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Prayers of petition and praise
Whether it’s a humble asking or a joyful celebration, each prayer is unique.
Prayer is a great way to get close to God. I have seen how a growing understanding of the way I pray, raising my thoughts higher and higher with every step, helps me reach many vistas where I can see above valleys of despair. In my journey of studying different ways of prayer, I have realized that each prayer is unique: Jesus’ prayers were probably different than Moses’, different than Elisha’s, and different than Mary’s.
Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy has a whole chapter titled “Prayer.” As a young pupil attending a Christian Science Sunday School and learning of God’s love for His children, I became very familiar with this text early on in my life. I started filling my “spiritual backpack,” by studying the ideas in the chapter and keeping them with me as I went about each day. I soon discerned that Mrs. Eddy discusses many forms of prayer, and in fact states that “desire is prayer; . . .” (p. 1). I saw this definition as a call for God’s children to desire that which is good far more than what is in opposition to good. And to pursue good is to embrace a natural desire to obey the moral law, set out in the Ten Commandments.
When I read in the Bible, “Ask, and ye shall receive,” (John 16:24) I discovered that one form of prayer is “asking,” or the prayer of petition. After contemplating this second definition I took a step higher in my spiritual climb by understanding the importance of asking instead of demanding. I then found, in James 4:3, what not to ask for, and learned how to not “ask amiss.”
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About the author
S. P. James is an engineer and writer.
September 19, 2011 issue
View Issue-
Letters
Alistair Budd, Susan Burrows, Al Gemrich, Heather Frederick Brown, Jill Hood
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Working, healing prayer
Steve Graham, Managing Editor, Sentinel, Journal, and Heralds
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Strong sales for new Common English Bible
Diane Morrow
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Christianly scientific prayer
By Allison Phinney
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How does prayer work?
Kathleen Chicoine
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Prayers of petition and praise
By S. P. James
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Silence
Dardie Dunlap
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Preserving innocence in children
By Marilyn Wickstrom
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Lonely? Play by God’s rules
By Dorian Atkins
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Let Love write our life script
By Diana Davis Butler
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From the office of the Treasurer
Lyon Osborn
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Prayer on the apartment hunt
By Jodie Swales
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A testimony meeting — anywhere, anytime
By Alice Moseley
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Roman holiday
Wil Meacham
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The truth behind today’s news headlines
Tony Lobl
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A journey to the ‘holy city’
By Nancy Fischer
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Knee pain healed
Lauren Nofsinger
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Two significant healings
Susan Ozanne
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Christian Science heals quickly and wholly
Charles T. Maack
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Breaking the pull of contagion
The Editors