Are your prayers sincere? To be sincere, is to be honest, true and real.
For instance, if struggling with too much weight and you pray to eat less, do you eat less? Or, if inclined to say callous things to others and you pray to be kinder, are you being kinder to others? Or, if straddled with debt from spending beyond your means and you pray to stay within your budget, are you staying within your budget? The answer to these questions speaks volumes about the sincerity of your prayers.
Sincere prayers heal. They are not mere words that echo a right idea. They are a right idea in action.
Sincere prayers lead to reformed lives that take us to a better place.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “The danger from prayer is that it may lead us into temptation. By it we may become involuntary hypocrites, uttering desires which are not real and consoling ourselves in the midst of sin with the recollection that we have prayed over it or mean to ask forgiveness at some later day. Hypocrisy is fatal to religion” (Science and Health, p. 7). Hypocrisy is fatal to prayer. The cure for hypocrisy is sincerity.
When you pray, strive for sincerity! Don’t be satisfied with words. Be sure to live your prayer and prove it real.
What I so appreciate about Evan’s posts is their practicality.
Thanks Evan. This was a nice reminder to wake up to (literally and figuratively)this morning . It brought to me the feeling that true honesty is not judgmental, though it may require moral courage.
Gratitude to all….not the wind, fire, or earthquake, bu the still, small voice. Evan, bless you.
Good questions to ask…are we just paying lip service or really WANTING to change? A good new angle on prayer Evan.
Food for thought!
Yes it’s said if our thoughts, our words and our deeds are aligned and on the same level, that’s the mark of a good and upright person. The so called hypocrite thinks something, says another thing and goes and does an entirely different thing.
Everything starts with the right thoughts the right resolve. If our thoughts and intentions are pure, then we resolve to change for the better and act accordingly. That’s putting prayer in action and being sincere.
Mary Baker Eddy says ” What we most need is the prayer of sincere desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love and good deeds.”
Thanks Evan for the lovely guidance. We all need to be more honest and less hypocrite.
Thank you, Always needing to clean house in my own practice. But you have touched on a subject that people think is prayer; saying words without sincerity and living our lives the same way. It is confusing when I mention I pray and it is thought this is how I pray. I had to learn how to pray through CS so I understand this erroneous idea of prayer.
“We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master’s injunction is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.”
S & H Pg. 15:18-24
Thank you, that’s it!
Great message and comments. Thanks Evan and all.
“The most powerful thing that can happen in
this day is that God alone has presence.”
“Is there something present beside God.”
What a wake up call and just what I needed. I have been praying over and over throughout the day “love is reflected in love” and striving to put it into practice. I am in a situation where I am in close proximity to someone very unloving, to put it mildly. So far my prayers have had no results, but I will remain persistent. Love is supreme!
I’ve found this statement in Mark Swinney’s “Mind instead of Matter” eye-opening:
“…..what has snuck into our concept of the patient is that this “perfect” idea that God created, has an imperfect thought. Instead of possessing imperfect matter, you consider your patient to have an imperfect thought. From this wobbly basis—seeing a patient who is holding a wrong thought about herself/himself—we might be tempted to do battle with the patient, instead of the false belief!
“So with false belief as the target, what’s next? As with Jesus, we are completely confident that we can turn for help, not to human intellectualism, but entirely to God, the divine Mind, who gives exactly the inspiration needed to wash thoughts clean from the lies about what God is and what we are, by reflection. . .”
Mind ADORES that someone, with good reason: that someone and Mind are one! The dislikable element is not and has never been part of their selfhood, but only aggressive mental suggestion, mud on the toddler, false belief to be scrubbed off (of our thought) and washed away. Your heart will well up with tender compassion.
This is outstanding!
Wow, thanks for sharing.
Evan,
Thank you for the wakeup call. There is so much prayer needed right now. I was just out picking up some things via curbside delivery this morning. On my way to the first pick up, I drove past a Krispy Kreme and to my amazement it was open. At first I laughed thinking about Krispy Kreme being an essential business but then, it alerted me to the fact we have some issues that need praying about in our society if a donut shop is deemed “essential”. I recall seeing an ad/article on a donut shop giving away a dozen donuts if a patron bought a dozen a week or so ago. The idea being “suggested” was that you could pick up your dozen and then give the other dozen to a friend, family member or neighbor because you were so “generous”. Now wait a minute! Who needs a dozen donuts when they are in isolation? Do we really lack generosity? And, are you doing anyone a favor by giving them a dozen donuts. Are we alert to what is really going on here? We are being marketed to and we need to see through the lie.
As I parked in the curbside pickup spot for the first pick up, I saw a man several spots down smoking marijuana. On my way to the second pickup, another person in the car ahead of me was smoking marijuana. This is not an issue of self-willing ones self to not indulge or smoke. What is the underlying issue? Fear of loss of a job, fear of loss of health, fear of (fill in the blank). Let’s address that fear. Because if you address that fear, there will no longer be any need to eat a dozen donuts or smoke marijuana. And, you will not be fooled into thinking you need to buy someone a dozen donuts so you can be thought of as generous. Stand porter at that door of thought because right now there are some aggressive suggestions. You don’t have to fall for them.
Thanks soooo much! Your recent posts, including today’s, have been exactly the “nudge” I need to get on the right track and moving forward. I cannot thank you, Evan, and your friends who reply “THANK YOU!” enough! Wishing each of you many blessings today and going forward! (On the RIGHT track!) 🙂
This one is perfect for me today, Evan. Thank you!
Really good topic this morning. I have been noticing that when I do go out in public, a lot of people seem annoyed and not very nice to each other. I have experienced this personally several times. I feel and sense so much fear, judgement, selfishness, and annoyance due to our current situation. Each day I pray sincerely to be kind, humble, graceful, non-judgemental, and desire to set this example for others in the midst of this seeming unkind atmosphere. However, several times I have quickly fallen into the trap of being annoyed with others for their rudeness. We as students of Christian Science ( I am speaking to myself as much as anyone) need to be so careful to understand that it is not our job to judge, criticize, or condemn others, but rather correct this stuff in our own thought. If we don’t, we are simply fooling ourselves into thinking that “I am a good Christian Scientist and ‘they’ have a lot of work to do to get where I am at” and we are breaking the commandment: Thou shall not bare false witness against thy neighbor.
We need to treat our own thought to correct how we are seeing others around us.
Again I so appreciate this topic today. It’s so important to be honest with were we are at in thought and deed. It’s a wonderful call to humility, grace, and selflessness. Thank you.
Thank you, Trista, you reminded me to think about criticisim and all that stuff!!
A neighbour once said to me that he didn’t go to church as they
We’re just a bunch of hypocrites.. Actually I replied as someone
Once said to me. They , meaning church goers or others are just
People trying to get a better sense of themselves. Christian Science
Helps us to Love one Another as God loves us…seeing ourselves
In a true light. This destroys judgementalism.
Thanks for this enlightenment.
I once became concerned that after routinely visiting with a roommate at breakfast, I found it difficult to initiate or return to my morning prayerful study, The focus seemed disrupted, so I called a practitioner. Expecting some metaphysical guidance, I was surprised when her response was simple: so change! Honestly pursuing the goals we pray about is a wonderful test of sincerity…Thanks for the reminder Evan!
Evan: I just recently became aware of Spirit View. Thank you for your uplifting thoughts and reminders. Thank you also to all those of you that reply.
I want to thank Trista for the reminder to “not bear false witness against our neighbor” but to see them as the expression and reflection of Divine Love–Divine Mind.
Thank you, Evan, and all of you for your comments, very helpful indeed!!
Thank you Evan and everyone for your comments. As others have commented, “insincerity” can be such a subtle thing. For example, yesterday I went grocery shopping. We have all now been instructed to wear masks when in public and my wife (not a Christian Scientist) has expressed a lot of fear about the virus situation and requested I wear a mask when I went to the store. So I did. I’ve been praying daily to see the truth about the current situation (i.e. how God, Love, could not create anything to harm His creation, how God is omnipotent and nothing but God has power, etc.). And if you would have asked me I would have told you I was praying “sincerely”. But then when I was at the store and I saw store workers that weren’t wearing masks or other protective gear I allowed entrance to the thought “wow, they should be wearing masks and gloves!” So I think entertaining that thought about a virus harming someone else, when I have been praying to understand that Love could not create a harmful virus, could be considered an example of being “insincere” in my prayers (or in the demonstration of my prayers).
A few weeks ago I wrote a comment about a new understanding I gained about the Bible story of Jesus temptation and how Jesus refusing to throw himself down from the pinnacle was based on Jesus understanding that there was no “God impelled purpose” for doing that. But in the case of Jesus healing of the leper, Jesus expressed God’s love to the leper by touching him even though touching someone with leprosy broke all of the current “health rules” believed at that time about leprosy being considered highly contagious. But since Jesus understood that touching the leper had a “God impelled purpose” he knew he could do that without harm to himself. So after thinking about my experience in the store yesterday, I have corrected my thinking so it’s once again sincere with my prayers and I am knowing that the store workers have a God impelled purpose for their work and that they can never be harmed for doing their God impelled purpose. I love the following statement from Science and Health and am holding this statement in thought for everyone (this paragraph has the marginal heading “Honest toil has no penalty”):
Constant toil, deprivations, exposures, and all untoward conditions, if without sin, can be experienced without suffering. Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 385:15–18)
Wow, good topic! I’ve always wondered how to go about seeking a healing of being overweight, do I just wait for it to happen? No, I must be sincere in my asking by eating less. There has to be a commitment on my part to the seeking to see that I am perfect just the way God made me, by seeing that overeating is an imperfect action that needs to be handled.
All the comments are helpful and I have nodded in agreement to some of the experiences, being similar where I live. But Brian really hit mark with something I’ve been thinking about lately….that if God is All, and God is good, and therefore we have immunity to anything unlike God, the same has to be true for everyone!
Thanks so much Evan for this great topic! And thank you all for your contributions every day that add to the conversation.
Great message and comments. Thanks Evan and all. And Brian, your comments I printed out. So helpful. Very grateful for the SpiritView family.
Evan I caught your Spirit View at the end of my day. I felt so touched by your statement: “Sincere prayers lead to reformed lives that take us to a better place.”
For me, that phrase is transformational and I cherish how it could reform the movement of Christian Science if we could all “live” our prayers.
Thank You