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Arcana Coelestia #2535

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2535. 'He will pray for you' means that it will thus be revealed. This is clear from the meaning of 'praying'. Regarded in itself prayer is talking to God and at the same time some inner view of the things that are being prayed for. Answering to this there is something akin to an influx into the perception or thought of the person's mind, which effects a certain opening of his internals towards God. But the experience varies according to the person's state and according to the essence of whatever he is praying for. If his prayer springs from love and faith, and if they are wholly celestial and spiritual things about which and for which he prays, something like a revelation is present within his prayer which manifests itself in the affection of the one praying in the form of hope, comfort, or some inward joy. This is why 'praying' in the internal sense means to be revealed. Here such a meaning is all the greater since it is a prophet who, it is said, will pray, and 'prophet' is used to mean the Lord, whose prayer was nothing else than an internal speaking to the Divine, and at the same time revelation. That there was revelation when He prayed is evident in Luke,

It happened, when Jesus was baptized and prayed, that heaven was opened. Luke 3:21.

In the same gospel,

It happened, when Jesus took Peter, James, and John, He went up on the mountain to pray. When He was praying the appearance of His face was altered, and His clothing became dazzling white. Luke 9:28-29.

Also in John, He said when praying,

Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. John 12:27-28.

Here it is evident that the Lord's praying consisted in a talking to the Divine and at the same time in revelation.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

Commentary

 

Pray

  
A little boy, hands clasped tightly and eye squinched shut, says his prayers.

When people pray in the Bible, it means they are opening up their internal states. When it is the Lord praying, or a figure who represents the Lord, that opening up reveals the Lord's inmost love and intention, and means that hidden things will be revealed. When others pray the meaning is less exalted, representing worshiping God from a love of other people.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 278; Arcana Coelestia 2535, 2580; The Apocalypse Explained 325 [1-3])