Article August 12, 1911 Issue

THE FULFILMENT OF PRAYER

LILLIE C. HANSON.

"Verily , verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." "Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." These are the words of Jesus, in whose mouth was no guile, hence they must stand incontestable, entirely unaffected by human opinions or by the beliefs of individuals who have not yet experienced or demonstrated their truth. Very few, perhaps none, of those who study the Bible regularly would say that Jesus exaggerated in his promises; yet many have not wholly accepted these words as a basis for action, and really regarded them as reliable. And why? Simply because they have not understood, have not known and seen that every promise he gave, every word he taught, every healing he accomplished was based upon spiritual insight, upon his clear understanding of Truth, the eternal, immutable, divine, omnipotent Principle, God, who upholds and governs the universe.

Christian Science, the demonstrable knowledge of Truth, proves clearly that the words of Jesus are entirely true and practicable at the present time, even as they were nineteen hundred years ago; that God really is Love, and really does hear and answer prayer; really is omnipotent, and that this divine Principle, which can never cease to operate, which can never be changed or moved, must stand fast forever. Omnipotence can never lose its power. Truth must be true eternally; it cannot be altered in the least; it is immutable. Although we may have had the wrong concept of or have not understood it, it stands secure just the same. Men change their ideas on all subjects, also their belief of God and His creation, but God can never change, nor can He alter His thoughts, since they are perfect. In Truth there cannot possibly be any deception. It stands immovable, whether men believe it or not. Untruth (error), the lie, alone can deceive, and this is its only pretense of power. There is but one God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, regardless of the innumerable images of God formed in human thought. "Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The Lord." "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

If all this be true, and it surely cannot be denied, then why have not these promises been fulfilled upon all who have prayed? The reply is given by St. James: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." And again he writes, "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering [doubting]. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." It is evident, therefore, that prayer offered to the one true God, who is Spirit, should be sincere and free from doubt. In order to be thus sincere, it must express the inmost desire, a hunger and thirst after righteousness that excludes all selfishness. This is real prayer, the prayer which the Holy Spirit teaches us, according to the word of God, the prayer which reaches God whether it is expressed in words or not. Usually prayer loses more or less sincerity when it is repeated aloud; our inmost thought is best adapted to bear our prayer to God. The Master said, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

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THE FULFILMENT OF PRAYER

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