Needed: more effective prayer

Inspiration piece- Christian Science Monitor July 1, 2009

Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) birthed Christian Science. The degree to which her platform was influenced by Phineas Quimby, considered the father of New Thought has been in dispute for a century. This makes interesting reading but with aging the fuel for controversy has long burnt out.

When I was a child I learned prayer as a way of reaching out and asking for something. Sometimes it was a barter but almost always my prayers were pleas, of outward bound wishes sent into some place that I did not understand. What I have now come to know is the power of affirmative prayer as seeing the outcome already done and completed.

Both methods have similarities as Emerson said in his essay Self Reliance, "Prayer is the contemplation of facts from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul." I resonate with RWE's point. Recognizing the power of the Universe and its presence within me I now know this Truth (Truth with capital T indicating Spiritual Truth). I experience spiritual connection when in this contemplation of recognizing and unifying with this mystery, the unseen.

But to the point of 'more effective prayer'. This article talks about seeing the desired outcome as already done, already in existence and complete. It suggests that we spend time seeing this 'highest point of view' and that leads to the having the mental mindset and acting as if we already have the thing we desire. That is the mental preparation necessary to have the prayer 'answered'... to realize the outcome.

In the New Testament, Jesus said (1, 2), 'It is done unto you as you believe'. So when looking at a situation whether nearby or far over seas, whether in your family, your work or in your personal goal setting there is a place, a contemplation of facts from the highest good, that serves as the path to more effective prayer.