St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-09
One Of the Best of the Series
by the Talented Young
Woman.
The Discourse Devoted to the
Efficacy Of General
Prayer.
Some Of the Ethics OF Peti
lions Addressed to the
High Throne.
The Christian Science Idea Of
Divine Suppliea-
ton.

In the eleventh chapter of Luke. a
sus saying, (Which of you shall have
friend, and shall go unto him at mid
night and say unto him, Friend, lend
me three loaveS.' | say unto
you, though lie will not rise and give
him because he is his friend, yet be-
cause of his importantly he will rise
and give HIM as many as he needeth.
And say unto you, ask and 1t shall be
given YOU" etc.
This passage, separated from the gen
eral context OF Jesus teachings, would
Indicate that God heard us for our
"much speaking" but we find in Matt.
vi, Z: But WHEN We pray, use not
vain repetltions, as the heather do:
they think that they shall be heard Tor
their much speaking"
If we haven't the holy spirit. divine
science, to interpret the Scriptures, we
find seeming contradictions in the Mas
ter'S teachings. But, If we have this
witness with us. we discover the spirit
ual meaning sweeping like a flame OF
fire throughout the holy pages. con
Stunning all the error which a human
construction would put upon His words.
1t pleading and Informing the divine
mind, and vain repetitlons such as the
heather use are of no avail to move
God 20 answer prayer, why did Jesus
say we should be heard because Of our
importantly? The definition Of lmpOr-
tdnitv is urgent request; but a request
is first desire Ill thought. Then He
certainly meant we should be heard be-
canSe Of our urgent desire And so He
taught saying: "Your Father knoweth
we have need OF these things before We
ask Him. Is not this Identical with
the statement III Science and Health,
''Desire is prayer"
The habit of pleading long and earn
estly, and OF repeating a request again
and again, is contrary to jesus teach
ingS and practice, and an insult to God.
The belief that evil is a natural at
tribute of man, and that God visits man
with sickness. trouble and temptation to
test his spiritual strength, these beliefs
form the foundation and superstructure
Of all evil. And as long as man per-
siSts in these beliefs prayer to God to
heal, to give strength to resist evil, to
beStow blessings, Will be more OF less in
vain. The sin itself is the belief i'll the
reality and power of evil. and man must
turn to God for help to rise out of the
beliefs. Jesus came to lift man to the
understanding that God is the only
intelligence and life of man. the only
Father or Creator, and when man &C
ceptS that faith he will then be in an
attitude to obtain answer to prayer.
But to ask God tO"deliver US from eviP'
while believing evil to-be an all-power-
full intelligence is ASKING amisS. and it's
mockery to add ''for thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory" If the
l. Nd I,H trlni.u An (rf1Afc
then the evil to be delivered from is the
false belief that evil is an Intelligent
devil having control over man. The
heavens declare the glory of God"
The earth is the Lords, and the full
ness thereof" and His kingdom is
from everlasting to everlasting" there
fore, there is no place nor time wherein
Satan reigns, or even exists.
Jesus said it is His will that none
should perish. but all should come to
knowledge of the truth; also, ut is
your Fathers good pleasure to give you
the Kingdom and "hoW much more
will your Father in heaven give good
things to them that ask Him." So we
know it surely is His will to beStOW all
good. anu we should diSbelteYe that
evil has possession of us, but know that
we are in possession of all good. This
ID IldNiIS IllC ItltiEO W DON lOlf tNith ~
that kind of faith we would soon con-
scousiy possess all things.
The only prayer which obtains the
sure answer Jesus promised is that
which knows God is both willing and
able to bless that He pOurs blessings
continually. and that man enjoys these
bv 50 understanding God and living III
Harmony with Him.
When one begins to understand, in
divine science, the illusory nature of
evil and the absolute and Interchangeable
goodness of God and the real man, his
ideas of prayer commence to change.
Instead of pleading with God to pardon
sin as reality, he seeks that pardon
which is the destruction of the sense of
sin Goods only pardon of SIN is His
destruction of it," Sin now looks
blacker to him than ever, but He
knows it to be as unnatural to him as
to his Father. He is lifted into the
sense of an eternally unfallen upright
ness as Gods offspring. whereby he
cries, abba Father" This conscious
ness of his relation to God destroys sin
necessarily, since sin is his unconscious
ness of this relation.
In the understanding and living of
| Christian science prayer hourly search
| eth the deep things of the heart. 1t is
more than gong apart at set time to
! seek God-it is seeking God in the
| publication of every thought and mani
| Testing Him in the love of every word and
! act. Prayer becomes acknowledgment,
! desire. praise, effort and triumph. Ac-
! acknowledgement of the perfectneSs of
! God and HIS creature man; desire to
! dwell consciously in that oneness with
! the Father which is mans spiritually
natural state, wherein is no sense of
/ evil: praise for the WOndrouS love and
| goodness which this realization reveals
! effort to bring out i'll his life the sweet,
| character Of Christ, and the triumph of
| this effort in the healing of sickness and
vanishing of sin, replaced by growing
! health and holiness.
! Thus prayer with the true Christian
| scientist is not so much petition for
| goodness, but the demonstration of it.
! Not asking God to make him better. but
! being better, because goodness is the
only life of man. When Jesus discl-
pies pied with Him to give them faith,
| He replied that if they had faith as a
! grain of mustard seed nothing would be
/ impossible unto them. He knew faith
(confidence) came through understand
ing, desire and effort, and they could
| nave 1t, Dul lie cOulu uOb UeSlOW IL upon
| any one. Remember, "A request that
! another may do our work for US never
does our work"
would say TO all, in Christian science
and out Of it, that pleading with God
and repeating requests over and over
! is an atfront to God and works harm to
ourselves. 1t strengthens the feeling
| that lie cannot, or will not, OF has not,
| answered, and that we may persuade
Him to change His mind. After ex-
/ pressing our request in desire or word.
| we should never repeat, put know the
| prayer is answered on Gods part. and
/! that we will be conscious of that answer
it we have fulfilled the conditions of
| holy living and confidence.
| The time comes to us all when life is
| one continuous prayer, when we have
no appointed hour for prayer, for all
| hours are alike except that sometimes