"Sweet silent prayer, sweet silent prayer,
Thou art the shining angel stair
Where thought climbs up to God and then
Brings back His blessings unto men."
Listening to these words from the solo sung at a communion service in a Christian Science church, a member of the congregation was awakened to a profound sense of gratitude for the provision made in the Manual of The Mother Church for silent prayer in all Christian Science church services. A sweet sense of God's nearness and of His tender recognition of all who humbly seek Him in sincere adoration comes like a holy benediction to those who commune with Him in the period given to silent prayer. Experiencing this hallowing influence in the church service quickens and confirms the natural turning to God for help at all times and under all conditions.
To the student of Christian Science the Bible and the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, are true and unerring guides to spiritual attainment. Our Leader recognized that the ability to pray aright is a requirement in the growth and development of Christian character. She devoted the first chapter in her textbook to an exhaustive treatment of the subject of prayer; and she has made it clear that in order to pray effectually it is necessary to affirm the omnipotence and omnipresence of God and the reality of good alone, and to deny the seeming existence and activity of evil. The student discovers that both spiritual law and the gospel underlie the prayer which heals the sick and reforms the sinner.
