THE NATURE OF PRAYER

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 49, 20 November 1937, Page 9

THE NATURE OF PRAYER

Christian Science Lecture in Hastings HEAL1NG OF SICKNESS A lecture on Christian Science entitled ' ' Christian Science Illumines Prayer" was given by Mr. Gavin W. Allan, C.S.B,, of Toronto, Canada, membor of the Board of Lectureship Of The Mother Churchf The Pirst Church oi Chfist, Scientist, in Bbston, Massachusetts, in Hastings yesterday, In its most primitive form, ha said, prayer is doubtless a cfy for heip just a cry. Suppose a- cliild has been vvarned by his lather not to do a cer-. tain thing, but disregards this warnmg and gets into a predicament from which he cannot free himself, his-lirst impulse is to cry for help. So it is with us children of a large growth; when we fiud ourselves in ditiiculty and see no way of extricating ourselves, "we cry for help. Men who, when their affairs are running smoothly, when their business is flourishiflg, whcp their health is good, attribute their success to themselves and rarely ucknowledge the preseiice of a higher power; when reverses cotne, when cpurage faiis, when they are ' f gt their tvit 's end, Then they corae unto tho Lord." But there is a higher form of prayer than the self-pitying cry for help. Suppose the child had listened to tho warning of his father, and desired to comprehend his father 's point of view and to bring himself into complete harmony with it. Would not such a desire of itself illustrate a kind of prayer "f In other words, wpuld not Listening for God's voice be a higher form of prayer than Cryihg to God? We may begin by listening. And then, as Mary Balter Eddy tells us iu the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to thq Scriptures" (p. 261), tho nest stqp is to "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your esporience proportionably to tlieir occypancy of your thoughts"; that is, listen for the good, f'hold thought steadJ fastly" to the good, and you will experience the good, Could any thing be moro reasonable? Let ua look at auother phase of the subject. Perhaps no misconception of prayer is more common than the beiief that it is a meana of getting God to do our will, legardless of whether it mqy be really good for iis, Such a ooncept of prayer ig, of course, basqd on a belief that Gqd is changeable, ami that His purpose or His reluctanqe may possibly be changed by our entreaty ot importunity. I would like here to quote a sentcnce from Arehbishop Trench. He wrote: "AYe must not conceive of prayej as au overcoming of God 's reluctgnce, but as a laying hold of His highest wijlingness. " In othqr words he a^W that prayer is not begging or demand' ing; rather is it accepting. But someone may ask, Does not prayer, or what is called effe'Ctual prayer, produce a ehauge? It surely does, but not a changq in God, But it may change Us. It may clear away some of the., obstruetions Which have been preventing our receiving or ac* copting the good that is ours. It may awaken in us a keener awareiiess pf God's nearness, of His love for us, of His abundant provision for our ueed. Are we accepting what God ha§ given 11s? Are we acqepting what is eterii' ally true about oursqlves? The healing of sickness through prayer is no more a violation of the law of life than is the coireeting of a mistake in arithmetic a violatipu pf the law of numbers. In either case the proeess is mental, and requires sfrict dbedience to the principle jnvolvcd. In solving the problem in mathematics ono begins with the convictiqn that there is a correct solution, therq is a c.orrect answer; that it existg now, and that an intelligent adherenpe to the principle of mathematics apd an application of the rules involved will reveal the answer. So in the healing of sickness, prayer begins with tho conviction that man'p every righteou'S need is already supplied by God, and if oue intclligently conforms to the rules of inetaphysical healing as lai-d down in the Christian , Science textbook, if he aecepts the governmenfc of divine Principle, thus utilising God's ever-present law of harmony, the answor to his prayer will be revealed. Ho will proyp that ma.n is well now. Through true prayer be will be able to prove that the Ghrist heals to-day as surely, gs naturally, and as inevitably as when our Maqter utilised God's law tp meqt men's needs centuries ago. You will remember pn ope occagion •jesus' disciples asked him tq teaCh them to pray, and ip reply he gaVe them six b.rief sontences, which huve since come to bq knowu as the LPTd's Prayer. Bnt he also taught thpm bow Lo pray. He said, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thfth liast shut thy door, pray to thy Father whieh is in seeret." He implied that prayer is so intimately personal that it is not intcndcd for others' eyes or ears; that it bclongs to tlio realm of consciousncss alone; that prayer is a recognition of God's allness, and Hia e\er-preseufc availability to mqptl man'a every neod. ° Tho leeturor closod by ropoating, •lauise by clause, tjie Lord's prayer an(7 tho spiritual interpretation of that prayer as given on pages 1(5 and 17 of Christian Scienee textbook. i.i i i \> i— wm mmmmm