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318 from human faith and belief. The drug does nothing, because it has no intelligence. It is faith, not divine Principle or Love, which causes a drug apparently to be either poisonous or sanative.

This common custom, of praying for the recovery of the sick, finds help in blind belief; whereas help should come from the enlightened understanding. Changes in belief may go on indefinitely; but they are the merchandise of human thought, and not the outgrowth of Divine Science.

Does Deity interpose in behalf of one worshipper, and yet not help another, who offers the same measure of

prayer? If the sick recover because they pray, or are prayed for audibly, only petitioners (per se or by proxy) should get well. Now in Divine Science, wherein prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God, as “a very present help in trouble.” Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, “Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.”

In public prayer we often go beyond our convictions, beyond the honest standpoint of fervent desire. If we

are not secretly yearning and openly striving for the accomplishment of all we ask, our prayers are “vain repetitions,” such as the heathen use. If our petitions are sincere, we labor for what we ask, and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward us openly. Can the mere public expression of our desires increase them? Do we gain the omnipotent ear sooner by words than by thoughts? Even if prayer is sincere, God knows our need before we tell Him or our fellow-beings about it. If we bring the desire