Editorial July 14, 1962 Issue

The Efficacy of Righteous Prayer

Ralph E. Wagers

Christian Scientists look with interest upon the efforts of other religionists to make healing the sick through prayer an important part of their ministry— as essential as the healing of sin. Such healing ministry must surely bring needed vitality to the church. It will enable Christians to prove the value of Christ's Christianity in meeting all needs of mankind, physical as well as moral.

James declared (5:16), "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Such prayer involves spiritual discernment, the ability clearly to discern spiritual facts and to see the difference between these facts and the material falsities that present men as sick and sinful. This discernment brings confidence in the efficacy of righteous prayer. It brings consistency and success to the healing effort.

Spiritual discernment separates what is real from what is merely apparent and brings reality into our human experience. It always takes the side of Truth and is able to overcome error on the basis of its unreality, its illusiveness. It exposes the falsity of whatever is not true, regardless of how true it may seem to be. One who prays with discernment does not approach either disease or sin as a reality but as a deception.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

The Efficacy of Righteous Prayer

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access