The Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy includes a section titled “Prayer in Church.” It lies in close proximity to other fundamental sections such as “A Rule for Motives and Acts,” “Christ Jesus the Ensample,” “Daily Prayer,” and “Alertness to Duty.” The section reads: “The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively” (p. 42). Why is this pointed instruction about what to pray for in Christian Science services so helpful?
Beyond passive listening to readings or music, participating in the services and meetings in Christian Science churches provides a unique opportunity to love God and our fellow man with our whole heart through praying together. Of course there are many ways to pray, but one way of describing prayer, at Christian Science church services and elsewhere, is the deep desire to be what we truly are—selfless expressions of divine Love, created in the image and likeness of God (see Genesis 1:26, 27), free of fear, sin, and self-will. To be genuine, that desire has to be expressed not just when attending services twice a week but in daily living.
The New Testament brings out that those who are Christ’s (and in Christian Science one might say those who have made a wholehearted effort to follow Christ Jesus) have “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). This means recognizing one infinite Spirit and oneself and others created in the likeness of this Spirit. This high standard, which lifts us all up, and which we can all aim for and achieve, implies abandoning the pains and pleasures of the flesh or matter and having pure thoughts, motives, and actions. Then one naturally brings that purity to one’s prayers in church.
