Lesson 5 - Silence

The Scientist’s prayer of understanding is that of rendering thanks by acknowledging that which has been received. Turning from the letter to Spirit, and recognizing the presence of all goodness, reconciles thought to goodness; and through faithfulness in thought to goodness, understanding becomes manifest. Faithfulness is the substance of all good hoped for.

True prayer is seeking; and true seeking is finding; for true seeking is the recognition of God. And to recognize Him is to know that we have what we recognize; and this is finding or receiving Him. Prayer does not change divine law. The infinite law is one, and may be defined in one word - love. Love is the law of being, or of all that is; it is unchanging and cannot be broken.

The law of the Infinite cannot be changed to any opinion of the individual, but individual opinion must be set aside for Infinite Law. This is the prayer of the Scientist. So prayer is not intended to change the divine order or plan, but is an earnest seeking to adjust and reconcile all mental conditions to the spirit of understanding. It is the earnest desire to be conscious of oneness with good, or to know God and be relieved from bondage to sense. Prayer and Faith go hand in hand; so if we pray for health or happiness, or to have any condition removed, that we may realize that we are at one with all goodness, we must have faith that the condition hoped for is possible; thus faith is the substance of that which we pray for.

Many persons pray for health, believing more in the appearance of disease than they do in health; they pray to the Father to be relieved from suffering, but they decide to take some medicine in order that they may feel sure of getting well. And if they be not relieved either by medicine or prayer, they conclude that they are unworthy to be answered; the true reason why their prayer appears to be unanswered is because of their division of faith; in reality it is not unanswered, for they receive according to their measure or divided faith. If their faith in medicine is strong enough to re-establish an equilibrium, it is the substance of what they hoped for. But such cures (so-called) only change one belief for another, and are not permanent, because they do not bring the patient into knowledge of Truth. But if they are relieved from pain by their faith in medicine, they think no more of the efficacy of prayer. What we have faith in we pray to, or yield our thoughts to obey.

"If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and it shall be given." - James i:5.

But we must believe that wisdom is for us. Let not that man who doubts or is "double-minded" think that he shall receive any thing from the Lord. Why? Because as long as we are wavering in our thoughts we are not truly asking of God; that is, we are not manifesting God in our thoughts.

It is clear, therefore, that the efficacy of prayer is destroyed because of unbelief; and that we hold conditions of suffering because of our belief in them! Persons who are in doubt, would be surprised if they did receive what they prayed for. They who pray with understanding will pray in faith, believing that what they pray for is, and is for them, and that "God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." God, the giver of all good, being our life, we will receive goodness by manifesting it in our thoughts.

Prayer is usually a recognized need, and is an expressed desire to have that need supplied; true prayer is the act of doing, which is rendering thanks for what has been received. True prayer is made apparent or expressed in all nature. With unwavering energy every soul in nature prays, or strives to manifest itself. The Divine Mind, which pervades all, acts in all; and the substance of that action is faith pressing the possibilities of soul onward and outward into manifestation of itself. The answer to prayer may be said to be divine faith unfolding, or speaking forth words or forms in nature representative of ideas, pressing onward and upward, which is growth and expansion. Therefore, true prayer is seeking or the act of revealing the inner and invisible life of God in the seed, the plant, the animal, and man; causing the seed to struggle in the darkness, as it were, to burst the ground apart and face the sunlight. The plant or tree is the answer to or result of that prayer or seeking; it is the experience of that soul or outgrowth of its effort to manifest invisible life. All things in nature are obeying the Divine injunction placed upon them by the Father. Let thy faith be as that of a mustard seed. "Through faith we understand that worlds were framed; so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." All that is formed and is visible is a symbol in and of the silent, formless and invisible. All power is formless - "the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." - I Cor. iv:20.

We are commanded to overcome evil with goodness. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." "He that loveth another, fulfilleth the law." Then to fulfill the law by loving, is true seeking. As there is no power but God, to overcome evil with goodness, is to recognize the truth, that there is nothing but goodness. Then think and act accordingly. This recognition is the absolute method of seeking; and is the method that will bring the highest unfoldment; for you will manifest what you recognize.

Pray without ceasing; but let your prayer be one of acknowledgment, a prayer of Spirit and of understanding; such an one will be an acknowledgment of goodness in all your ways. "Happy is the man who getteth wisdom; she is the tree of life to them who lay hold upon her."

"Through wisdom the Lord hath formed the earth." To pray understandingly, enter the silence; and there establish the mansion of truth in your consciousness, and live in it. And when you enter the silence, close the door of sense, and commune with Infinite Spirit. Then the mansion of truth which you have founded in consciousness in the silence will become your habitation on this plane; that is - "thy Father which heareth in secret will reward thee openly." The omnipresent Spirit is the closet, the place which God hath guarded with silence most profound. So, when ye enter this closet to pray, forgive if ye have aught against another, that your Father may forgive your trespasses. This shows us that to be forgiven is to correct our own errors, and that true prayer is adjusting our thoughts to God, which is fulfilling the law; and in so doing we prove our faith with works.

"Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them." So, according to our faith, shall we receive. Then we should be careful in what we put our trust. Let us not put our faith in beliefs; for false beliefs are obsessing opinions which will not be turned out, but by the prayer of understanding, or by a knowledge of the truth that God is All in all. With thoughts adjusted to this all inclusive truth, whatsoever ye ask in faith, by speaking the truth, ye shall receive or manifest on this plane. Then always pray by speaking the truth, and it will make you free. "Pray for them which despitefully use you," by holding them, in your thoughts, in love and truth; and you will fulfill the law of being, which is reconciliation to God.

Love is the angel of Peace that guides out of darkness, and Truth is the light accompanying Love, which illumines mentality and frees from bondage to sense. Love and Truth will free from all limitation and unconsciousness.