Article January 20, 1973 Issue

The Prayer That Cancels Anxiety

ROBERT McCLELLAN DAVIS

Praying with clarity and inspiration rules out lurking apprehension or fear. Thorough, fervent prayer cancels anxious thoughts that often push into one's consciousness. ...

Christ Jesus has given us a prayer, the Lord's Prayer, unsurpassed in its efficacy to calm and spiritualize our thought so that we can more effectively bless mankind. Also important is the instruction he has left on how we are to pray: "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."^{Matt. 6:6;}

Mary Baker Eddy illumines these words and shows us how we may cope with any intrusions. She writes in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health: "In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness."^{Science and Health, p. 15;}