Article November 24, 1934 Issue

Praying Daily for Themselves

JUNE F. FLANDERS

EARNEST students of Christian Science find much to ponder in the paragraph in Mrs. Eddy's message to the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church, in 1896, which begins, "One thing I have greatly desired, and again earnestly request, namely, that Christian Scientists, here and elsewhere, pray daily for themselves; not verbally, nor on bended knee, but mentally, meekly, and importunately" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 127). From the wealth of her vast experience, Mrs. Eddy realized the need for this daily prayer of Christian Scientists for themselves. Eight years later, when the corner stone of The Mother Church Extension was laid, this paragraph containing our Leader's earnest request was included among the selections read in simple but impressive service (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 18). May we not do well most thoughtfully to consider this request and realize, to some extent, how Christian Scientists may pray daily, "mentally, meekly, and importunately" for themselves?

Why was it thus specified that our prayers should be mental? Why did our great Master once say to those multitudes who had gathered on the mountain side, "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"? A child who loves, and who is loved understandingly by his parents, quietly and in confidence takes his problems directly to them. There is no need for him to pray aloud before all his friends and neighbors; no need, indeed, for them to know anything about it. Then why should not all of God's children turn directly to their Father-Mother God, whose infinite wisdom and love are ever ready to inspire them? Rare, indeed, may be the need to pray in any other way. "And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

We often hear the expression "meek as Moses." In briefly reviewing the history of Moses, from the time when he first realized that God had directed him to lead the children of Israel out Egypt and through their subsequent experiences passing through the Rea Sea and in the wilderness, a Sunday school teacher helped her class to see that meekness, as expressed by Moses, was strength rather than weakness, courage instead of fear. The pupils realized that by his turning whole-heartedly to God and following divine guidance explicitly, no matter how impossible it had seemed to the grumbling thoughts of those around him, Moses had expressed a quality very different from that which is commonly associated with the word "meekness." Likewise, they saw that Christ Jesus also expressed meekness through these same desirable qualities of courage, confidence in God, strength, and perseverance. So the pupils came to the conclusion that true meekness lies not in a weak, passive submission to whatever difficulties may occur, but in willingness to listen for the "still small voice," and in the exercise of sufficient courage and strength to fulfill whatever direction that voice reveals.

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