It is vital to get some sense of how far you are elevated and thus of what part of the "spiritual spectrum" you're tuning into, since it could make the difference between listening to a busybody spirit's idea of "good advice" vs. real messages from the One God.

Here's an example that helps to explain this: If you've just had a nasty job termination and you're feeling really down, you might think, "I'll never work again!" or "I wish I could have revenge on my boss" and it might seem perfectly normal to you. But if you were in a good frame of mind, this would seem absurd. You'd be filled with positive, creative ideas instead: "I could ask Joe about job X, which sounds like just the thing for me" "I could work as Y and make a real differnce AND provide for my family" (etc). The ideas each state produces makes sense while in that state, but some states and ideas are far better than others. This shows you how much your mind/mood affects what ideas you are tuned to and attuned to! The same with seeking inspiration!

The following are guidelines and ideas and suggestions for tuning into God's creative, positive inspiration. They are the product of a lot of thought and prayer about the question, "How elevated does someone's praying have to be? How can we know when we are tuning into the right part of the spectrum?" Of course, these are not perfect, but take them into consideration as possible tools.

I wound up using the language of meters, gauges, and indices, but that's just an analogy.

Tips for the Measurement of Elevation

• Study and know your spiritual equipment: your mind and moods. First of all, you need a general sense of your own feelings and mood. You might be in trouble if you can't read feelings/emotions. If you are serious about prayer and caring, but can't sense your own frame of mind or others', you need to work on it (there is probably an underlying reason like insecurity or fear). Even in everyday life, you need to know these things so that you can temper yourself for different situations. You wouldn't want to scare a frightened child in need of help (likewise, you would have to be able to notice the child's fear), and you wouldn't want to sound weak and scared against a hostile person (and you would have to be able to read the negative intentions of that person). Similarly, when praying, you don't want to be attuning yourself to liars when you want to attune yourself to God. The rest of these questions require some sensitivity (gasp!), but may also help develop it, too.
• Check your Self-Absoprtion Index. People who can't sense their own moods often have some kind of inner block -- inner fear, insecurity, unhappiness. One symptom of this is a focus on "MY benefit" "MY image" "MY reputation" "MY future" "MY unhappiness." If these are plaguing you even now, you're probably not elevated! (Yes, personal experience here again :) Possible antidote: Decide to care and reach out even if it comes at a risk or cost to you.
• Look at your Reverent Joy Meter. A primary criteria for one's spirit being elevated is a sense of "reverent joy," as mentioned by Ben's spirit friends. Just what is reverent joy? These definitions might help.
  • Reverent: marked by a "profound adoring awed respect" (Webster's dictionary). Add "a sense of wonder" to that.
  • Joy: delight.
  • ... and remember these apply to God and God's handiwork, whatever truly reflects God's holiness.
• Look at the Internal Peace Gauge. Is it quiet and peaceful? I've come to learn that often, dramatic = bad. You don't want high drama ... you want high quiet! Forget heart-pounding action adrenalin for prayer... seek clear, vibrant peace instead.
• Check your Breathing! Breathing is a surprisingly good indicator of internal state of mind. Are you breathing easily and deeply down into the bottom of your abdomen? That's a sign of relaxation, mental and physical. Shallow (chest-only), constricted breathing is a sign of stress, anger, or other no-nos. If you can relax your breathing, you'll probably help your mood a bit too.
• Check your Motivations. Measure your own, current orientation and motivations (this is suggested by someone with some difficulty with measuring elevation itself). Are you seeking to give, to help, to work, to be of service? Is your desire to help grudging or joyful? Is it tied to expectations of return, or is it freely given? Is that common but dangerous "curiosity about channeling" tied in someplace? Remember: Focus on Give, not Get!
• Read your Appreciation Meter. Look at an object. Does it strike you as beautiful, or as ugly? Do scratches on it look like flaws, or like signs of its long service to people? Can you imagine people interacting with the object positively (people having a family dinner in that room; parents letting children hold the teacup; someone happily curled up on that chair, reading)? Might even its angles and curves, the way light reflects off its surface, inspire a sense of wonder that such an object even exists?
• Check your Psychic Environs. Do you sense you are in spiritually light, warm, cheerful surroundings? (This may or may not work, and "light" can be misjudged by the unexperienced; however, a nasty darkness is definitely a bad sign. If this step freaks you out, don't do it!)
• Test your Compassion Index. Think of someone who has been irritating you. Without getting mired in that person's problems (don't attach to that person!), can you feel benevolence toward that person? Can you say, "God bless you" mentally to that person, and be sincere about it? (Again, a matter of extremes: you might not be able to feel benevolence to someone who has done something extremely terrible. Pick someone less irritating, at least for now. In the meantime, though, work on being able to bless even your worst enemies.)
• Check your Thankfulness Index. Say, "Thank you, God." What feelings does this evoke? Is there a sense of awe, of real thankfulness? Or are these just words? Is there only a grudging thankfulness? Work on releasing any feelings of resentment or fear associated with "God" or even "thank you." Work toward a real, deep appreciation for God's blessings --- and as Robert Schuller says, somehow, in some way, God is blessing you even now.
• Check your Praise Index. In this person's account, he suggests that "angels [are] lifted up as long as they [are] praising God." (If you have trouble with the word "praise," much less the phrase "praise God," try reading this essay about God.)
• Check your Smile. Quick appraisal: are you smiling? How hard would it be to smile right now? Try smiling, and mean it. No cynical smiles! No grudging smiles. A real, sincere, joyous smile.
• Check your Fear Index. Quick appraisal: How afraid are you at the moment? Can you focus away from fear and focus instead on loving God, of praising the good aspects of the world? (If you are afraid of caring for someone else, because dark ones might attack through the connection, remember that dark ones can't win against God or Jesus. So it's safe to bless God, as long as your God is the God of love (and not, say, the God of judgmental punishment).)
• Check the "I Can" Hope Meter. The more positive and hopeful we are, the more we believe that, with God's blessing, we CAN do what might otherwise seem impossible. A peaceful solution CAN be found. The mountain CAN be climbed. I CAN do that job. If you have trouble with this, it might help to study stories of how God helped people do the "impossible." (Be ready to accept a reply, though, of "I have something else in mind for you.")
• Acknowledge flaws. But see them as opportunities for blessing, rather than as things to be condemned or feared.
• Look for these (good sign) feelings/thoughts:
  • Can God really be this pure, this divine, this amazing?! Wow!
  • A friend suggests the following:
    • clean, right feeling. A gracious, gentle joy, not a vindictive revengeful joy (like you see in a lot of action movies). Clean, gentle, caring.
    • A feeling of objectivity. Impartiality, caring, and benevolence extended to all the little warring factions in a conflict. Petty grievances are met with understanding but no approval, without condescension but with compassion.
    • Something about the truly divine inspires almost a feeling of shame. The wisdom, kindness, sensibility and courage of those doing God's will, for instance, can remind us --- "Oh yes, this is how we can be. How could I have forgotten?" The shame stems from having forgotten, but fresh wonder and awe result from remembering!
• Watch out for these danger signs:
  • How "big" or important do you feel? "Watch out, I'm powerful!"? Or is it instead a more humble, "Wow, how amazing that I exist and have all these opportunities"? The former may be a good first step for people who have had too many experiences with their self-esteem getting crushed, but in the long run is less than holy, and most people who have not had traumatic pasts do not need that kind of emotional crutch.
  • Watch out for these subtle and dangerous feelings: (1) Self-service with opportunities to help others. i.e., "Well, I'll do this for myself, but in the meantime I suppose it might help other people." While not really BAD, it is often selfish enough to attract the wrong crew. (2) "Wow, channeling sounds cool. I want to know what messages I'll get?!" While also not really BAD either (frankly, it sounds like a pretty standard reaction for someone who's new to the field), it also tends to attract the wrong crew. (3) A feeling of things being simply businesslike. Now, it seems a lot of time angels do behave in a very businesslike manner, but when one is elevated, business should be subordinate to caring. Caring must be the important part (because if business were most important, much evil might be done in the name of "efficiency" or "getting things done.").
• Motivated by guilt? Release the guilt and seek earnestly to repent instead --- pray for the strength and wisdom to avoid your guilt-causing mistake in the future, starting right now. Decide right on the spot to change your ways. Ask for God's forgiveness, and know that, if you are sincere in wanting to improve immediately, you are forgiven. Otherwise, guilt often acts as an anchor that weighs us down. If you can't honestly repent, which can happen, seek God's wisdom and light to help you understand the situation. Sometimes understanding will tell us we did the right thing, or sometimes it will help us repent sincerely.
• Remember again: it's reverent joy you seek, a love of God and love of your neighbor! And our love of God contains the continuing theme of "reverent joy."

OK, if you can honestly say "Yeah, that sounds true, and good, and is true of me now" to many of these, then it might be safe to proceed. Continue on with Ben's steps 4, 5, and 6 --- care for another, inquire of God "What can we do to help?", and listen for the reply. Then go on to step 7: Test the spirit of the message, so as to determine whether to act or not act, to refrain from acting or to wait! This is what I call "discernment," and this is the primary filter to make sure you don't listen to liars and cheats, and is absolutely vital. So, this is the last step:

Judging: Testing the Spirit

Now, if the message seems to be good, and holy, and just, then follow it. (Dr. George Ritchie's criteria are: Is it loving? Does it sound like what Jesus would say? Is it truth as far I can understand? Does it "pass the test of reality" of all ages and for all time?) If you have doubts, hold off and wait. "God is patient," as Ben says. Please note also, as Ben eloquently writes:

Ben : Angels typically deliver their message and leave. If we want to continue to receive messages after they leave, other beings are likely to come to us and pretend to be angels. This pattern is very common. It can be discerned by the (sometimes subtle or gradual) change in the content of the messages. I have found this pattern in reports I have read, and testimony by people I believe, and personal experience.

One you have your message, do not prolong contact seeking for unnecessarily clarification, or behind-the-scenes insights. There will be enough insight in the doing.

Remember....

• Psychology plays a real role here. I have learned that inner insecurities and fear block off our ability to "read" some emotions in ourselves and in others. And, of course, insecurity and fear keep us from elevating. Dare to face your inner fears head-on.
• If nothing else, check and work on the physiological and neurochemical. One woman in a newspaper article apparently couldn't understand the joy in Christmas songs until her doctor prescribed her anti-depressants. And if you believe the latest studies, you'll know that diet can affect moods, so you can play around with that, too. Sometimes anti-depressants can be lifesavers!
• If you are still allergic to the very word "God," have been hit over the head by a Bible too often, have been deeply hurt by God's representatives on Earth ... AND you can still feel the wounds ... do some one-way prayer first. Seek also the joyous aspects of truth and love that make your heart sing. Come to God through whatever pathways you can. If the front door is blocked, come through the back door before you try to clear the blockage. ALSO, do the step below (because any attached demons will contribute to your allergy to God):
• Do 1-way prayer for the rescue and/or removal of lost ones and demons
• Do 1-way traditional prayers, such as the Lord's Prayer.
• Practice the means of elevation some more: mantras (something with meaning to you that doesn't space you out), music, reading good stuff, "moving up...." Flood your subconsciousness with good stuff; avoid the dreary news for awhile (or for good!). This helps heal the psychological holes and dark tendencies; it helps fix things and re-align the mind with God's will.
• Actively seek to do good to others. Practice acts of unexpected kindness and mercy; ask for and expect no reward. Caring action is far more important than merely thinking about being a loving person -- but don't condemn yourself if it takes time; thinking usually comes first.
• Picture yourself and see if there are any dark things above you, blocking the light. If so, destroy those dark things by whatever works: exploding fireworks of light, shining swords, you name it. Imagine the thought forms dissipating into harmless dust. Imagine any dark entities floating upward in bubbles of light.
• If you mentally "look/feel around yourself" and there are dark lines or tubes attached to you, close them off (by tying them closed or looping them back on themselves) and then cut free of them. Dark lines/tubes indicate negative influences; just getting rid of them can be like casting off unnecessary weights that prevent your spirit from rising.
• Imagine a beautiful white light, bright, pure, and far away. Is the light above? If it's below, put it above.
• Is there a sphere around you? If it's all dark, then there might be a dark sphere there. Imagine it breaking and falling into dust. Imagine fresh, clean light streaming in.
• Extend blessings to everyone who attacks you, even if it's just by silently saying "best wishes" to your enemy everytime he walks by. A consistent regimen of wishing other people (even enemies) well can really effect changes!
• Can't do any of these? See if you know a friend who can rescue lost spirits, and find and destroy dark thought-forms for you.
• Pray, care, act on your own highest sense of wisdom and good, seek help from people who actively display true kindness and wisdom --- and see if things don't improve, slowly, gradually. The most important thing to do is never give up the struggle for spiritual elevation, the seeking of God's will.