The motives behind prayer and the content of it are obviously of great importance. We may pray to express love where love is desperately needed; to be freed from sin (old or newly acquired); to be healed of an illness (or to heal someone else); to accomplish a difficult, worthy task; to seek divine guidance. Or we may pray for comfort in sadness, for freedom from fear, for shelter, for spiritual nourishment, for understanding. We may even pray sometimes to be sure God knows of our needs—to be sure He will not forget us.

Our innermost thoughts may not always be expressible in words, but prayer can be sincere, steadfast, and selfless without being phrased in audible words. And prayer that is sincere, steadfast, and selfless is effective prayer, a solid rock upon which to build.

The first chapter in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, is entitled "Prayer." In it we find her illuminating interpretation of the Lord's Prayer, which identifies God as "our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious." ^{See Science and Health, pp. 16-17.} Deep study of the Lord's Prayer is comforting, brings our thoughts close to God, and leads us into righteousness. We begin to pray more effectively. As James's epistle states, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." ^{James 5:16.}

Prayer may be considered a desire to inform God, to complain to Him about our circumstances, to petition Him for something we lack. Or in praying to Deity we may just be so grateful to Him that we are simply giving Him thanks—asking for nothing! Prayer may also be the devout communion with God that acknowledges His goodness and allness and rejects anything unlike Him; this is the prayer of Christian Science healing.

Since God, Mind, already knows all, we don't have to inform Him of our needs. Christ Jesus stated very clearly, "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." ^{Matt. 6:8.} And we read in Science and Health: "God is intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend?" ^{Science and Health, p. 2.} Likewise, praying in a complaining or despairing manner bears little fruit because one is denying God's omnipotence and giving strength, in one's own thought, to the erroneous belief that God lacks power and presence.

Petition, however, may sometimes be a natural and helpful form of prayer. When we petition God for guidance, ask for His help to overcome a difficulty, pray for Him to show us how to care for our children, we can trust God, divine Love, to answer our prayer. But requesting material riches, for instance, or detailing what we want from God is not effective prayer. Prayer doesn't tell God how to help us but seeks to follow His will—not our own. Then, too, gratitude to God is always an appropriate prayer. Many of the psalms are prayers of thanks.

A loved hymn whose words are adapted from Charles Wesley begins: "Peace be to this congregation; / Peace to every heart therein ..." The second verse starts: "O Thou God of peace, be near us. ..." ^{Christian Science Hymnal, No. 276.} Devout communion with God in prayer brings us the wonderful peace of knowing that God is with us. (He always is.) Accepting His peace, we find ourselves truly blessed—even healed! The most effective prayer, then, contains the solution to every need, because it brings us into accord with what is real. It is not of a ritualistic form, not contained in some secret formula, certainly not produced by the human will. It is the fruition of our closeness to God.

I felt the healing effect of understanding more of my own relation to God one Sunday a few years ago. My duties as Reader in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, required that I be able to speak clearly. But while I was getting ready to go to church I had all the symptoms of a severe cold. As I dressed I turned to God in prayer. I affirmed that God is All and denied that the condition had any power to challenge God's omnipotent good. Through the study of Christian Science I had been learning that evil, sickness, and death are not the irreversible things they appear to be, and that the man whom God created in His own image is spiritual—entirely perfect! I knew that in reality I could reflect only God, have only what my Father gives, and that in His perfection there is no error. I was free from the symptoms so rapidly and completely that the details of the difficulty are quite vague—but the healing is remembered as a sacred experience.

For over a century, students of Christian Science have been healing illness and inharmony through prayer. They do not rely upon or use medication, manipulation, or other material systems. This metaphysical method of healing is explained in Science and Health. It is firmly based upon Jesus' healings and teachings and the truths contained in the Bible.

Even healings which are not very dramatic make us grateful for this Christ Science. But if we expect to see the fruits of our prayers reliably realized in daily life, certain fundamentals must be practiced. We must follow God's laws and commandments, and the instruction and example of our dear Master, Christ Jesus, with our most fervent efforts. In doing this it is often helpful to set aside a time and place for prayer every day—though of course we would never limit prayer to just one time or location!

As we strive to be obedient to God, we will find His help and guidance always at hand. God's promise is lovingly stated in Isaiah: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." ^{Isa. 26:3.}

Recently I had another experience that illustrates the importance of keeping one's mind "stayed on" God. While cooking on a gas grill outdoors one cool evening, I backed up to the warmth of the fire. I backed a little too far, however, and badly burned the heel of my hand! Quickly, I felt a spiritual assurance that only God, good, governs every situation. I didn't focus on the hand but continued to pray silently for myself. I rejected the evil of the accident as firmly as I would have rejected a moral evil or a temptation. I continued cooking and the incident was soon forgotten. Three days later I thought of the burn, but as I looked at my hand I saw only a normal appearance! The immediate and sincere rejection of error, based on my understanding of God, divine Truth, had destroyed all evidence of the burn.

Prayer that affirms God's truths leads to harmony. Loving others—and living what we pray for in moral, Christian lives—is a sure recipe for both protection and healing. Prayer does have great impact on the healing of mankind's ills, and when we pray in this way we are practicing the love urged by Christ Jesus' "new commandment": "That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." ^{John 13:34.} Mrs. Eddy writes: "True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection. Prayer is the utilization of the love wherewith He loves us." ^{No and Yes, p. 39.}

As we gather this abundance of love from God, divine Love, and use it, we are practicing "true prayer," and the results make us certain that this is the most effective way to pray!