It is stated in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy (Art. XX, Sect. 3) that the first lessons for the children in our Sunday Schools shall be the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and its spiritual interpretation as given by our Leader on pages 16 and 17 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and that portion of the Sermon on the Mount which is known as the Beatitudes. These three great spiritual revelations in the Scriptures constitute the fundamental laws of righteousness. In their application to human conduct they form the foundation of true education. The Commandments, spiritually understood, unfold the moral and spiritual law, the basic law of being; the Beatitudes reveal the beauty, power, and blessedness of Christlikeness, and the Lord's Prayer shows forth the truth of man's unity with God and its application to human needs.
In "No and Yes" (p. 39) we read: "Prayer can neither change God, nor bring His designs into mortal modes; but it can and does change our modes and our false sense of Life, Love, and Truth, uplifting us to Him." And in the next paragraph Mrs. Eddy further illuminates the meaning of prayer where she says: "Prayer begets an awakened desire to be and do good. It makes new and scientific discoveries of God, of His goodness and power. It shows us more clearly than we saw before, what we already have and are; and most of all, it shows us what God is." This profound statement concerning the nature and effects of prayer applies to the Lord's Prayer and its spiritual interpretation, for we find as we advance in our spiritual understanding of this prayer that we are continually making "new and scientific discoveries of God, of His goodness and power;" and as we apply these discoveries to our human problems, we learn more of what "we already have and are" and "what God is."
Perhaps no revelation of Truth has been more misunderstood than the Lord's Prayer. It has been used by Christians in civil and religious ceremonies, in songs and sermons, until it is in danger of losing its spiritual significance. But because this prayer expresses the universal desire of mankind for spirituality, it has universal appeal. This prayer was the outgrowth of our Master's conscious communion with his Father and our Father, divine Mind; it shows forth his certainty of man's unity with his Maker, divine Love. Because of this, it still has the same power to heal ignorance, sickness, and sin as it had centuries ago when Christ Jesus gave it to the world (Matt. 6:9-13).
