An eager group of disciples gathered about Jesus on one occasion and asked him to teach them to pray. Was it because their prayer had not always brought the desired answer? What did their prayer lack? Patiently the Master bore with these dull disciples, pointing out to them that in order to pray aright the human concept of God which presupposes Him to be a being who loves and hates, and refuses or grants the petitions of mortals according to variable will, must give place to the spiritual understanding of God as the infinitely good and loving Being who governs harmoniously every idea in His universe.
We gather from a careful study of the Master's teachings that it would be more futile to ask the all-loving Father to do more than He has already done for His creation than to entreat the sun to send out more light and heat to vitalize the teeming earth. We learn, also, that the real purpose of prayer is not to present ways and means to the creator whereby He will make known His unfailing goodness to all mankind, but, rather, to bring human thought into such submission to the divine Principle of harmony and perfection that it will give up its false beliefs in any power or presence apart from God.
The gospels show that Jesus attached no importance to the mere form of prayer, but he proved by his works that the efficacy of prayer lies in the apprehension of its spiritual import. His prayer was sometimes uttered in brief sentences— often in but few words. It always manifested the desire to glorify his Father in heaven. He utterly condemned the wordy and hypocritical prayers of the Pharisees, who egotistically desired to be heard of men.
