"THE effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man," wrote St. James, "availeth much;" and James was a follower of him who said, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." It is to be noted that this apostle saw not only the power of true prayer, but that he discerned as well the reasons for unanswered prayer: "Ye lust, and have not," he declares. "Ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." This is an arraignment which brings the mortal face to face with himself upon this whole question; a charge which exposes self-interest, dishonesty, greed; an analysis which lays bare the whole human deflection from Godlikeness. The inspiration of righteous communion and the vanity of perverted petition were alike evident to this clear-eyed disciple; and they can be equally plain to the men and women who attain today a like measure of spiritual understanding.
Christian Science holds for the world a crystal-clear perception of prayer, and makes possible such prayer by revealing spiritual man, the likeness and image of God, as thinking no thoughts of his own but as always reflecting the divine Mind. To reflect divine Mind is perfect prayer. The petitions of mortals are so depressed with doubt, so excited by fear, so biased by self-will and so swayed by personal desire, that they offend the law of righteousness over and over again. The one acceptable prayer is that thought-process, whatever form it takes, which unselfs the purposes of the heart and makes God first in the affections; and this will lead, eventually, to the wholly right prayer. Mortals under stress of fear have called blindly to something, anything, outside themselves for help; yet even this misdirected effort of a self-preserving instinct indicates the need for help outside mortal resources and encourages hope for the acceptance of Christian Science, which leads to the understanding of God and purifies the heart which calls upon Him.
"Ye worship ye know not what," said Jesus to the woman of Samaria; "we know what we worship." And then he defined God as Spirit, and declared, "They that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." The worldly-minded have long prayed to they "know not what." The revelation, however, of all that is true about God, unfolded by Christ Jesus and again set forth in Mrs. Eddy's teaching of Christian Science, shows the Christian Scientist more of what he worships and helps him to pray with growing sincerity and grace. Christian Science elevates prayer, and will continue to uplift and enlarge it until it becomes that fervent and effectual thought-process of "a righteous man" which does avail.
