Is it God or a lesser god?
The Keys Teachings believe that prophecy (hearing God's voice from within), which it calls Receivership, is not reserved for a chosen few. The Keys teaches that Receivership is for all those who ask and expect God to answer verbally.
But most people have spent their entire lives believing that God is too busy, or that they are too insignificant, for God to talk to them directly about their daily choices and decisions—so they never actually ask for specific, verbal guidance.
They may pray for their lives to change for the better, but they will practically never ask for specific, step-by-step guidance to help make it happen.
Most of those who do ask and expect an answer from God, don't expect it to come verbally. So they just look for a significant sign or feeling that they can interpret as God's Guidance; and then they follow it and hope for the best.
The Keys Teachings believe that God does take an active interest in our daily lives—because God wants to help us become and stay the best companions we can be for each other, and for God.
And the only way to do that is to offer specific, verbal guidance to all those who ask for it. That's why the Keys emphasizes learning and doing Receivership.
You Don't Need to Be Intuitive to Develop Receivership
The Keys Teachings believe that even those who were not born "psychic" or "intuitive" can develop accurate Receivership from God within them. They just have to find the right guidance, and then work at it, consistently and patiently.
And they also have to identify, and work to master, all that can get in the way of their ability to consciously and verbally perceive God's Voice from within them.
The Keys Teachings call anything that can influence you above and before the Voice of God within you—a lesser god. Lesser gods limit, alter, and even block what you can and do perceive in life.
And they can do the same to whatever you think you have received from the One Greater God at a given time as well.
The Common (and Less Common) Lesser Gods of Earth Life
One example of the power of a lesser god is that an oversensitive person will likely see correction as hurtful and critical; while someone less sensitive might see the same words, delivered in the same way, as constructive and realistic.
Perception is always altered by pre-programmings—and lesser gods are the ultimate pre-programmings. They are the influences that become your habits.
The most common lesser gods of Earth life include your automatic fears, needs, beliefs, and behaviors; and all the authority figures you tend to automatically defer to and/or follow (parent, teacher, spouse, ancient religious writings).
They include all the people and things you can't live without (your addictions); and all the people and things you can't stand to be around (your aversions).
And for some people their lesser gods may include the discarnate personalities (earthbound spirits) who are within or around them; and thus able to influence them in various ways as well.
Note: Stress and all of your stressors are lesser gods—because the automatic stress reactions they trigger can all too often change how you act and behave in all kinds of situations and relationships—and most often not for the better.
All Lesser Gods Have Voices
Were you listening to the Voice of God, the voice of fear, the words of your abusively critical parent, or the selfish projections of a discarnate personality with its own agenda, when you decided to skip that job interview yesterday?
It is important to be able to recognize, identify, and disempower all lesser god influences right when they pop up and try to take over—because you cannot do God's Will, and thus the right thing for yourself and others, if you don't know if and when you are being influenced by a lesser god at a given time.
The ability to have Crystal Clear Receivership, and thus be able to hear God's Voice exactly as projected, can only be developed over time by mastering (and thus quieting) all the lesser god voices that have ever controlled you in this life.
Note: If the inner voice you hear is negative, fearful, angry, abusive, or violent, or if it ever tells you to hurt anyone for any reason, it is NOT God.
The Surrender Antidote to Lesser God Influence
All lesser god habits are strengthened each time you give in to their influence. Thus, those same habits can be disempowered, layer by layer, by resisting their influence—and by going to God first in all of the particular situations that have ever triggered those lesser god habits in the past.
That's why the Keys teaches that consistency of surrender is your antidote to lesser god influence. And using Receivership to run your life is a very tangible act of spiritual and material world surrender.
It demonstrates a sincere desire to do God's Will, and thus serve God and all life, before all else; which certainly does get God's attention, and God's Help.
Every time you use Receivership, you strengthen the habit of going to God first before allowing lesser gods to take over; and you also improve the accuracy of your Receivership itself—because doing a Receivership is the most powerful way of asking God to take charge of you.
All the above is why it is as important to know when you are NOT hearing God's Voice—as it is to know when you are. Otherwise, you may very well be serving a lesser god without realizing it.
Developing Crystal Clear Receivership
Many beginning Keys students worry about getting Receivership wrong and thereby hurting themselves and others, materially and karmically, by using it. This often causes them to avoid trying the process—even if they believe in it.
But since the only way to develop Crystal Clear Receivership is to use it in daily life—avoidance is not the answer. Getting trained and monitored by someone who already has and lives by it, and who helps others develop it, is that answer.
Receivership has a learning curve; as does mastering your lesser gods. God knows that. So every sincere spiritual student should approach learning and doing Receivership without self-consciousness or fear of making a mistake.
If you act on what you believe is God's Word, but later find that you received incorrectly, you won't create karmic debt by doing so—as long as you have been and continue to show a sincere desire to surrender control to God in all things.
You show a sincere desire to get it right by asking God to take charge of you; to remove all lesser god influences from you in general; and to show you what you should do, and how and when to do it, throughout your daily life, over time.
Note: Having someone farther along to check and monitor your Receivership is beneficial; and it can speed up your development—as long as that teacher keeps reminding you that going to God for guidance through Receivership is the goal.
