"The Shortest Path to Spiritual Rebirth" (according to the Lorber writings)
With a just man it is in this respect the same as with a tree whose fruit doesn’t ripen at once but gradually; but when spring has been mild and bright and summer lasting warm with periodical rain, then you say: this year we will have an early ripening. You see, the same it is with you, if you’ve spent your youth happily in gentle love to Me, then summer will be invigorating and warm alternating with graceful rain from heaven and you can be assured that the eternal golden autumn for the everlasting ripening of the immortal fruit won’t be far away any more. For as far as someone wants to be born again out of Me, he has to recognize his sins and openly confess them to his humiliation, that is: ardently through outward confession [ie. as in catholic church, the translator] and inward to Me and he must beg Me for forgiveness as it is shown in My Prayer and he must - like Peter - feel true repentance and sorrow and fear, and cry because of this invaluable loss of my grace and he must make the most serious intention not to want to sin again for eternity. Then he has to boldly decide to break completely with the world and to give himself to Me and in his love for me have a great yearning for Me - and in this great yearning he has to draw back from the world and all its business and for at least seven quarters of an hour, with locked doors and windows, neither pray nor read, but he has to spend this time in complete quietness, only occupied in his heart with Me. And anytime someone has gone into this silence he shall give the following encouraging, short speech to Me in his heart with the sternest seriousness and say:
Lord! Here I am. I’ve let you, most loving, holy father, wait for a long time, you who has been calling me since my childhood and has been saying: Come to Me, I will give you rest! - Now, o Father, the time has come where my ear has been fully opened and my usually stubborn will has resigned completely to Your will with humility and obedience before you, as also to the will of all my better brethren. Therefore come, my most beloved Jesus, come to me and refresh my ill soul with the balm of Your endless love, let me find my great wrong in Your bitter suffering and death; let me see the holy five wounds and let me see within them my great misdeed. O Jesus, conqueror of death and hell, come to me and let me fully understand Your will, let me recognize my true nothingness and Your everything.
O You my sweetest, most loving Jesus, Lord of all armies come to the poor man that I am, come to me the weak man, the blind man, the deaf man, the leper, the palsied, lame, crooked, the possessed one that I am, yes o my, my, my truly beloved Jesus come, come, come to the dead one that I am and let me only touch Your holy garment and I will live. Lord, don’t take your time for I need you endlessly, I can’t be without You any more for You are my everything and everything else has vanished because of my love to you. I can’t live without You any more, therefore, o my beloved Jesus come to me soon. But as always so may now also your will be done amen.
Then go into silence and grow in yearning and love for Me.
I tell you, if you do this only for a short time you will see lightning and hear thunder. Then fear not and don’t become anxious, for first I come to everyone as a judge with storm wind, lightning and thunder and afterwards in a soft and holy breeze as a father. The one who wants to - in the true meaning - make a so-called general confession will have a lot to do, because this requires more humility and self-denial. That means, mind you, there must be a complete intent not to sin again and the holy supper must be taken in true belief and out of the purest love for Me, only then you will immediately feel its marvellous effects in you, which will be expressed in great, incomprehensible joy and heavenly delight. See, this is the shortest and most effective way to true re-birth in which alone it is possible to win eternal life. Any other way takes longer and is less safe, for there are many paths where thieves, robbers and murderers lurk behind the thickets, whoever isn’t well-armoured and armed will hardly reach his goal. Remember who the One is that says this to you. Therefore I mean instead of worldly entertainment and company and dirty societies you can chose from now on My rest and Sabbath-fellowship and converse with Me for free and without entrance fee and use the other entrance fee for something better. What do you think would be better and more worthy in my eyes? You see, as I told the apostles, no one can serve two masters at the same time. Therefore remember who admonishes you Amen. It’s Me, your holy father from eternity Amen, amen, amen.
Many thanks to Hudson of JakobLorberBooks.com for his assistance with locating this text.
Lord! Here I am. I’ve let you, most loving, holy father, wait for a long time, you who has been calling me since my childhood and has been saying: Come to Me, I will give you rest! - Now, o Father, the time has come where my ear has been fully opened and my usually stubborn will has resigned completely to Your will with humility and obedience before you, as also to the will of all my better brethren. Therefore come, my most beloved Jesus, come to me and refresh my ill soul with the balm of Your endless love, let me find my great wrong in Your bitter suffering and death; let me see the holy five wounds and let me see within them my great misdeed. O Jesus, conqueror of death and hell, come to me and let me fully understand Your will, let me recognize my true nothingness and Your everything.
O You my sweetest, most loving Jesus, Lord of all armies come to the poor man that I am, come to me the weak man, the blind man, the deaf man, the leper, the palsied, lame, crooked, the possessed one that I am, yes o my, my, my truly beloved Jesus come, come, come to the dead one that I am and let me only touch Your holy garment and I will live. Lord, don’t take your time for I need you endlessly, I can’t be without You any more for You are my everything and everything else has vanished because of my love to you. I can’t live without You any more, therefore, o my beloved Jesus come to me soon. But as always so may now also your will be done amen.
Then go into silence and grow in yearning and love for Me.
I tell you, if you do this only for a short time you will see lightning and hear thunder. Then fear not and don’t become anxious, for first I come to everyone as a judge with storm wind, lightning and thunder and afterwards in a soft and holy breeze as a father. The one who wants to - in the true meaning - make a so-called general confession will have a lot to do, because this requires more humility and self-denial. That means, mind you, there must be a complete intent not to sin again and the holy supper must be taken in true belief and out of the purest love for Me, only then you will immediately feel its marvellous effects in you, which will be expressed in great, incomprehensible joy and heavenly delight. See, this is the shortest and most effective way to true re-birth in which alone it is possible to win eternal life. Any other way takes longer and is less safe, for there are many paths where thieves, robbers and murderers lurk behind the thickets, whoever isn’t well-armoured and armed will hardly reach his goal. Remember who the One is that says this to you. Therefore I mean instead of worldly entertainment and company and dirty societies you can chose from now on My rest and Sabbath-fellowship and converse with Me for free and without entrance fee and use the other entrance fee for something better. What do you think would be better and more worthy in my eyes? You see, as I told the apostles, no one can serve two masters at the same time. Therefore remember who admonishes you Amen. It’s Me, your holy father from eternity Amen, amen, amen.
Many thanks to Hudson of JakobLorberBooks.com for his assistance with locating this text.
A Note on Prayer from the Great Gospel of John, Book 1, Section 92, paragraphs 15 - 18:
"Thus man on this earth is by far not as forsaken as you think, for everything depends on his freewill and actions whether he wishes to be supervised and guided by God or not. If he wishes it, God will wish it too; but if he does not wish it, he is absolutely free as far as God is concerned and God does not take any further notice of him, except that he receives what according to universal order every natural man is destined to have as the natural life and what is needed to support it. But that is as far as God will and can go with such a person because of his inviolable freedom. Only when a man with his heart's free will seeks and implores Him, God will always come to meet such a man on the shortest possible way, provided he seeks and prays in downright earnest.
But if a person only seeks and prays tentatively in order to convince himself whether where God and His promises are concerned there is anything to it, he will not be considered by God or his prayer granted. For GOD IS IN HIMSELF THE PUREST LOVE and looks only upon those who come to Him in their heart's love and seek Him for His own sake, wish to learn to know Him with gratitude as their Creator and have the fervent wish to be guarded and guided by Him personally.
Oh, as concerns those who come to God in this way, He knows every moment only too well how things are with them, and He teaches and guides them personally in everything. However, of those who will have nothing to do with God He certainly does not take any notice.
And when once in the beyond they will be standing before God, calling fervently and saying: "Lord, Lord!", God will answer them: "Out of My sight, you strangers, for I have never known you!". And such souls will then have to suffer and struggle considerably until they will be able to approach God as recognised by Him. Do you now understand this?"
"Thus man on this earth is by far not as forsaken as you think, for everything depends on his freewill and actions whether he wishes to be supervised and guided by God or not. If he wishes it, God will wish it too; but if he does not wish it, he is absolutely free as far as God is concerned and God does not take any further notice of him, except that he receives what according to universal order every natural man is destined to have as the natural life and what is needed to support it. But that is as far as God will and can go with such a person because of his inviolable freedom. Only when a man with his heart's free will seeks and implores Him, God will always come to meet such a man on the shortest possible way, provided he seeks and prays in downright earnest.
But if a person only seeks and prays tentatively in order to convince himself whether where God and His promises are concerned there is anything to it, he will not be considered by God or his prayer granted. For GOD IS IN HIMSELF THE PUREST LOVE and looks only upon those who come to Him in their heart's love and seek Him for His own sake, wish to learn to know Him with gratitude as their Creator and have the fervent wish to be guarded and guided by Him personally.
Oh, as concerns those who come to God in this way, He knows every moment only too well how things are with them, and He teaches and guides them personally in everything. However, of those who will have nothing to do with God He certainly does not take any notice.
And when once in the beyond they will be standing before God, calling fervently and saying: "Lord, Lord!", God will answer them: "Out of My sight, you strangers, for I have never known you!". And such souls will then have to suffer and struggle considerably until they will be able to approach God as recognised by Him. Do you now understand this?"