IN the beautiful chapter entitled "Prayer" in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy sets forth the nature of true prayer—the prayer which is always answered. A careful study of this chapter teaches us how to turn to God as confidently as did the Psalmist when he sang (Ps.17:6), "I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech."
Does one feel that his prayers are fruitless and unanswered? Christian Science encourages us and teaches us how to approach God correctly in our prayers. Then, however small our understanding may be, we gain assurance that we have prayed aright and that our prayers will be answered. With what compassion and understanding Mrs. Eddy discerned the willingness and ability of divine Love to meet all human needs! She says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 81), "In the desolation of human understanding, divine Love hears and answers the human call for help; and the voice of Truth utters the divine verities of being which deliver mortals out of the depths of ignorance and vice."
In Science we learn the importance of approaching God from a correct point of view. Mankind generally are prone to turn to God from the standpoint of a sick, discordant, unhappy mortal petitioning for release from human woe. Science, on the other hand, reveals God as infinite good; as "a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1); as divine Love, Principle, Mind, forever pouring forth tender love upon all. And man is revealed as God's perfect child, His spiritual image and likeness, innocent and free, experiencing only God's inexhaustible goodness and love. It is from this basis or standpoint that Christian Scientists learn to pray. They pray to God not as an absent stranger, but as an ever-present friend whom they learn to understand, to cherish, and to depend upon at all times and in all circumstances.
