Article November 5, 1949 Issue

OUR "DAILY PRAYER"

EVERETT MILTON HALL

Members of Churches of Christ, Scientist, assume the duty to pray each day, "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!"

This remarkable prayer, given to us by Mary Baker Eddy in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. VIII, Sect. 4), is surely the epitome of humanity's guide to salvation. To gain its full import, however, one needs to understand the prayer in the light of Christian Science, and it behooves each of us to carefully study and ponder its meaning. As we grow in spiritual understanding, the prayer will become increasingly useful to us. The frequent testimonies of Christian Scientists who relate that the use of the prayer has enabled them to overcome human discord and to establish harmony in their lives are the irrevocable proof of its efficacy.

While the spiritual meaning of the prayer unfolds to each one individually, the following is the way it unfolded to one student of Christian Science. The statement, "Thy kingdom come," is of course quoted from the Lord's Prayer, and its spiritual interpretation has been given by Mrs. Eddy as, "Thy kingdom is come; Thou, art ever-present" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 16). God's kingdom, the reign and realm of harmony, is here declared to be a present reality. And since man, as revealed through Christian Science, exists as God's expression, or manifestation, when we pray, "Thy kingdom come," do we not also assert our unity with God as His idea? The opening statement of the prayer is, then, a sweeping affirmation of God's omnipresence. It is the base upon which the whole prayer rests. In the light of Christian Science it is the affirmation of a spiritual kingdom of complete harmony, a declaration of the ever-present reign of God.

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