Article November 26, 1932 Issue

Prayer in Church

THORA B. BUCHANAN

THE disciples, in their plea, "Lord, teach us to pray," voiced the appeal of human hearts in all ages: Lord, teach us to find that which will satisfy our longings, fulfill our desires, put us into touch with something that is above us, better than we are, greater than we are; with something that has power, that is here; with something that knows, that acts, that expresses itself to us! It is a long road from the prayer which pleads, I want, to that which affirms in joyous realization, I have. It is the highway of changing hearts, which gather and sow as they travel on; of purified affections, which, loosening their mesmeric clutch on persons and things, turn, newborn, to Principle.

Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, through her inspired writings, has given us loving guidance along this highway whose goal is that perfect prayer of which she says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 16), "Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spiritual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord's Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick." She has even found it necessary to protect and guide our human footsteps with By-Laws about prayer, as Moses taught the children of Israel by precept and rule. In her Manual of The Mother Church we have the By-Laws "Daily Prayer" and "Prayer in Church" (Art. VIII, Sects. 4 and 5).

Obedience to the last-named brought a great blessing to a student. A member of her family being critically ill, she hesitated about attending the Sunday morning service, but finally decided to go, promising herself that she would keep right on with her mental work for the dear one. At the church door she was halted by the thought, What does the By-Law "Prayer in Church" mean when it says, "The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively"? The By-Law said "collectively"; it also said "exclusively"; and she felt that it must be a wholly impersonal spiritual prayer. She remembered one time when Jesus had said, "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." She knew then that she must leave her personal problem at the church door.

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