(Continued from "Spirit Guides," Part I)

However, when we pray, we can ask that our petitions or some contents of it be revealed to our Guide. We can ask for permission on behalf of our Guide to be a recipient of our petitions as well. For example, we can ask that we be more sensitive to the presence of our Guide and to any directions he or she may wish to give us. We can ask that our Guide reveal him or herself to us in a manner that would be unmistakable. While such petitions are specifically for our Guide, it is still directed to a much higher power (than a Spirit Guide) that is capable of granting the request. A more general petition would also accomplish the same thing as the above prayers.

For example, when we petition that we be more sensitive and receptive to any ideas, impressions, or thoughts that cosmic forces may wish to reveal to us during meditation, we are not limiting any such impressions or thoughts to coming from our Guide. The general phrase, "cosmic forces" would automatically include our Guide.

We must not assume that our Guide would automatically respond to our needs for guidance. We must make efforts to open up to them by communicating with them regularly through our thoughts, prayers, petition, and meditation. When necessary, we must communicate specific needs for guidance to them before they can respond. You do not have to hear or see your Guide to be a recipient of his guidance. In fact, even those who don't believe in any force beside themselves are also beneficiaries of the services that their Guide has to offer.

Those who believe only in science will be surprised to know that even the scientific knowledge they possess may have come from either their past experiences here and in the afterlife, from other scientists in the afterlife, or through the guidance of their Guide. Even if the knowledge comes from their past experiences, their Guide may have been instrumental in bringing that knowledge to the forefront and in reminding them of the "forgotten knowledge."

How Spirit Guides Operate

Considering the experiences many of us have in life and the difficulties we often face, it may be difficult for some people to accept that there are Guides who are constantly working in our behalf, and who are there to assist us. In times of great difficulty, human tendency is to question where these Guides are when they are most needed. If they exist at all, and are there for us, why don't they intervene?

As legitimate as these questions may sound, they show our limited knowledge of who we are, and our lack of a better understanding of our relationship with the afterlife. All of us are here for a reason. We are here to have experiences that are possible only in our world; to learn and grow; to contribute to the benefit of humanity, the greater good; and to attest to the infinite manifestations of the God force, the source of all things. In the process, our consciousness continues to expand, soaring to higher heights until we are able to appreciate the opportunity and the privilege of having existed as humans.