When someone asks "Why do you pray?" there are several possible answers. Many people pray each morning in order to feel closer to God. Others wish to protect themselves from what they consider to be evil people. Some pray out of a fear of running into trouble at school or at work.

Each morning it's good consciously to affirm God's presence in our lives so as to better prepare for the day ahead. In the Bible the Psalmist exclaims, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:... to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary" (Ps. 63:1, 2). In another psalm we find, "Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee" (Ps. 143:8). These statements do not preclude our stopping to pray at other times. The Bible accounts show that Christ Jesus left his disciples and prayed whenever he felt the need to do so. Perhaps the most important thing is to ensure that we do take time to pray.

Through prayer we acknowledge that God is the one omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient Mind, and that as the children of God we are ideas of this Mind. Since God is the only Mind, good thoughts, wisdom, and intelligence come from this Mind, for it includes all true consciousness.

Sometimes, however, we find ourselves entertaining evil thoughts all day long. How can we get rid of them? We need to examine ourselves and reestablish a clear sense of God's presence and government in our lives. We also need to reject any false, or evil, thoughts and keep the good. We do all this through prayer and with a spirit of humility. We take divine perfection as the starting point of prayer, for this is the way to rise above evil. When we see that we are truly spiritual and subject only to God's omnipresent goodness, we lose our fear of evil. Knowing God's presence in our lives often takes diligent prayer, but through Christian Science we can meet this demand.

On other occasions, we may fear that people wish to hurt us or have malicious thoughts or intentions toward us. But through obedience to spiritual law, we can effectively defend ourselves. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake" (p. 442).

Our daily prayer, then, isn't to protect us against people we might call enemies, but rather to defend our consciousness against evil suggestions that we may mistakenly think belong to other humans. The enemies we need to defend against are jealousy, hatred, animosity, fear, selfishness, pride, injustice, dishonesty, infidelity, lust, the belief in lack, limitation, and witchcraft. They must be denied and cast out of our consciousness. Such prayer heals.

A Christian Science practitioner had seen a patient who was experiencing severe pain and swelling in her right leg and left arm. The patient had been to a doctor and had followed his orders, but there had been no improvement, so she had turned away from medicine to prayer. Since the condition was supposed to lead to paralysis, she feared that her marriage would fail and that she would have to give up her business because she was no longer able to walk long distances. As they spoke, the practitioner learned that the woman attributed the sickness to the belief that an evil spell had been cast on her. She asked him to pray for her.

In her conversations with the Christian Science practitioner, she was encouraged not to be afraid and to continue trusting in God, the sole creator, for He is Life and the source of all movement. She was assured that God was able to heal her and to restore her health.

With the help of the Bible and Science and Health, they saw clearly that the woman's true being, her life and substance, were not dependent upon bodily conditions, which are subject to discord. Rather, she was safe and loved in divine Mind. As an idea in omnipresent Mind, she could not be subject to violence, to mental malpractice, witchcraft, or materiality of any kind.

Within two days, the patient was again able to tend to her household chores. The Christian Science practitioner asked her to begin studying the Bible Lesson, contained in the Christian Science Quarterly, and to avoid harboring resentment against anyone. She was to acknowledge each moment that it is God who defines and constitutes our true identity, and that this identity is totally spiritual, never material. The patient continued studying the Lesson-Sermons. As she gradually progressed, she discovered that God alone is capable of all things, for He has all power. She was totally healed.

In the Manual of The Mother Church, Mrs. Eddy gives us clear guidance for our defense against the supposed activity of evil: "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind" (Art. VIII, Sect. 6). Through daily study of the Lesson-Sermon, we unite thought with our Father-Mother God and renew our certainty that our lives are governed by God. We feel the divine presence, a sense of safety and spiritual protection. This is true not only for us, but also for our environment and for all humanity.

Evil is not reality. Something that isn't real cannot harm man, the glorious and pure manifestation of God, perfect Mind. Right where the material senses see misery and discouragement, we can unflinchingly perform our duty to God and to our neighbor. This is accomplished through our daily prayerful work, which recognizes only the allness and love of God.