The Bible Speaks to You February 10, 1968 Issue

[The above is an abbreviated, postproduction text of the program released for broadcast the week of February 2-8 in the radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You." Heard internationally over more than 1,000 stations, the weekly programs are prepared and produced by the Christian Science Committee on Publication, 107 Falmouth Street, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 02115.]

RADIO PROGRAM NO. 305 - Meeting Daily Needs Through Prayer

Questioner: Very few people feel that their needs are ever fully met. II it's not more money to meet taxes or better health or more love and appreciation they need, it's something else. But often they don't see that prayer or divine help has very much to do with meeting these needs.
Speaker: Actually it doesn't, that is, if they turn to divine help just for things! The vital question for each of us is: Are we interested in telling God what we want or in listening to Him to hear what we need?

The Bible says (James 4:3), "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." Frequently what people ask for in prayer is not what they really need.
Questioner: What do you mean?
Speaker: Well, what we really need is spiritual growth, that is, growth in the understanding of God and of man's God-given nature. This growth comes through prayer— the prayer that puts a desire to know God ahead of any merely personal or selfish wants or desires.

There's nothing the matter with a prayer of petition. But if we want the answer to our prayer, we must learn to listen. And perhaps part of listening is the silencing of some of the suggestions of doubt, worry, distrust, selfishness, and self-will that come to us. As we silence these, we reach out beyond ourselves to an intelligence that we term the Mind that is God, the intelligence that governs the whole universe, including man.

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