Prayer 1 – The Scientific Approach

Critics easily point out that there is more to prayer than just getting what you want. This is true; there is more, but the fact that getting what you want is not the whole purpose of prayer does not mean you should not learn and practice scientific prayer. One could also say that there is more to life than eating, but that does not mean we should stop. Learning the practical use of prayer is essential to leading a successful life, and the more we learn it, the happier we will be. And there is nothing wrong with being happy.

We know through experience that there is one universal mind that we all share. The illusion of a separate mind is just that – an illusion. Thoughts that appear to originate in our own thinking are usually thoughts we pick up from others, those who are characteristically similar to us in personality and experience. It is with people like these whom we are in most direct contact in the “mansion” of the mind we inhabit. “In my Father’s house there are many mansions,” said Jesus: in the one mind there are many groups.

Thinking is an action. But, like our physical actions, most of what we do is a re-action to what we perceive going on around us. Our action is not original, usually, and neither are our thoughts – they do not originate with us. The small part of the one mind we use is more like a prism – a point through which light from external sources is received, broken up, and redistributed. Seldom do we find an individual who, through disciplined thinking, generates a clear, consistent, and cohesive stream of thought undiluted by the conflicting thoughts of others.

Such a person lives as a cause in the world, not an effect. Jesus said as much when he said, “I am in the world but not of it.” His thoughts and actions were not generated from the world of effects or the reports of its physical senses. He (like us when we attain to this level of understanding) did not come “from” earth but from heaven – from Self . He spoke from his being, not from his intellect. This is what he is teaching us how to do, that we may fulfill his vision for us when he said, “The works I do so shall you do, and even greater than these.”