the idea that we never question it. This is the first great requirement of the teaching of Jesus that we must believe. Let us think of spiritual Power, then, as a natural Law, and let us think of faith and prayer as the right way to use this Law. For prayer is our communion with the Spirit and faith is our definite acceptance that through this communion, the Law of Mind reacts to us and to others according to our belief.

Here is where religion, faith, prayer, and science can combine. For communion with the Divine Presence helps us to arrive at the place of faith and acceptance, and it is this faith and this acceptance that make prayer powerful.

But it might be asked: Why can’t you have the faith without the communion? My answer would be another question: Can an artist paint a beautiful picture unless he communes with beauty? I believe that this is true when we seek to combine the prayer of faith with communion with the Spirit. God is peace. God is love. God is life, and God is beauty. When we become peaceful and commune with this life and love and beauty, something happens to us inside. It is as though a great power were flowing into us. And so, if someone were to ask: Why can’t we have faith without communion? My answer would be: it is communion that gives us faith.

The next step is to make God real to our own mind. This is something each has to work out for himself. God is love; therefore, we should open up our minds to love. God is peace; therefore, we should become receptive to peace. God is good; therefore, we should meditate on goodness. When we sit quietly by ourselves and think of God as very close to us, and think of love and peace and goodness as the great Reality, a surge of faith uplifts our mind.

Now we are ready to pray effectively, which merely means we are ready to make our spiritual affirmations with complete conviction because we know that we are dealing with a Power greater than we are, a Power that we do not coerce or coax or intrigue,