ONE of the valuable assets gained through the study and application of Christian Science is the knowledge of the power of prayer and its availability in the needs of mankind. Rightly understood, prayer is the inbreathing of the spiritual, life-giving power of God; it is "the Christian's vital breath." Prayer is the means of communion with God. That is an established fact, and its utilization is indispensable to mankind.
Every desire for good and hungering after righteousness is a prayer known to the Father in secret and is rewarded openly. Prayer might be termed the gateway to heaven; but to enter therein, material sense must be silenced. Whatever inharmonies may seek to intervene, we can enter into the heart of prayer and be at rest, solaced by the peace which passeth all human understanding. There errors lose their falsely claimed ability to engender fear or discouragement. Man, the image and likeness of God, reflects God's qualities. When we gain this knowledge, prayer becomes more than an outpouring of supplication, even a confident affirmation of the affluence, power, and activity of good as man's rightful heritage.
In times of loneliness or sorrow we affirm man's inseparability from God, divine Love, and His all-embracing, tender care. In sickness we cling to the consciousness of our real at-one-ment with Life, God, and in the illumination of this fact the shadows of sickness and death flee away. Through seasons of lack or stress, persistent affirmation and realization of our heavenly Father's affluence and boundless store of good will bring these proportionately into our experience. In daily living we draw from divine Mind's infinite store of ideas to guide and protect us, and to enable us to accomplish all that is right for us to do. So we find that God is indeed All-in-all, our sustainer, and the provider of all our needs.
