AUGUST 2, 2017
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THE BIBLE
PSALMS
107:8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
86:6 Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
10 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth:
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.
JOB
22:27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, …
28 … and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
AND FROM MATTHEW IN THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE:
4:12 When he heard that John had been arrested, Jesus withdrew to Galilee;
5:2 And this is the teaching he gave:
4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
6:5 … when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; they love to say their prayers standing up in synagogue and at the street-corners, for everyone to see them. I tell you this: they have their reward already.
6 But 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:
MARK
11:11 … and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
JAMES
5:14 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;
16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
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: because he trusteth in thee.
I PETER
3:12 … the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:
PHILIPPIANS
4:6 … in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
BY MARY BAKER EDDY
SH 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.
SH 1:11-12 (to ,)
Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires,…
SH 2:15-16
Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it.
SH 2:23 (to ?), 26
God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more?
Do we expect to change perfection? Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire does bring us nearer the source of all existence and blessedness.
SH 3:4
Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution. Shall we ask the divine Principle of all goodness to do His own work? His work is done, and we have only to avail ourselves of God’s rule in order to receive His blessing, which enables us to work out our own salvation.
SH 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 3:14 to
… to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.
SH 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 351:8
The author became a member of the orthodox Congregational Church in early years. Later she learned that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers of her devout parents and the church; but when the spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a present help. It was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which healed the sick.
SH 16:2-4
The highest prayer is not one of faith merely; it is demonstration.
SH 13:5-6
In public prayer we often go beyond our convictions, beyond the honest standpoint of fervent desire.
SH 15:7-11, 15-22, 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.
We must close the lips and silence the material senses. 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 13:6-12, 14-16, 20-24
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.
If we pray to God as a corporeal person, this will prevent us from relinquishing the human doubts and fears which attend such a belief, and so we cannot grasp the wonders wrought by infinite, incorporeal Love, to whom all things are possible.
SH 12:31-1
In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as “a very present help in trouble.”
SH 6:17-18
“God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go.
SH 497:24
And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.
SH 10:5-6
The world must grow to the spiritual understanding of prayer.
PUBLICATIONS QUOTATIONS
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany (My. 252:10)
By Mary Baker Eddy
“The entire purpose of true education is to make one not only know the truth but live it — to make one enjoy doing right, make one not work in the sunshine and run away in the storm, but work midst clouds of wrong, injustice, envy, hate; and wait on God, the strong deliverer, who will reward righteousness and punish iniquity. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.”
“Treat Yourself Daily”
By Willam Curtis Coffman
Christian Science Sentinel
March 6, 1948
“God has endowed each of us with the ability to express His divine power in our daily life. But in order to do this, one must maintain a sense of man’s conscious union with God, eternal Mind. For when one realizes God’s ever-presence—that He is closer than the atmosphere or the sunlight—he begins to demonstrate his spiritual unity with the Father. To reach and maintain such mental elevation and clarity is the purpose of daily prayer for oneself. ‘You have simply to preserve a scientific, positive sense of unity with your divine source,’ writes Mary Baker Eddy in Pulpit and Press and ‘daily demonstrate this.’”
“Learn to Pray”
By Frances Figgins
Christian Science Sentinel
June 15, 1968
Christian Science reveals two types of prayer, that of petition or desire and that of affirmation in thought and act of God’s government.
The humble petitioner seeks to know more of God—divine, eternal Love—more of His unchangeable goodness, which bestows blessings beyond measure. He prays to express more understanding of the Christ, Truth, in daily affairs, to develop more forgiveness of and compassion for all mankind.
The prayer of affirmation declares what is true of God and man and steadfastly maintains that position.
How should we apply the prayer of affirmation to specific problems of sickness, sin, lack, and other discord? We always begin our prayer with God, infinite Mind, and affirm His allness, goodness, and power. Then we uproot any suggestions of the carnal mind and replace them with real, spiritual concepts.
Let us pray — both in petition and affirmation—to gain a clearer understanding of the spiritual man’s perfect, scientific relationship with infinite Spirit, who knows and meets every need.