morning, when your blood has settled, and the 
impurities have settled to the bottom, your spirit is clearest. 
Then you can receive heavenly revelation or God's 
guidance. 
 
Yours truly, for the benefit of all, 
William S. Stoertz, 
ITPN 
 


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