Article June 11, 1927 Issue

Desire

MAY LILIAN SPURWAY

On page 1 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we find the statement, "Desire is prayer." In our human experience we are so constantly finding our most cherished desires unfulfilled that we may well ask what constitutes the desire which is effective prayer, the prayer of which Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you"—not, Ask, and it may be given you; but, Ask with complete confidence—"Ask, and it shall be given you."

The desires of mankind are many and various. To one suffering from sickness, the absorbing desire usually is for health and strength. To another battling against odds in the struggle of human existence, the most desirable thing may seem to be wealth or success. Yet another longs for friendship and love. As thinkers throughout the ages have realized, material health, wealth, success, all fall short of the highest good, and are incapable of bringing happiness or peace. We may even have the love of friends and relatives but be forced through the vicissitudes of human life to live apart from them. And so in human experience each one forms his ideas of what is desirable; and according to his faith, he prays and works for those things.

Now how, among all these desires, are we to discover that which is the essence of true prayer, and which will bring its answer with it, according to the words of the prophet, "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear"? Mrs. Eddy goes to the heart of the matter in the words which follow those first quoted. She says, "No loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds." Therein lies the secret; for even the best and highest of human desires need to be "moulded and exalted," or, in other words, spiritualized, before they become worthy of fulfillment.

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Quieting the Wind
June 11, 1927
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