WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015
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THE BIBLE
PSALMS
113:3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.
86:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
JEREMIAH
29:11 … I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
I SAMUEL
12:20 …Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: … turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart;
24 … fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
MALACHI
4:2 … unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;
LUKE
17:11 … it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
MATTHEW
17:14 … there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
AND FROM MATTHEW IN THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE:
6:6 ‘…. when you pray, go into a room by yourself, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is there in the secret place; and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly.
8 ‘Your Father knows what your needs are before you ask him.
33 ‘Set your mind on God’s kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well.
19 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
34 ‘… do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will look after itself. Each day has troubles enough of its own.
21:22 ‘… whatever you pray for in faith you will receive.’
AND AGAIN FROM THE KING JAMES VERSION:
I PETER
3:12 … the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:
ACTS
12:1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
I THESSALONIANS
5:17 Pray without ceasing.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
JAMES
5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
I JOHN
5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
JOHN
8:32 … know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
ISAIAH
26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
BY MARY BAKER EDDY
S&H 1:1-4
The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love.
S&H 10:5-6
The world must grow to the spiritual understanding of prayer.
S&H 12:31-1
In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as “a very present help in trouble.”
S&H 11:27
Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth. Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best expressed in thought and in life.
SH 259:11
The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration.
SH 262:30
Divine Mind is the only cause or Principle of existence. Cause does not exist in matter, in mortal mind, or in physical forms.
S&H 2:15-16
Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it.
S&H 1:11 (to ,)
Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires,
S&H 4:3-5, 9, 17-22
What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.
Outward worship is not of itself sufficient to express loyal and heartfelt gratitude, since he has said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Simply asking that we may love God will never make us love Him; but the longing to be better and holier, expressed in daily watchfulness and in striving to assimilate more of the divine character, will mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness.
SH 145:32-9
Our Master’s first article of faith propounded to his students was healing, and he proved his faith by his works. The ancient Christians were healers. Why has this element of Christianity been lost? Because our systems of religion are governed more or less by our systems of medicine. The first idolatry was faith in matter. The schools have rendered faith in drugs the fashion, rather than faith in Deity. By trusting matter to destroy its own discord, health and harmony have been sacrificed.
S&H 13:6-12, 14-16
If we are not secretly yearning and openly striving for the accomplishment of all we ask, our prayers are “vain repetitions,” such as the heathen use. If our petitions are sincere, we labor for what we ask; and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward us openly.
Even if prayer is sincere, God knows our need before we tell Him or our fellow-beings about it.
S&H 15:7, 16-22, 28-30
The Father in secret is unseen to the physical senses, but He knows all things and rewards according to motives, not according to speech. To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.
In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God’s allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice.
Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings.
SH 495:14
When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.
SH 261:4
Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
SH 421:15-18 (to 2nd .)
Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him. There is no disease.
SH 496:15
Hold perpetually this thought, — that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being.
SH 254:10
When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much.
SH 283:1
As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God.
S&H 16:2-5
The highest prayer is not one of faith merely; it is demonstration. Such prayer heals sickness, and must destroy sin and death.
PUBLICATIONS QUOTATIONS
Praying and Fasting
By Helen Wood Bauman
The Christian Science Sentinel
February 26, 1949
In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew an incident is recorded which is of great import to the Christian healer. The disciples of Christ Jesus had failed to heal a sick boy, and when his father appealed to the Master for further aid, the lad was quickly restored to health. Later, the disciples asked the reason for their failure, and Jesus replied, “Because of your unbelief.” Mary Baker Eddy quotes the Master’s answer in “The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany” and adds an illuminating phrase, “‘This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting’ (refraining from admitting the claims of the senses).”
To the student of Christian Science, praying and fasting have much the same meaning, for in the effective, healing prayer of Christian Science one fasts from the belief of mortal existence as real, and pure Mind, Spirit, God, wherein is no consciousness of the harsh claims of the corporeal senses, is seen as infinite—as All.
To fast in secret is to become conscious of spiritual reality, to partake of the invisible forces of love, joy, intelligence, and wisdom which man embodies in Science. It is to behold the All-God, the one infinite, pure Mind, thus to exclude from consciousness the earthly belief of independent, personal, willful, individual minds outside the control of God. It is to know man’s true selfhood as Mind’s perfect idea, cognizant only of Spirit and its spiritual universe.
Rich rewards of spiritual progress, health, and serenity follow one’s consistent refraining from admitting error’s claims, as step by step the heavenly kingdom is gained and the immortal perfection of God’s creation becomes evident.
Staying Our Thought on God
By Alan A. Aylwin
The Christian Science Journal
June 1969
Isaiah was stating a truth that underlies all genuine spiritual healing when he wrote, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.”
However, most of us have discovered that staying thought on Truth is no easy task. The human mind does not take kindly to discipline but tends to dart off on tangents when we attempt to pray. No sooner do we bring it back into the now of spiritual realization than it breaks out again and goes off in another direction.
Does all this sound familiar? It should, because it is a problem that all earnest students must face and overcome if they are to become successful healers.
To corral the unruly human mind and bring it into submission to Truth, one must be willing to take the time, or make the time, to practice holding thought to the divine idea, the saving, healing Christ. This means learning to stay mentally in the eternal now of God’s loving presence, filling thought with the quiet, grateful recognition that at this very moment he is one with the Father in life, mind, substance, and action. Then, if mortal mind’s false stimuli attempt to divert one’s attention and break his communion with divine Love, the only course is to deny the suggestions and patiently bring thought back into unity with Mind. This may need to be done countless times in the course of one’s spiritual education, but the mesmeric diversions become fewer and fewer as one persists in his prayerful work.
When some form of physical discomfort tempts one, the human tendency is to watch symptoms fearfully and become negatively fascinated with the feeling and appearance of the condition. This occupies the forefront of one’s thought, and because of the wholly mental nature of the human body it acts as a deterrent to genuine healing. The fear and ignorant belief produce the very phenomenon one is trying to destroy, and the only recourse is to turn completely away from the false picture, deny it reality, and reach out mentally to God’s healing power and presence.
Success in healing demands that one learn to develop an inner vision of God’s allness and man’s unity, or oneness, with Him, and then strive steadfastly, unwaveringly, gratefully, to hold thought to this grand fact, denying any mental suggestion that would oppose or contradict it.