TO be successful in any line of endeavor a worker must utilize the proper means to achieve success. Spiritual endeavor is no exception to the rule. The Christian Scientist, working to prove for himself the allness of Spirit, and thereby help mankind, cannot adopt haphazard methods. He must choose proved means which ensure spiritual progress and protect him against mistakes and retrogression.
Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, designates these essential aids to successful spiritual attainment. She states (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 1), "Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind." To enjoy the benefits of this divine revelation, students of Christian Science must follow the rules for progress laid down by the revelator. Surely there is no wisdom in seeking and finding the true means for spiritual achievement and then acting as if we had not found them!
Prayer, as a means for accomplishment, has been tested by multitudes, the proof of its practicality depending upon the petitioner's understanding of Him who answers prayer. Witnessing the wonderful works performed by Christ Jesus through prayer, his disciples requested him to teach them how to pray. He told them to have faith in God. The deep significance of his admonition is disclosed in Christian Science, which rests upon the Scriptural teaching that God, good, is omnipresent. The Christian Scientist's faith in God, therefore, is not merely a blind belief in the existence of Deity; it is a conviction that the infinite presence of God excludes everything unlike good.
