Article April 1, 1944 Issue

The Power of Prayer

BARBARA J. LOWREY

From far and near, day after day, come testimonies of those who, when confronted by terrifying situations beyond human endurance, turn of necessity in prayer to the great Comforter and Saviour and find deliverance. More than ever before the peoples of the world are realizing that only by spiritual means can the need of humanity be met, and suffering, injustice, mad ambition, cruelty, and want be removed from the lives of men and nations. Thus are we, collectively and individually, seeking a clearer vision of how we may have our part in that prayer for the universal liberation and regeneration of men and nations. This awakening to and acceptance of the ever-present power of prayer, broadens and accelerates as a false sense of self is subdued and the good expressed by others rises in importance and in the occupancy of our thought.

Our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, gives to the world a solid foundation on which to premise its prayers when she states in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 1), "The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God,—a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love."

Naturally we ask ourselves: How can we pray more effectively? How can we include all mankind in our prayers? How can we lift our prayers into the realm of spiritual perception and demonstration? Is it not by subjugating personal desires and ambitions and steadfastly clinging to reality—to the oneness and inseparability of God and His idea, man? Regardless of error's insistent claims of time, space, circumstances, want, or woe, we need to hold thought firmly to the forever fact of God's omnipresence and omnipotence, never swerving from the "absolute faith that all things are possible to God." Our faith in the omnipotence and omnipresence of good must be strong enough to exclude all acceptance of other than spiritual means for our deliverance. In proportion as we discard fear and doubt, clinging to the truth that God alone preserves and provides for us, we shall gain for ourselves and others freedom and harmony. Confidence and assurance of deliverance will then possess our thinking, and the ways and means will be made plain to us. The ability to achieve this spiritual perception comes from acknowledging that God governs, directs, maintains, sustains, and protects His ideas.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

"Sufficiency in all things"