“Remember first that prayer is the sincere desire of the heart. Have you a sincere and earnest desire to be like the Christ? He is the great Door and Head of that Eternal Brotherhood on earth; who by his teachings and by the light of truth that he left to the world, has shown the path that leads directly from ignorance, sickness, sorrow, and death, and who was manifested that he might bring life and immortality to light. If you have this sincere desire you will reach out for that spirit which was manifested in the Christ, desiring that that spirit be in you and that it manifest through your life and character.
As to methods to be applied in order that that divine sonship may be manifested in you, turn to that wonderful Sermon on the Mount – the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of the Gospel according to Matthew – read it carefully; read it with an outreaching to God, the Source of life, light, and knowledge, that you may know, that you may have the understanding that the Spirit intended you should have, and not only the understanding, but the power to apply it in your life. And as you desire that power, remember the Master said, “Believe that you have it and you shall have it.” Therefore, as you read over that wonderful sermon, decide that you will follow the teachings absolutely and believe – for you have reason for believing – that you have the power from God to live the life therein taught and to live it perfectly.
At this point, it will be necessary to realize the importance of the suggestion to be rational, for unless you take hold of these teachings of the Christ with a reasonable mind, you will be inclined to go to extremes, to become irrational in your application of the truth. For instance, the Lord said, “Be not therefore anxious, saying, what shall we eat, or, what shall we drink, or, wherewithal shall we be clothed; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
The irrational one therefore says: I will take no thought; I will be just like the birds; I will sit down and do nothing and the Lord will feed me. The irrational side of this is very apparent, not only from the world’s point of view, but from a spiritual standard. How does God feed the birds. Do they not have to work for their living, to hunt their food wherever they can find it? Sometimes it is difficult for them to find sufficient, but they go right on faithfully doing their best. So must you do your best, but do not be anxious, is the word of the Lord.
This will be a suggestion to you of what we mean by being rational in following the teachings of the Lord Christ. Remember this, God, the everlasting Father, or Elohim and his angels, never do anything for us that we can do for ourselves. Bear in mind that God’s original purpose was to make man in his Image and Likeness and to give man the ability to do and to accomplish and to obtain that which is absolutely necessary to him. Therefore, in order that you may develop into his Likeness, it is necessary that you should be left to use your own power and knowledge to gain all that is necessary for your attainment and for the proper support of your body.
As we said before, Yahveh is the all-pervading Spirit in whom is everything and out of which came everything, therefore everything that you need is in the ether around you. Remember, when it was in order the Christ brought out of the invisible sufficient bread and meat to feed 5000, and Elijah caused the cruse of oil and the meal of the widow to replenish themselves during the famine; this was a demonstration of the fact that everything that is necessary for you is around you, and that you have only to take it by faith.”
Hiram Butler
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 