SPEAKER: Christ Jesus placed tremendous value on the power of prayer. One account records that he spent all night in prayer. Another relates that "rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." The Master revealed the beauty and simplicity of true communion with God and its healing, regenerating effect.

What is true prayer? How is it answered? Well, first of all I'm going to ask Mrs. Monette Moreau, of Boston, Massachusetts, to tell you the results of prayer in her own experience. Then we'll talk some more on this subject.

MRS. MOREAU: At the time I found Christian Science my life was full of problems. Very unhappy circumstances had forced me to go back into the business world. I was very fearful at the thought of earning my living again because of a painful hip condition I'd had over a period of twelve years.

SPEAKER: What kind of work did you get into?

MRS. MOREAU: Well, I'd been a medical nurse before I married, and I found employment as Home Nursing Director for the Red Cross. But I was very unhappy and fearful. I didn't think I could hold down a job for any length of time. However, my troubles went deeper than that.

For a long time I'd been searching for an understanding of God that would satisfy me, bring an answer to my problems, and give me a reason for my being. I'd visited many churches but didn't find what I was looking for. I couldn't believe that a good God would punish man. Finally in desperation I prayed very earnestly to know what I needed to do to solve my problems.

Then one day some friends invited me to attend a Wednesday evening meeting at a Christian Science church. There were testimonies of healing, and as I listened I realized that Christ Jesus' teachings were indeed being practiced today in healing. This meant a great deal to me, and I began to study the Bible and also "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy very earnestly and attend church regularly.

From time to time I would talk with a Christian Science practitioner, and he gave me very satisfying answers about the nature of God. Gradually I began to gain an entirely new concept of God and of man's relationship to Him. I was healed of a number of things through Christian Science, and my life began to take on new meaning. I was much happier. Then a few weeks after I'd begun the study, I had a sudden attack of the hip condition. That was when I really found out how practical this understanding of God I was gaining could be.

Perhaps I should mention that these attacks would come every few weeks or so, and when they came I wouldn't be able to get up if I was sitting down. And I wouldn't be able to sit down if I was standing. I'd had many medical examinations and a lot of treatment. But the condition didn't improve. In fact, I was told that the hipbone was deteriorating, that nothing could be done about it, and that eventually I'd end up in a wheel chair.

Well, this particular day I was in the office alone. The pain was so severe I just cried. I didn't know what to do. Then it came to me very clearly to call this Christian Science practitioner I'd often talked with. He said he would help me right away through prayer. He asked me to think very deeply about a familiar passage from Science and Health. So I took each word and each line very slowly.

As I thought about the first sentence (p. 468), "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter," I could almost see the nothingness of matter. Then when I came to the second. "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." I began to think about the allness of Mind. I realized there could be no pain, no deterioration in the divine Mind. I went on reading and pondering the meaning of what I was reading. I guess I was completely lost in thought, because there wasn't any pain.

Then all of a sudden I realized that I was completely free. I got up and walked around the desk. And then I called the practitioner and told him I was all right. And of course I was very grateful. That was over fourteen years ago, and there's been no trace of the trouble since.

This healing made me want to study Christian Science more, and I found it answered my deepest questions about the nature of God. Over the years it has brought me a sense of closeness to God. The unhappiness and the fear disappeared. It has helped me to overcome such things as impatience, temper, and it is showing me how to be obedient to God. In fact, it has just made my whole life over.

SPEAKER: Thank you so much, Mrs. Moreau. We appreciate what you've told us.

It's only natural, friends, that as we gain a clearer understanding of God and of man's relationship to Him, we gain more confidence in the power of prayer. Very often the first step in prayer is a reaching out, a deep desire, to know God. It was so with our guest.

Christian Science shows that sincere desire itself is prayer. In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy asks the question (p. 2), "Are we benefited by praying?"She answers in this way: "Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void." Our guest's prayer was answered as her desire to know God led her to the understanding of God and man which Christian Science gives.

True prayer offers continual and increasing opportunities to prove its efficacy in every phase of our lives. And let me emphasize that this applies to the healing of physical diseases, even those generally considered to be incurable.

Christ Jesus gave very helpful counsel about praying. Once he said to his disciples, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

In line with this, Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 15), "In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness."

We enter into the heart of prayer by obedience to the First Commandment, by acknowledging the one God, divine Mind, or Spirit, as the only cause and creator. Then silently we pray. We dwell on the mighty allness of God divine Spirit. We affirm the infinite presence, power, and control of divine Mind.

Such prayer must naturally include also a denial of any reality in a material existence or power separate from God. So in Christian Science, prayer includes both affirmation and denial. It includes affirmation of God's allness and goodness and denial of any power or presence apart from Him. Our guest felt the demand to rise to the spiritual standpoint where she could acknowledge God's omnipotent power and presence and deny the reality of evil. She met the demand, and she was healed.

Such prayer effectively shuts the door on fear and suffering. It awakens us to recognize man's perfect spiritual identity as the child of God. The effect of living consistently with this prayer, letting it motivate and govern our lives, is healing and regeneration and a satisfying sense of achievement.

This is the beauty, the simplicity, and the healing result of true communion with God.

The musical selection on the program was Hymn No. 284 from the Christian Science Hymnal (Prayer is the heart's sincere desire).