Guidelines

Basic principle: “ . . . if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18: 19, 20)

A prayer group is a place where you can join together with others in a relaxed, intimate, confidential atmosphere to share the things nearest to your hearts, and pray about those situations you choose not to discuss in other contexts.

Be selective in choosing a partner or joining a prayer group. Avoid groups that include people with whom you are not in harmony.

Persons who are attuned to each other pray together more effectively.

If you don’t find a suitable group, form your own.

Prayer groups should be small. A single prayer partner is often most effective. Under any circumstance, for maximum effectiveness, a prayer group should not be larger than 6 or 7 people.

An effective prayer group is not a therapy group, nor does it get involved in story telling. Beyond clarifying your prayer request and the reporting of results, there is little discussion. A prayer group should be just that: a group that prays.

A prayer group should meet on a regular basis (weekly is best) and commit to a specific period of time during which it will meet. It can extend this period and renew its commitment anytime it chooses.

The life of the group can vary. It’s best to start with about eight weeks. Some groups continue for several years. However, it’s useful to have a set date for the group to renew its commitment. This date can also be a time for celebration.

Above all, honor the CONFIDENTIALITY of the group.

Meeting Format

Beginning: Open with an invocation, short prayer or a period of centering silence.

Reporting: Share around the group the results of your prayers from the previous week*. Look for the good that was demonstrated and affirm that. This is not a time for justifying, rationalizing or explaining negative results.

Requesting: After all have shared the results of the previous week’s prayer work, each requests what it is they want the group to pray for until the group meets again. Each member writes down their partners’ requests.

Accepting: When all the group members have completed their reports and have made their requests, each member gives a short affirmation of thanksgiving and acceptance for the good they seek. This is not an elaborate statement. It may be as simple as, “I accept my good and rejoice that it is so,” or, even more simply, “Amen,” or “And so it is.”

Resonating: Enter the Silence and fully absorb the demonstration of this experience.

Ending: Quietly disperse and daily pray for each other until your next meeting.

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* Due to the irregular schedules of some members, not all groups may be able to meet on a predictable schedule. When a regular, scheduled time is not feasible, it is useful for the group to set the date for the next meeting before ending its current session.

The purpose of a Spiritual Breakthrough Group (SBG) is to provide support in helping each other to experience more of our divine potential.

Criteria for SBGs
Optimal Size: Eight people is an optimal size for an SBG. Any more than this tends to limit the level of intimacy that can develop. As few as just two people can form an effective SBG, but in larger groups there is a greater possibility for the generation of creative ideas.

Length: One hour is just about right for the duration of an SBG meeting. The group should try to limit its meetings to no more than 1-1/2 hours.

How Often: If possible, meeting once a week can be most effective. The end of each meeting is a good time to set the date for the next meeting.

Where: The meeting place can be anywhere the group feels comfortable and undisturbed. A restaurant is not a good place. A secluded space in a private home is usually ideal. It is not a good idea to be changing the location of the meetings. Pick a place that suits the group and stay with it, if possible.

Life of an SBG: To start, the members of an SBG should make a commitment to stay together for at least eight weeks. Many groups are known to still be intact after several years. If yours turns out to be a long-term group, it is still important to establish a recommitment date each year. This can also be a time for celebration.

Leadership: In general, these are self-led groups. However, it may be useful to have someone to facilitate the process at each meeting. It could be the same person or it could be a different person each week.

Identification: It can be fun to come up with a name for your group. This is especially important if your group has decided to adopt a particular emphasis, such as spiritual development, financial security, health and healing, etc.

Seven-Step Process
The process for an SBG meeting has seven simple steps. A group may want to modify the process to meet its particular needs. Presented below is a suggested format that has worked well for many groups:

Tuning In: Begin each meeting with some kind of devotional attunement: an invocation, meditation, period of silence, or whatever the group feels is appropriate for it. Often it will pick an affirmative statement and set the mood by all members reading it aloud in unison. Here is an example:

“Love is the way. I enter into this session with love in my heart, expressing God within me. I give direction to my life as I allow this Power to work through me, as me. I sincerely believe that this Power responds to me in a personal way, through which all things are possible. I surrender fear and doubt, and am filled with confidence and faith. I turn my life over to Divine Guidance and trust in the support of my group partners. I am changed at depth.”

Forgiving: The group may choose to add an expression of forgiveness to the above attunement. Here is an example:

“I forgive myself for all mistaken judgments and negative emotions. I also forgive and release those I feel have injured or harmed me in any way.”

Reporting and Asking: This is the crux of the session. It is where you, personally, make a brief statement to the other members of what you experienced during the previous week in regard to your need, want or desire. Then you make a specific request to the whole group for whatever you want support on during the next week. Here is a simple scenario:

“I, (your name) , experienced the following results this past week:”

[Here you briefly describe the results you experienced.]

And I make known to God and to you, my partners, my specific request for next week. My request is:

[This is where you simply state, without a lot of embellishment, whatever the need, want or desire is for which you are seeking support from your partners.]

Supporting: Going around the group, each member then makes a brief, simple statement in response to your request. A typical response would be:

(Your name), Divine Love is doing its perfect work in and through you, and I accept your highest good for you, right now.

Accepting: After all members have given their supporting statements to you, you make an acceptance statement, such as:

I accept into my experience, now, the fulfillment of my request and rejoice in the demonstration of God’s goodness in my life.

[The Supporting and Accepting Steps, above, are then repeated for each of the members of the group.]

Releasing: All members, together, repeat aloud the following statement:

I now have a binding agreement with God and I know that I am supplied with an abundance of all things necessary to live a happy, successful, fun-filled and creative life.

I dedicate myself to be of maximum service to God and my fellow human beings, to live in a manner that will set the highest example for others, and to encourage, by this example, the expression of the innate divinity in each of us.

I go forth with a spirit of enthusiasm, excitement and expectancy.

I AM AT PEACE. AND SO IT IS.

Experiencing the Silence: After you complete the Releasing step, the whole group becomes quiet for a short time to fully absorb the power and intention of the words just spoken.

When the silence is finally broken the group quietly disperses, bathed in a sense of confidence, openness and joy.

What is a Spiritual Breakthrough Partner?
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Partner is someone who meets regularly with you in a spirit of harmony, trust and love to move through the seven steps to God awareness.
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Partner listens attentively and non-judgmentally to your requests and supports you in being all you can be.
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Partner keeps a confidence. Deeply personal things may be shared, and the maintenance of the spiritual bond between partners is dependent on each member’s ability to honor confidences.
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Partner believes in Inner Guidance.
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Partnership is a community of equals.
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Partner is someone you can call upon when spiritual help or support is needed.
● Spiritual Breakthrough Partners rejoice in each other’s expanded awareness.
● A Spiritual Breakthrough Group is for the purpose of support, not therapy. The answers are from the Greater Power, not the members.

Three Basic Ideas

A Creative Medium that permeates everything and responds to your thought surrounds you. This medium is an aspect of God called Universal Law or Universal Mind.

Because you are made in the Image and Likeness of God, your individual mind is part of the God Mind. Your thinking in this sea of Mind determines the kind of response you get from It.

You can change your experience of life by changing your thinking. The sum total of your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs create a mental field that attracts to you or repels from you according to the form of that field. The choice is yours to make.

Effective prayer is the process of conveying your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to a place of inner conviction and acceptance of whatever the good is you desire to experience. Affirmative Prayer is often referred to as Spiritual Mind Treatment.

Stages of Affirmative Prayer

First Stage: Find a comfortable place free from distractions and relax. Take a few deep breaths and further relax. Now, remind yourself that God is the One Thing that does all things and is all things. Know that God is All in All; God is Spirit and Spirit is All There Is. Affirm that you are one with God; that Spirit made you in Its Image and Likeness. Therefore, you are one with all there is, and have available to you everything necessary to fulfill your desires, wants and needs. Rest in this awareness until you are comfortable with a sense of this truth.

Second Stage: Now, get clear on what it is for which you are praying. State it, write it down, visualize what it would look and feel like to have accomplished it, and create a scene in your mind that implies the fulfillment of your desire. Rest in this awareness for a while to have the full sense of the feeling that would accompany the demonstration of your word.

Third Stage: This is the place where you accept your demonstration. State your acceptance of the good that is coming to you, knowing it is already accomplished in the mind of God. Totally let go of any need to define how your prayer is to manifest. Feel secure that in turning it over to God the means of manifestation will be provided, and whatever you need to do in the process will be revealed to you. Finally, give thanks and relax in the silence absorbing the wonderful feeling of fulfillment.

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