THE heart hungering for righteousness, or yearning for surcease from earthly ills, seeks closer communion with the loving Father through prayer. Of primary importance to every individual is his assured power to approach God with faith unshaken in his ability to pray aright. Once when Jesus "was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples," doubtless feeling the need of an abiding faith in the power of prayer, such as that of the Master, said, "Teach us to pray." Today many are turning, and not in vain, to Mrs. Eddy's teaching on this subject, and with the light Christian Science throws on the Scriptures they are gaining an understanding of the office of prayer and of how to pray.
Through Christian Science we learn that prayer is desire for holiness and understanding, desire that leads men Godward. It is like the turning of a flower to the light, unfolding its petals and sending forth its fragrance and beauty in the warmth and light of the sun. As we unselfishly and lovingly open our consciousness to God through prayer, receiving the pure spiritual ideas whose source is divine Mind, God, and expressing them with overflowing heart, we truly prove that our prayers are opening to us God's kingdom, where good abides.
Earnest, importunate desire to know the truth opens thought to Truth, and leads it into an understanding of the spiritual dominion which God bestows. Prayer is the desire to know the truth that fulfills Jesus' loving counsel, "Ask, and it shall he given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Plainly the Master intended his followers to ask for and persistently seek spiritual things, or ideas, which unfold all good, even to the furnishing of a table in the wilderness, for nothing is impossible to God.
