Article June 5, 1943 Issue

Spontaneous Prayer

ROYAL P. MAULSBY

The student of Christian Science who desires to heal quickly, completely, and permanently, will soon be led to discover how this is to be accomplished. He will begin to understand that while he serves an apprenticeship in which he heals by arguments, he cannot remain content with this method. He must know that arguments, while they may lead thought to the vital truth of being, cannot in themselves reveal the ever-perfection of reality. The act of turning to God must become spontaneous and habitual. This gives the individual a spiritual awareness of God's presence—an attitude of unceasing prayer. Thus minded he does not have to turn to the One in whom he lives and moves and has his being, for he realizes he is inseparable from Him.

Of the consummate power of Christ Jesus to restore immediately to wholeness all in need of his tender ministrations, Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 12), "It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth,—of man's likeness to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love." His prayers sprang from spontaneous awareness of his Father's kingdom, and thus he could logically and instantly refute mortal mind's claim to presence and power. He demanded the fruit of his work and taught his disciples the infinite possibilities of a right understanding of God, an understanding which was later to be revealed in Christian Science.

Thus the Christian ideal for which we strive is to emulate all our Master's ways and works, and we need to grow spiritually to attain this goal. We may need arguments sometimes in our healing work, but we should not confine our work to these: we should reach out always for the spirit. We have cause for rejoicing that healing is often instantaneous and complete; and surely every immediate healing of less important difficulties will perfect our ability to solve bigger problems without delay. Mrs. Eddy writes on pages 6 and 7 of "Rudimental Divine Science": "The proof of what you apprehend, in the simplest definite and absolute form of healing, can alone answer this question of how much you understand of Christian Science Mind-healing. Not that all healing is Science, by any means; but that the simplest case, healed in Science, is as demonstrably scientific, in a small degree, as the most difficult case so treated."

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