Article November 8, 1930 Issue

The Prayer of Confidence

ADELA LE PAGE

Confidence in God is a divine command; and an expectant attitude is required in order to gain an answer to our prayer. Christ Jesus said: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." This saying of Christ Jesus demands confidence and expectancy, qualities which are inseparable. In his epistle James presents the problem of how to pray for wisdom when he says: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 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."

Christian Science teaches mankind how to gain expectancy born of true confidence by revealing the truth about God and His creation, governed by immutable law. Understanding God to be infinite good, and the universe including man to be the reflection of good, gives one a basis for strong confidence.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 229) Mrs. Eddy says, "We cannot if we would and should not if we could, annul the decrees of wisdom." God is divine Principle, the origin of all real law. Knowing this destroys a false, personal sense of God, as able to be moved by human pleading and therefore changeable; and an understanding of the creator as the only lawmaker and lawgiver inspires confidence and assurance. Our beloved Leader has much to say about God and His law in a variety of aspects. In her book "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 206) she speaks of Him as "the active, all-wise, law-creating, law-disciplining, law-abiding Principle." With the understanding of God as infinite divine Principle, acting through immutable spiritual laws, we gain the confidence in His government that Christ Jesus manifested, confidence which is needed if we are to do the works he did and commanded his followers to do.

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