What does prayer mean to us? Is it just a word? How do we define and explain it? Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, states in "No and Yes" (p. 39): "Prayer is the utilization of the love wherewith He loves us. Prayer begets an awakened desire to be and do good. It makes new and scientific discoveries of God, of His goodness and power. It shows us more clearly than we saw before, what we already have and are; and most of all, it shows us what God is." No doubt each of us has his individual concept of prayer, but the prayer of the righteous heals the sick because it brings him into a clearer realization of man's closeness to God.
A desire for material things rather than for spiritual understanding or the exercise of human will in one's outlining cannot be righteous prayer. Such prayer can never heal the sick.
Christ Jesus was constantly in communion with God through prayer. He acknowledged God as All-in-all and recognized no other power. He taught his disciples much about prayer. A Christian Scientist learns to pray without ceasing. He cultivates the desire to be more Christlike, and he learns that the prayerful purification of thought helps to preserve health, harmony, peace, and understanding in his everyday experience.
