I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 27.01.1945 

3419   Receiving the divine Word is an act of utmost will of strength ....

Only a few people are in possession of the direct Word because only a few are so strong-willed that they consciously and attentively listen within and thus also believe in God’s working in the human being through His spirit. This belief is a prerequisite; however, it will also have come alive through practising neighbourly love so that through the latter the person will have become a receiving vessel for the divine spirit. But he also must absolutely muster the will to carefully listen to the instructions through the divine spirit. And this requires love and effort .... Love for God and effort to overcome all weaknesses and faults. The human being must constantly work at improving himself and have the will to come close to God .... Hence he must place spiritual striving above earthly matters and therefore also conscientiously undertake the spiritual work, and this first involves the work of receiving the divine Word, which requires a particularly strong will, for the daily acceptance of the divine Word is an act of utmost strength of will, because time and again the latter must be activated anew, for only then can the divine gift of strength be offered to the person. Although the person is only a tool of which God avails Himself in order to speak to people in a natural way the person’s free will is nevertheless decisive, and thus he is not forced or obliged to write in a pathological state without his own will, but he can act completely freely and by no means needs to open his ears and heart. In that case, however, receiving divine spiritual knowledge will be impossible.

This is why only a few people can be found who completely voluntarily make themselves available and persistently listen within themselves every day .... who thus want and also put their will into action by withdrawing from the world, by establishing the heartfelt connection with God, appeal to Him and wait for the granting of their prayer. This requires time and the abandoning of demands made by the body. Anyone who loves his body too much, that is, who only seeks the purpose of earthly life in earthly well-being is totally incapable of mustering this will, for the body will always try to weaken the latter and the person will finally comply with the body’s demand, he will become careless and sluggish, he will also have little faith in God’s love and kindness and not appeal to Him for His gift of grace, and then it cannot be conveyed to him either .... Only few people are willing to hand their will over to God and to let themselves be guided by Him. But these few are true labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, they proved themselves to be loyal followers of God and therefore they also constantly receive the strength in order to strengthen their will, they are time and again will to listen within anew. And the result is divine spiritual knowledge which can have an inconceivably blessed effect if, in turn, a fellow human being musters the will to let himself be taught by them. The will always has to become active again, because God does not force anyone to turn towards His kingdom and thereby also towards His grace .... But anyone who musters this will is blessed by God, and he will be able to achieve great success, both for his own soul as well as for that of his fellow human being .... And he will be a successful labourer in the vineyard of the Lord and strength and grace will be abundantly at his disposal ....

Amen