Is Prayer a Reserve Force?

Alfred Farlow

Boston Times

Recently a noted divine declared, "Parents have no right to pray for their children's lives until they have first done all they can to save them through the science of medicine and surgery."

This is not in keeping with the Scriptural teaching that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." We can scarcely believe that it was the gentleman's intention to assert that man should first exhaust his own strength before leaning upon the omnipotent arm. It is certain that there is no Scriptural authority for regarding God simply as a reserve power. By implicit reliance upon Him we rightly honor Him and reap a reward in harmony.

Jesus declared, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," implying that we should lean as heavily upon Spirit as possible in every age of the world, not only during the claims of our troubles but in their incipiency. We should even trust God before we are sick, as a preventive of trouble. It is a very grave error to suppose that one who places his dependence upon Spirit is doing less to help himself than the one who resorts to material remedies, and the present results of trusting God demonstrate the truth of this declaration. Is it less rational or less Christian to depend upon the certainty of divine providence than to pin one's faith to the uncertainty of materia medica?

We are taught in the Scriptures to pray without ceasing. If God is a real help, and if there is real efficacy in prayer, such help cannot be exercised too soon or too earnestly. If prayer is to be delayed until we have exhausted all other promises of relief, when shall we know that we have reached the point when prayer may be legitimately employed? Does our reverend brother believe that there is very little efficacy in prayer, and that, therefore, we should not risk depending upon it so long as there is something more substantial to use, or does he believe that modesty demands that we use divine measures sparingly? We choose rather to think that his peculiar view is based upon his lack of understanding of what can really be effected through true prayer. Christian Science, showing how to utilize the divine power in an effective manner, provides a way out of the dilemma. Thousands of minor ailments have been destroyed by this Science in less time than would be required to send for a physician, while thousands of chronic cases have been healed after having failed to recover through the ordinary material method.

The true method could not be more graphically stated than in the following words: "In all thy ways acknowledge him. and he shall direct thy paths."

Alfred Farlow.
Boston Times.

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