EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.

I

THE NATURE AND VALUE OF PRAYER.

AM often asked what part prayer can play in the New Thought, as if a consciousness of our Oneness with the Father would preclude any communion with him. The truer comprehension of the New Thought would make us see that instead of occasional cryings unto the Lord we would grow so near to him that we would, as Paul expresses it, "Pray without ceasing." Prayer, in the sense of petitioning for special favors, may very probably seem less necessary than under the old idea wherein we thought of ourselves as separated from the Source of Supply; but prayer, in the sense of vital touch, is the very germ thought of our whole philosophy.

Yet the question is reiterated in various ways as, for instance: If one no longer believes in a personal God why should he, or how can he, pray? Why should he give the matter any attention whatever?

This then makes it necessary to explain somewhat our concept of God. Some regard God as personality, and claim that He should be worshipped; others say that God is law or principle and needs no worship. The New Thought, on the other hand, recognizes the absolute lawfulness of Love and also its superpersonal character. We might say that God is all the personality in the Universe and much more than personality. God is Infinite Love, limitless and supreme, but personality is limited. As regards law being God, we know that law could not create itself, and that the whole creation evidences an intelligent law-giver. Love's method of creation is the very essence of law.

We can stand, as it were, aside from the life of Love and argue and question continually, yet arrive at no real knowledge; for, as the wise man of old has well put it, "Who by searching can find out God?" No intellectual activity can by any manner of means lead us to the comprehension of that which is beyond intellect.

Jesus threw light on the subject when he declared that "the pure in heart shall see God" and also in that statement that "no man at any time hath seen God." This would seem to contradict the first statement but it refers to the physical man, the physical sight. As we come to know Love by exercising ourselves thereto we actually do see God with the inner or spiritual sight. When we keep the outer man and will subordinate to the inner, then the Word of God is made manifest in the flesh.

But the question may be put in this form, If God freely giveth us all things why, then, should we pray? He is more willing to give than we are to receive, truly, but herein lies the answer, for prayer in its highest form is a receptive attitude. Through meditation we learn how to receive the good gifts that our Father is waiting to bestow. "If any man will hear My voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him." We must open the door before Love can enter in.

Now man has always felt the need of prayer, and we find the instinct working itself out in one form or another in all climes and races, as far back as we have any records. Two thousand years ago a woman of Samaria asked Jesus where men should worship God, whether in Jerusalem or in their own sacred mount in Samaria, and Jesus' answer took the emphasis off from place and centered the thought on the manner or way. To worship God in any true sense we must be "in the spirit;" the flesh profiteth nothing. The spirit is the quickening power, and the spirit is in all and through all. That concept which puts God far off in the distant heavens keeps man powerless, for, so long as we hold that thought, God will be distant to us. We cry unto him yet fail to

recognize him in our own inner sanctuary. When we know that it is God that worketh in us to will and to do, then we can go on in the consciousness of power which will fruit in works of the spirit.

Jesus said, "What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." But you say that is impossible; that you pray for health, strength, worldly goods just because you haven't them. How then can you make yourself think that you have them? But Jesus having awakened to the reality of spirit, and knowing that this outer world is but the result of that inner life-a bodying forth of that which exists within-saw that whatsoever we truly desire that we actually have, and the having will become evidenced in the outer world.

Many of us think we desire spiritual gifts, but though we may, to a certain extent, we have stronger desires which prevent our development along the spiritual lines. If, for instance, a man knew that a certain development would cost him all his worldly possessions, his present friendships, his reputation even, he might shrink back and finally refuse to yield himself to the operation of an all-embracing Love, and this would prove that he desired personal happiness, or safety rather than growth in faith, hope, and love. We have at this moment the amount of inner wealth that we desire, for always the answer to our prayer (that is our desire) is contained in it. "Prayer is the heart's sincere desire uttered or unexpressed." We may have all the spirit's gifts that we truly desire, but we cannot receive such possessions if we are not willing to open the soul to the Giver, and this opening of the soul to spiritual possessions cannot coexist with a worship of any material wealth or comfort.

Many people claim that they have many desires which have never been fulfilled, and which they felt never would be realized. That is just the point. Doubt kills, and the lack of faith is fatal to any realization of power. Faith is the substance of things, and unless we believe we shall receive we can realize nothing,

Being without faith is like a workman who has tools and ideals, but no materials with which to build. If we harbor doubt in regard to our own ability, God's willingness, or the realization of opportunity, it clogs the flow of power so that all we feared instead of that which we desired comes to us.

The ideal is the real, and if we can vividly apprehend the inner life of Love, sooner or later an outward expression of health and power will follow. Two people who are both out of health will show very different results. One, realizing vividly the abounding life which is in all and through all, knowing that it is natural and right that he should be strong and well, puts his whole heart into the matter, exercises his will and soon manifests that which he saw to be his. The other may say he believes in God's power and willingness, but he does not appropriate the blessing that might be his. Our recovery is a question of realization, not one of time or the kind of disease.

Our knowledge of law is nothing to us if we do not place ourselves in harmony with it. And we may be filled with world knowledge, have, as Paul said, all knowledge and it profiteth nothing. We may say we believe a thing, but in that very statement there is implied a possibility that it may not be true; but when we say we know, then there is something to build upon. And we may actually know God, whom to know aright is life everlasting. There are thousands of people who are believing the New Thought for one who is actually experiencing it.

At the heart of life everything is pure and steadfast, so doubt cannot come to us from the highest part of our being, but it comes from the conditions of thought and outward manifestations of life. Having the wrong concepts we draw wrong conclusions and become subject to doubt and fear. There is absolutely no room for doubt when we open our hearts to the great Heart of Love, for then do we know God in very truth. You might say that though faith expels doubt, doubt, on the other hand, expels faith.

But deep within the heart of things the eternal verities remain secure. They may be and often are hidden, as a cloud may obscure the sun, but in time they will shine forth with undimmed brilliancy.

When we desire health earnestly we will think health, we will be attracted by our sympathies and ideals to the health-giving thought, the healthful people the world round. We will turn more and more to the Source of Health, and, as we come to know God better, we will realize fully that to-day is the day of salvation, we will come to know His presence, and in touching Him we will be made whole.

Many people think that a soul may be saved without any effect on the body; but a salvation that leaves us with a sick or weak body certainly cannot be very complete. To be saved, that is to come into conscious and, therefore, loving relations with the Spirit of Wholeness will necessarily result in the expression of a whole and complete life. The greater or soul life includes the less-the physical life.

Dis-ease, the very word meaning as it does a lack of ease, shows that we are lacking in our conscious possessions. We are not living enough in touch with strength, patience, gentleness, courage, and all the other qualities of love to manifest them in a complete way.

In allowing the mind to dwell on weakness or disease we relate ourselves to the very thing we would avoid. Others are constantly relating themselves to poverty through their fear of it. They are living in the future and fearing lest they come to want; they lay up against a rainy day and habitually center the thought on material possessions, not in a hopeful but in an anxious way.

This was not the Christ idea. He saw that if one consciously related himself to the eternal riches the symbol expressive of his possession would not be wanting. "All these things shall be added unto you," not, perhaps, to the extent that the self-seeker