Editorial July 30, 1904 Issue

Prayer and Understanding

K.

THE petition of the disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray," is full of pathos. Surely they could not have been as ignorant as their request would indicate, but it suggests their willingness to admit that they had not the understanding possessed by the Master. None had ever called down such answers to prayer as had he. The light of Truth was, however, dawning for them, and by its illumination they were able to see that the old sense of prayer was inadequate to meet their need.

Jesus had pointed out to them the dangers of audible and public prayers, but he had not treated this all-important subject in a merely negative or prohibitive way; on the contrary, he had given them definite and positive instructions as to how they should approach their heavenly Father, and as to what they should ask of Him. The Lord's Prayer "covers all human needs" (Science and Health, P. 16). We thus see that while a little child at his mother's knee may ask for daily bread, and think of bread alone, with added years and experience he will ask in the same words for the infinite blessings which God is ever ready to bestow upon all His children.

In Christian Science we no longer think of begging God to do something which material sense assumes that He has overlooked, and this may give some a temporary sense of loss, a feeling that they no longer know how to pray. It is evident that Paul realized this when he said, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought." James refers to an "effectual, fervent prayer," and this is assuredly the kind that Christian Scientists are seeking to understand and to utilize. Our Leader's thought respecting this vital matter is disclosed in all her writings, and the chapter on "Prayer," in Science and Health is especially worthy of the daily study of every sincere Christian. In it she separates the chaff of mere form the grain of true aspiration, and prepares the student for "union and communion" "in spirit and in truth."

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July 30, 1904
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