Editorial November 14, 1964 Issue

A Vital Element in Prayer

Carl J. Welz

Christian Science teaches us of a vital element which transforms into awakening truths the words we use in prayer. This element is the desire for spiritual understanding. Through such desire we consciously unite with Mind, God. We turn away from the limiting, material view of ourselves, and we acknowledge something of our existence as ideas of Mind.

The solution of a problem does not come through the mere repetition of many statements of truth in the hope that we may find the right one. Jesus said (Matt. 6:7), "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do." Successful prayer begins with a desire to understand the truth. God made man perfect in His own image, spiritual, not material. If we are to understand this, desire must rise above the mere wish to be healed. It must be spiritual.

If our desire is for no more than the healing of a discordant condition, we may believe we have been led to copy and use as formulas statements which seem to apply particularly to certain conditions. Or if we have been healed of a specific ailment while pondering a statement of truth, we may be tempted to believe that this statement is a sure cure for all ailments of this type. But this procedure actually delays healing, for it puts off the time when the vital element, the desire for Truth, takes over in human consciousness.

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