Article July 23, 1984 Issue

Our role in prayer

ROWLAND D. GEORGE

To a certain extent, praying might be likened to reading. When you open a book, you expect to gain information or enjoyment from it. You don't tell the book what you think, however; you respond to the ideas it contains. You "listen" to what it has to tell you, and then you can go on to make those ideas your own.

The analogy cannot be carried too far; divine Mind is infinitely greater than ideas contained on the printed page. But in a similar way, we need to listen, in prayer, to the answers God is providing for us. Our part in prayer is not so much pleading with God to do something as it is listening to Him, humbly accepting His will, however contrary to our human planning it may seem. The divine Mind is always available to us in the biggest as well as in the smallest—even humdrum—happenings of daily life.

Does this reversal of role in prayer, this listening instead of talking, seem to deprive you of your cherished privilege of pouring out your innermost longings to the loving Father-Mother, God? Have no fear. God blesses our heart stirrings. Listening to Him purifies them, separates the material from the spiritual, and allows nothing to cloud our vision of the Christ-example.

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