Daily Practice January 5, 2026 Issue

“Are we benefited by praying?”

Jennifer McLaughlin

Mary Baker Eddy poses this question in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures—and immediately follows with the answer: “Yes . . .” (p. 2). As I was reading this passage recently, the words stood out to me as if they were the only ones on the page. It’s so clear: Yes, we are benefited by praying. I thought about that arresting, confident statement for days.

As I reflected, I realized that Mrs. Eddy expands on that “Yes” to give an even bigger sense of its promise. The full passage reads: “Are we benefited by praying? Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void.” In this, we have a magnificent assurance that God hears and blesses our prayers and that they are effective. But if it doesn’t feel that way to us, it’s important to note that this inspired direction indicates a specific type of prayer: “the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness.”

So if our role is to hunger after righteousness, what does it mean to do that? It must be important, for Christ Jesus referenced it in the part of his Sermon on the Mount known as the Beatitudes: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). To be hungry for something is to want it, to seek it, to not be satisfied until we get it.

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