"Have faith in God" is the admonition with which Christ Jesus introduced one of his emphatic statements concerning the power of prayer. And with prayer he accomplished beneficent results. He said that faith in God can remove mountains and bring fulfillment of every right desire. In the degree that we understand Christian Science, and appreciate and make use of God's goodness, we see the results of our faith in Him.
Modern schooling, with its emphasis upon understanding, insists that more than belief is requisite. This attitude may conflict with creedal religion, but in so far as it demands proof, it harmonizes with the Christian Science concept that Christianity is capable of demonstration. Rising above prejudice, the devout scholar finds that demonstrable truth in religion does not conflict with true Science or right scholastic activity. Furthermore, whether in church or in school, he finds that material belief must yield to spiritual understanding, and that faith must be seen as distinct from mere tradition.
"Faith in God" is a great need of humanity today, as it was when the master Christian preached; and a better understanding of the effective prayer he employed is vital to present demonstration. He proved that reliance upon God is essential, though he did not consider blind faith the desirable attainment. He maintained that any seeker with true faith in God can learn spiritual truth and through it become free. From his ministry we learn that knowledge of God is our true heritage. Like any other inheritance it must be utilized.
If one lacks faith, stimulating examples are at hand. The Way-shower's faith in God has inspiration for every Christian, especially when we consider that through succeeding ages his example of faith, together with his works, has wrought constant and unequaled blessings for humanity. The enduring accomplishments of Mary Baker Eddy are evidence of her faith in God and of its practical effectiveness. Similar faith, having wrought healing and benefit of every sort, prompts the testimonies which are given in Christian Science periodicals and weekly testimonial meetings. These testimonies indicate that through Christian Science the basis of effectual prayer is becoming more generally understood.
Mrs. Eddy's writings, the movement she founded, the periodicals she established, all declare her faith in and understanding of God. The Christian Science Monitor is a striking example of faith in good. In every department the Monitor presents such an abundance of good news that it gives courage even to the timid, and it deals with evils to be corrected from the standpoint of the might of right.
Faith, like every other good quality, improves with use. If we would increase our faith, we must live it more fully. All have confidence in such attributes as fidelity, purity, intelligence, love. Let us express these more fully and look for them in others; then they will become more apparent. As we realize the Christian Science teaching that every enduring quality is an expression of God and belongs to the individual as a child of God, we shall expect to see manifested right attributes in ourselves and others. Desire, with effort of this kind, is practical prayer. Faith in God improves our understanding of Truth.
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 297) Mrs. Eddy writes, "Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine." This statement indicates the course of spiritual progress in human thought. Belief in good is helpful, but belief in evil is pointless, powerless negation. Faith in Spirit in inspiring and beneficial; faith in matter is disappointing and self-destructive. It was the withering of the fruitless tree which he condemned, as told in the eleventh chapter of Mark, that evoked Master's insistence upon faith in God. This type of barren materiality faded at the rebuke of Truth. Its false appearance of substance and life in matter was proved a delusion. Thus the need for perpetual fruitfulness should turn us to seek more understanding of Spirit.
Failure to distinguish between the spiritual reality, God's goodness, and materialistic counterfeits of good, has always been a pitfall in the path of the Christian. Spiritual understanding is the sure guide in avoiding such a snare. It maintains the Messianic declaration, "There is none good but one, that is, God." It does not discredit any true expression of God seen in men, but it shows the divine source and character of all that is real, and rejects all claims that goodness is in matter.
The lesson of the barren tree shows that unfruitfulness is error. The desire and obedience that properly constitute Christian prayer accomplish much, but if one should fall short of the standard Christ Jesus set, or if one's efforts fail to accomplish the results he achieved, one must turn more fully to God for purer faith and demonstrable understanding. Many an individual, though working unselfishly for the good of his fellow men, misses the mark because his faith and understanding relate more to matter than to Spirit.
The Christian Science teaching that Spirit is also divine Principle offers the student an unfailing standard for testing his thoughts and conclusions, and lifting them above the limitations of what is termed natural science. Among religionists we see earnest Christians who show faith in God, but their zeal without spiritual understanding does not produce the good results that the Master said should characterize the work of his followers. As a remedy for this error Christian Science reveals the truth that God is Mind, and that man, the divine idea, is endued with perfect spiritual understanding. As one strives to reflect Mind by being gentle, helpful, faithful, the promised fruits to Spirit will appear.
We increase our faith in and understanding of God by cherishing, reiterating, and consciously expressing our spiritual relationship to Him. As we realize our unity with Spirit in Christian Science, we reject the claims of matter, disease, and all evil. To test our thoughts, words, and acts in order to determine if they are of God not only excludes all counterfeits, but augments our regard for the genuine and leads on to demonstrable spiritual understanding and its practical fruitage.
We are assured of the effectiveness of true prayer by these words of the Master: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." To pray with understanding is to affirm spiritual truth. It was a simple statement of truth that the Saviour used when, raising Lazarus from the grave, he prayed: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always." Our Leader voices her realization of God's government in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 278) where she says, "Let us have the molecule of faith that removes mountains,—faith armed with the understanding of Love, as in divine Science, where right reigneth."
