When we drop a letter into the mail box, usually all care regarding the safety of that letter ceases. Train wrecks, fires, theft, or other casualties which might possibly overtake it do not enter our thought. We have written it, sealed it, and consigned it to other hands, with unquestioning faith in a Government which should give us a trustworthy mail service. Even the act of writing the letter may be forgotten until some days later when the answer is laid upon our desk. This speaks well for our faith in postal regulations; but have we the same faith in God's kindly care in our behalf? Do we pray to God with a faith as assuring?
If one were to question the average religious thinker upon the subject of prayer, he would rightfully refer to passages in the Scriptures which tell us that a supremely wise and loving Father guides, governs, and watches over the least of His little ones, even to the remotest regions of the earth. He has been thus taught from infancy. Acting upon this inference, which we believe to be wholly true, he proceeds to formulate his petition to God by word of mouth, which has been the world's popular concept of prayer since the days when the Pharisee was wont to pray upon the housetops and on the street corners of Jerusalem. The dictionary tells us that prayer is "an expressed petition; especially a supplication addressed to God." A petition suggests some real or fancied want as yet unsatisfied. Logically, then, our prayer implies a gift and a giver; hence there must naturally be a controlling motive which prompts the prayer, just as some motive prompts one to write a letter to which he expects to get an answer. The well meaning brother above referred to may tell us that God does answer prayer; and, of course, he expects an answer to his petition, else he would not have voiced it in words. An answer? Yes; but may there not linger in his consciousness a doubt which tempts him to ask, Will God answer soon, or must we wait?
We have the best of reasons for believing that Christian Science has solved the problem of true prayer. We have been taught that prayer is not necessarily made up of words breathed through human lips. It is right desire, the kind of desire for holiness that exalts and fortifies us against temptations. Where does such desire for holiness come from? Is it not from God? Right desire, then, is prayer and the answer, if one's conduct is in conformity with the prayer. An obedient yearning to live a Christian life is a priceless, heaven-sent desire, and desire for any righteous fulfillment would not come to us if the thing desired were impossible. Unlike the letter we have written, answer to which takes time, we find unquestionable guidance the moment the desire reaches us. Thus the answer to our prayer is given us in advance. How corroborative of this are the words of Jesus: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them,"—gospel proof that the implied faith, the desire, and the fulfillment of it are in fact all one.
