Are we benefited by praying?"

[Carol]

“Are we benefited by praying? Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed by our Father, and it does not return unto us void.” (S&H p. 2)

God does answer every prayer, but sometimes it’s not the answer we expect or we want to hear—but it will be the answer that we NEED.

If we humbly continue to work and listen, and are willing to make whatever changes God is requiring (and truly “hungering after righteousness,” wanting to be better and of more use to God), we’ll find enormous blessings from our prayer!

[chardelle]

I am finding since coming to Plainfield that I am doing a lot of thanking prayer, and beginning to see that God already knows what I need and is alway filling those needs. Do I ever weaken and whine a little? Yes, but it is less frequent , and I am beginning to catch myself. The other thing I have been noticing is that God does many things far in advance of our needs, and exactly what we need is available exactly when we need it.

[Fairlie]

Jesus’ explanation about prayer, after giving the disciples his prayer to Our Father, is very encouraging. He gives the illustration of someone’s going to a friend’s house at midnight to ask for three loaves because he has a guest who has just come to his home and he has nothing to offer him. But when the friend says no, as Jesus explains: “I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth” and he goes on to urge: ‘Ask,… seek, … knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” This illustration of persistence is so important in working for and with God to change one’s life.

[jacob45]

I am learning the importance of preventive prayer, or keeping the door to error closed. You hear all kinds of comments on virus and diseases, people around you say they suffer from it, and if you do not build a wall of Truth around your consciousness, you will find yourself a victim of these beliefs. Once you are suffering from the symptoms, it is much harder to dig yourself out, as they can be very aggressive and real.

Why o why do we get involved with that which Love does not know nor cause? We must feel and think as Love, Truth, as God, with the whole heart and mind. As soon as we think as mortals, we get involved with the whole of error and unreality.

[Joseph from Scotland]

I like the way Mrs Eddy Says it. Its our Desire which goes forth, not our words. So if my words in prayer are asking for more money, then the desire will be about provision. If Im praying for a new sofa, the desire will be for comfort. Seeing prayer this way always allows me to see Gods answers spiritually, never in the material world.

If God is always pouring out his wonderful blessings to me, then I need to get in line to receive them, not pray wishing they were somehow there. because there can never be a time they are apart from me

[Sharon]

I liked what Carol said: God does answer every prayer, but sometimes it’s not the answer we expect or we want to hear—but it will be the answer that we NEED.
I often wouldn’t get the answer to my prayer that I wanted, but it always was proved to me that God had a better plan. My desires were limited or not the right thing for me. God’s plan is always the answer we need. It always blesses us where human desire sometimes takes us away from God.

I am grateful to have learned here to say, “Not my will, but thine will be done.”

[MaryBeth]

Desire implies something deep within pouring forth. It is not some superficial request. And yes if our desire is pure and unselfed (not a human want or demand) God does bless it. And as Joseph’s pointed out the answer always comes as a spiritual blessing meeting a human need.

[JPalmer]

Thank you so much for this post and replies!

Not long after I first came to the church, I read in Science and Health, “Desire is prayer.” and that struck me. I figured that meant if my desire was pure, then my prayer was to God. However, if my prayer was selfish, then my prayer was not to God. The thought that I used to actually pray to anyone or anything but God is disturbing. Because of what I have learned these last few years, I now often pray for the right desire, to know my place in His plan, and to learn any lessons I need to learn quickly. It is wonderful to be here, gaining the understanding of how to be useful to God. What a blessing! Thank you!

[deder]

Thank you all for these posts. I remember a time back in college when I was with a friend of mine who was having car trouble. A gentleman in the parking lot stopped briefly to offer help and quickly deemed the situation helpless (so to speak). My friend thanked him and let him know that God would help us, to which he replied “God has nothing to do with this” we both replied to him in unison “God has something to do with everything. Sure enough, it was only moments before we received the answer to what we needed to do, and in no time we were on our way!

This situation occurred toward the beginning of my study of Christian Science and I’m so glad that God eventually brought me to Plainfield to gain a better understanding. It’s here that I learned that God does have something to do with everything, to me this means that I am to keep my constant communication with Him, rather than turning to Him only in times of trouble. I’m learning to trust God’s will alone, in every single detail of my life, and to talk to Him about anything at any time even if it seems scary, embarrassing, hopeless, silly, etc..

Going to God is the most important step I’ve learned to take, it’s acknowledging His omnipresence and omnipotence, and I’m finding that this does most of the work necessary to receive (or realize) a blessing. My sincere willingness to follow His direction, whether it means, speaking up or remaining silent, moving forward or standing still, working something out mentally or taking the necessary human steps, with patience, gratitude, and humility, does the rest.

I’m realizing that “No loss can come from trusting God with our desires.” S&H 1:11

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by deder.

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