DURING the dark days of the American Civil War, when the affairs of state had become a burden almost too heavy to be borne by the chief magistrate of the nation, when hearts everywhere were filled with fear, and when the preservation of the Union was almost despaired of, it is stated that a woman in conversation with President Lincoln said to him, "Let us pray that God will be on our side." Without hesitation, Lincoln replied, "Let us rather pray that we may be on God's side." Whether or not these words were spoken as here related, Lincoln's reply is in keeping with the character of the man. It is just what we would expect him to say if addressed in the manner reported. He could have no lesser desire than that he and all others who were fighting for liberty might be found on the side of right, which is always God's side.
A helpful lesson may be learned from the reported saying of this great and good man, the one hundredth anniversary of whose birth was lately observed by the people who today enjoy many blessings because of his life of love and sacrifice. Mortals have wasted too much time in praying for God to be on their side; they have believed Him to be, or at least hoped He would be, at the beck and call of human pleading. Opposing interests and desires have sought to enlist the divine support, and with all the faith possible to blind belief mortals have hoped for and awaited the answer to their petitions. The Scriptures say of those who have prayed in vain, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." In other words, the prayer was not answered because it is not possible for God to bestow His blessings upon a false or untrue sense of life and its joys. Is not a wrong sense of things always wrong, even though it is believed to be right? A mortal may be in the wrong and yet be firmly convinced that he is right, but can he expect God to support and bless that which is wrong? An honest motive merits and receives a reward, but failure rather than success is the best reward for the undertaking that tends toward the selfish and the material and away from the unselfish and spiritual. If a man's prayer does not include a sincere desire to know the right and a willingness to depart from the wrong, he prays in vain.
If Christian Science inspires a greater faith in prayer, and it does; if prayer is found to be more effectual, and such is the experience of all those who have gained a practical knowledge of Christian Science, it is because Christian Science imparts a more correct thought of God and a truer sense of the purpose and motive of prayer. In Christian Science it is learned that the purpose of prayer is not to inform or influence God, but to bring humanity into accord with the divine Principle of all that is real. The Bible says that God is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." What God knows is true, what God does is good, and what He wills is inevitable. What then is mortal man that he should seek to change or influence God? The thought of God as something that can be depended upon is lost if it is believed that God is, or can be, subject to such influence. If the starting-point of prayer is wrong, it cannot be effectual; and if not effectual, it may retard progress, for it fails to furnish the proof of "God with us."
