Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures | Page 9

with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"? This command includes much, even the sur- render of all merely material sensation, affec- 9:21 tion, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, 9:24 and material sense and human will have no place. The chalice sacrificial
Are you willing to leave all for Christ, for Truth, and so be counted among sinners? No! Do you really desire 9:27 to attain this point? No! Then why make long prayers about it and ask to be Christians, since you do not care to tread in the footsteps of our 9:30 dear Master? If unwilling to follow his example, why pray with the lips that you may be partakers of his nature? Consistent prayer is the desire to do right. 10:1 Prayer means that we desire to walk and will walk in the light so far as we receive it, even though with bleed- 10:3 ing footsteps, and that waiting patiently on the Lord, we will leave our real desires to be rewarded by Him. The world must grow to the spiritual understanding 10:6 of prayer. If good enough to profit by Jesus' cup of earthly sorrows, God will sustain us under these sor- rows. Until we are thus divinely qualified and are 10:9 willing to drink his cup, millions of vain repetitions will never pour into prayer the unction of Spirit in demonstration of power and "with signs following." 10:12 Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the world, the flesh, and evil, and thus destroying all error. Seeking is not sufficient. It is striving that enables 10:15 us to enter. Spiritual attainments open the door to a higher understanding of the divine Life. Perfunctory prayers
One of the forms of worship in Thibet is to carry a 10:18 praying-machine through the streets, and stop at the doors to earn a penny by grinding out a prayer. But the advance guard of progress has 10:21 paid for the privilege of prayer the price of persecution. Asking amiss
Experience teaches us that we do not always receive the blessings we ask for in prayer. There is some mis- 10:24 apprehension of the source and means of all goodness and blessedness, or we should certainly receive that for which we ask. The Scrip- 10:27 tures say: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." That which we desire and for which we ask, it is not always 10:30 best for us to receive. In this case infinite Love will not grant the request. Do you ask wisdom to be mer- ciful and not to punish sin? Then "ye ask amiss." 11:1 Without punishment, sin would multiply. Jesus' prayer, "Forgive us our debts," specified also the terms of 11:3 forgiveness. When forgiving the adulterous woman he said, "Go, and sin no more." Remission of penalty
A magistrate sometimes remits the penalty, but this 11:6 may be no moral benefit to the criminal, and at best, it only saves the criminal from one form of punishment. The moral law, which has the 11:9 right to acquit or condemn, always demands restitu- tion before mortals can "go up higher." Broken law brings penalty in order to compel this progress. Truth annihilates error
11:12 Mere legal pardon (and there is no other, for divine Principle never pardons our sins or mistakes till they are corrected) leaves the offender free to re- 11:15 peat the offence, if indeed, he has not already suffered sufficiently from vice to make him turn from it with loathing. Truth bestows no pardon upon error, but 11:18 wipes it out in the most effectual manner. Jesus suffered for our sins, not to annul the divine sentence for an in- dividual's sin, but because sin brings inevitable suffering. Desire for holiness
11:21 Petitions bring to mortals only the results of mor- tals' own faith. We know that a desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain holiness; but if we 11:24 desire holiness above all else, we shall sac- rifice everything for it. We must be willing to do this, that we may walk securely in the only practical road 11:27 to holiness. Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual 11:30 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. Prayer for the sick
12:1 "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," says the Scripture. What is this healing prayer? A mere re- 12:3 quest that God will heal the