Chapter I - Prayer
Prayer for the sick
12:1
"The prayer of faith shall save the sick," says the
"The prayer of faith shall save the sick," says the
Scripture. What is this healing prayer? A mere re-
quest that God will heal the sick has no
power to gain more of the divine presence
than is always at hand. The beneficial effect of
such prayer for the sick is on the human mind, mak-
ing it act more powerfully on the body through a blind
faith in God. This, however, is one belief casting out
another, – a belief in the unknown casting out a belief
in sickness. It is neither Science nor Truth which
acts through blind belief, nor is it the human under-
standing of the divine healing Principle as manifested
in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and con-
scientious protests of Truth, – of man's likeness to
God and of man's unity with Truth and Love.
12:16
Prayer to a corporeal God affects the sick like a
Prayer to a corporeal God affects the sick like a
drug, which has no efficacy of its own but borrows its
power from human faith and belief. The drug does
nothing, because it has no intelligence. It is a mortal
belief, not divine Principle or Love, which causes a
drug to be apparently either poisonous or sanative.
12:22
The common custom of praying for the recovery of the
The common custom of praying for the recovery of the
sick finds help in blind belief, whereas help should come
from the enlightened understanding. Changes in belief
may go on indefinitely, but they are the merchandise of
human thought and not the outgrowth of divine Science.
Love impartial and universal
12:27
Does Deity interpose in behalf of one worshipper,
Does Deity interpose in behalf of one worshipper,
and not help another who offers the same measure of
prayer? If the sick recover because they
pray or are prayed for audibly, only peti-
tioners (per se or by proxy) should get well. In divine
Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail them-
13:1
selves of God as "a very present help in trouble."
selves of God as "a very present help in trouble."
Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and
bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, "Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters."
Public exaggerations
13:5
In public prayer we often go beyond our convictions,
In public prayer we often go beyond our convictions,
beyond the honest standpoint of fervent desire. If we
are not secretly yearning and openly striv-
ing for the accomplishment of all we ask,
our prayers are "vain repetitions," such as the heathen
use. If our petitions are sincere, we labor for what we
ask; and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward
us openly. Can the mere public expression of our de-
sires increase them? Do we gain the omnipotent ear
sooner by words than by thoughts? Even if prayer is
sincere, God knows our need before we tell Him or our
fellow-beings about it. If we cherish the desire hon-
estly and silently and humbly, God will bless it, and
we shall incur less risk of overwhelming our real
wishes with a torrent of words.
Corporeal ignorance
13:20
If we pray to God as a corporeal person, this will
If we pray to God as a corporeal person, this will
prevent us from relinquishing the human doubts and
fears which attend such a belief, and so we
cannot grasp the wonders wrought by infi-
nite, incorporeal Love, to whom all things are possible.
Because of human ignorance of the divine Principle,
Love, the Father of all is represented as a corporeal
creator; hence men recognize themselves as merely
physical, and are ignorant of man as God's image or re-
flection and of man's eternal incorporeal existence. The
world of error is ignorant of the world of Truth, – blind
to the reality of man's existence, – for the world of sen-
sation is not cognizant of life in Soul, not in body.