Divine Science Its
Principle and Practice
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Copyright 1957 by Divine
Science Church and College
Denver, Colorado
Made available here
by the ministry of
Rev. Lawrence C. Terry, M.Msc.,
D.Min.
P. O. Box 68324
Indianapolis, IN 46268-0324
www.DivineScience.net
Chapter 6 - Story of
Progress
From primitive time man has instinctively
sought a higher power when he has felt
the need of help. He has been inclined to
depend upon himself, exhausting every
idea and every apparent resource before
turning to God for help. Sine he was
usually in a state of desperation when he
at last sought spiritual help, quite
naturally his prayer was one of
supplication, of pleading and beseeching
a god or some unknown power to come to
his aid. This type of prayer added
nothing to his self-confidence or to his
ability to meet new difficulties as they
arose.
Students of Divine Science are being
illumined by greater understanding and
are cultivating the habit of true
thinking, that is, knowing that God has
already given man all that He, Himself,
is. As man lives in the knowledge of the
truth of himself and knows his oneness
with All Wisdom, All Power, All
Resourcefulness, he no longer prays at
God but commune with God. He withdraws
his thoughts from appearances in the
physical realm and centers them upon the
omnipresence, omnipotence, and
omniscience of God. He openly declares
his oneness with the one God-Mind and as
he brings all his thoughts into alignment
with that Mind, he partakes of the riches
of Spirit. Thus he increases his ability
to receive the flood of goodness which is
constantly flowing out from God to His
whole creation.
The prayer of Divine Science become
affirmative statements of our
hearts’ praise of the Father and a
thankful acknowledgment of what we are
and what we are to express here. It
directs our thinking from the need, or
the problem, to the One Abiding Presence
and Power. Affirmative prayer establishes
confidence and enables us to meet all
situations with poise and peace of mind.
Prayer becomes an expression of our
willingness to do our part in fulfilling
God’s plan for peace on earth and
good will toward all, so that man may
actually abide in the Kingdom of Heaven
here and now.
Chapter
6
Prayer
Blessed
be thou, Lord God of Israel our father,
for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory,
and the victory, and the majesty; for all
that is in the heavens and earth is
thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and
thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honor come of thee, and
thou reignest over all; and in thine hand
is power and might, and in thine hand it
is to make great, and to give strength
unto all.
Now therefore, our God we thank thee, and
praise they glorious name. 1Chron 29:
10-13
Questions to Alert
Your Thinking
1. What does Divine
Science consider the true purpose of
prayer?
2. Explain why there is no
beseeching of God in the prayer of a
Divine Scientist.
3. How does affirmative
prayer benefit the individual?
4. How does one partake of
the riches of Spirit?
5. Why is it desirable to
have a period of silence after
meditation?
Thinking of Truth reveals it to us more
and more clearly. As we study and
practice, our thoughts are steadily
enlightened and there comes to us a
greater realization of our oneness with
God.
As a student trains his thinking, the
process may be likened to a mental
fast. A fast of though which we shall
give recognition: we refuse to
entertain any concept of evil; we
reject every negative thought; we
release our previously accumulated
beliefs and opinions; we give up human
comparisons of good and evil. The
results are positive: anger and the
inclination to become angry grow less
as we refuse to give place to evil;
weariness, fear, and pain drift away;
we see ourselves and our fellowmen in a
new light and with greater
understanding; our world becomes a
pleasanter place in which to
live.
Hitherto prayer has been considered an
expressed desire to be released from
some condition or to have some need
supplied. Hitherto we have not realized
that the conditions we experience in
our lives are the automatic fulfillment
of our own state of consciousness, and
so we have prayed that they might pass
from us, not realizing that we must
pass from them.
More and more as our thought is
illumined by truth we see the whole
world and all that belongs in it as
God’s creation, His expression
and this creation is potentially as
perfect as He is perfect. Again our
eyes are opened to see that prayer is
not what we had previously thought it
to be. We begin to understand that we
shall no longer beseech our God for
what we desire. Now we shall pray to
realize the God presence, the Christ
within ourselves, to feel His love, and
to become aware of His purpose for us.
We shall pray in order to become more
certain of that which is. We shall pray
for a fuller realization of God, not
primarily for things or for favors from
God. When our thoughts accept the
Omnipresence and its Good, we know that
we have received; we know that all good
is already ours and is only awaiting
our recognition and acceptance.
After we understand Omnipresence as the
"fullness filling all" we can say, "I
have received." Now we shall "speak
with new tongues," we shall pray in a
new way. Prayer in Divine Science
becomes the method of recognizing God
and His fullness, for recognition is
the sure method of seeking, receiving
and having. It is the method that
brings the highest unfoldment to the
individual. True prayer is recognition,
acceptance, thanksgiving, and acting
the true nature of God. To recognize
the One All as present is finding and
receiving our good. The scientist
declares the everlasting, eternal truth
of God; realizes that God is
continually expressing Himself in,
through, and as His creation. The
scientist prays in Spirit with
understanding; he renders thanks for
what has been received and joyfully
acknowledges omnipresent good.
The true prayer is the prayer of
illumined faith and of the
acknowledgment of God’s loving
presence. It is the foundation of all
clear seeing and believing and through
it comes the greatest of all joys, the
comradeship of God and man. Through
prayer we constantly become more
conscious of God and God in action in
all life’s experiences, more
conscious of the immediate nearness and
availability of God. Through prayer we
become more conscious of what we are,
of what God knows us to be, His own
image and likeness.
The affirmative prayer of Divine
Science is patterned after the
Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer we
find not pleading but affirmation of
truth. It is often used in Divine
Science services as a powerful means of
emphasizing oneness with God which
Jesus so definitely expressed in all
his teachings. It is spoken in the
present tense for it is believed that
Jesus spoke it in his native language,
the Aramaic, which had neither past nor
future tense. Read it in the present
tense and see how much stronger and
more meaningful it become to you:
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed is Thy name.
Thy kingdom come; Thy will is done on
earth as it is in heaven.
Thou givest us this day our daily
bread:
Thou forgivest us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against
us.
Thou leadest us not into temptation but
dost deliver us from all evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
The Creator expresses His own nature in
living form and is always saying to His
expression, "Because I am, thou art;
thou art my very Self revealed and like
ever expresses like." The law of love
is God’s givingness of all that
He is to His creation. Truth never
changes. Law is unchangeable. Personal
opinion has no influence over law. In
the practice of Truth, by means of true
prayer, personal opinions must be set
aside for unchangeable law. Prayer,
therefore becomes an acknowledgment of
the divine order or plan; the
acceptance of the perfect adjustment of
mentality and body to the truth of
Spirit.
How natural it is that the Creator,
infinite Mind, should know His
creations individually; should know man
as His own thought. This is the reason
that direct communication with God is
possible. God is more conscious of us
than we are of Him; His capacity for
being intensely conscious is so much
greater than ours that it is beyond
comparison. God knows when we turn to
Him and our love for Him is met by His
own outflowing love for us. Our need is
to know the truth and to listen to the
voice of intuition which is ever
speaking within us. To this purpose the
present chapter will present a proven
method by which the student may
establish the habit of affirmative
prayer and the art of silent listening
in order that he may more fully partake
of Truth.
One soon learns that prayer may be
instantaneous, for by the quick turning
of thought to the Christ Mind within,
one receives added strength, renewed
love, guidance, and assurance. But it
is also necessary to acquire the habit
of a longer communication with God.
This requires a daily period of quiet
when we "enter the closet…and
shut the door." This is the time of
meditation which will keep us alert to
the ever-present God in the midst of
us. The period of daily meditation is
an excellent preparation for the true
Silence wherein we listen to God who is
ever seeking to express through us.
Meditation includes our affirmative
statement of our origin, of our
inheritance, and of our desire to open
the way for God’s plan to work
out through us. It is the time when we
bring our thinking into alignment with
the God idea; when we agree with His
divine nature; when we center our whole
attention in the divine Mind and openly
declare the truth of our oneness with
that Mind. To keep thought centered in
God and to declare our oneness with Him
is to enter heaven and partake of the
kingdom. The infinite consciousness of
God, or Mind, becomes our consciousness
when we identify and locate ourselves
in the presence of God. His
resourcefulness becomes real to us in
proportion as we become conscious of
His presence with us and within
us.
In order to meditate effectively let us
set aside a time for meditation when we
may be as undisturbed as possible. Sit
in a comfortable position so that we
may forget the body and our
surroundings. Before meditating we
decide upon the inherency or aspect of
God we wish to realize for that day. It
may be one today, another tomorrow. It
is far better to concentrate upon a
single God inherency than it is to
attempt to realize the complete
omnipresence of God in a single
meditation. We choose for the subject
of our meditation something for which
we feel the need of a deeper
realization. We meditate upon the need
of a deeper realization. We meditate
upon tat one subject only, be it of
health, supply, guidance, wisdom, love,
strength, peace or any other subject
– until we begin to sense its
completeness in God, and until in our
thought we bring ourselves to an
awareness that it is ours also, and
until this truth permeates our
consciousness.
As we affirm our true nature until we
are certain of its truth; as we shut
out thought of all that is contrary to
our peace; as we know that that which
is true of God’s nature is also
true of our own for we are the image
and likeness of God, we enter into a
state of mind which accepts the truth
that God has provided for us all that
we can possibly need. This is the first
step in meditation. It is called
Recognition of Omnipresence.
Now at this time when thoughts,
emotions, opinions, and questions are
stilled, we make our definite
affirmative statement of the truth we
wish to dwell upon in order to attain a
deeper realization of it as actuality
in our experience. We repeat this
affirmation several times until we feel
its truth and think of nothing else. As
we dwell upon it with all our
attention, feel it to the core of our
hearts, we life our consciousness into
a state of true prayer. This is the
second step in meditation and is called
Affirmation.
Continue to think of this attribute or
characteristic as it exists perfectly
in the God-Mind, in the Perfect
Uncreate. Enumerate all the ways which
convince us of the existence of this
characteristic in God. Now, we bring
our thought to the world at large and
think of every evidence of God’s
expressing this characteristic in the
natural universe. Again we bring
thought still closer to our own
immediate surroundings and ourselves.
We always hold to the one thought that
God is expressing Himself in, through,
and as us. This detailed "thinking
through" from the perfect Source to
perfect manifestation is the third step
in meditation, called
Concentration.
The foregoing three steps, wherein we
praise and described the goodness of
God, wherein we magnify the good in our
conscious thinking until the
subconscious realm of our soul becomes
full of the recognition of good, will
lead us into an inner spiritual-mental
practice of the Presence which results
in intuitive communication. The fourth
step should follow automatically; it is
the Silence wherein we cease our
thinking, direct all our attention to
the Christ Mind within and listen only
to Spirit. Christ Mind, which is the
presence of God within the individual,
we may receive wisdom direct from
divine Mind. We listen attentively, yet
quietly, that we may be fully receptive
to this direct knowing as it flows
forth from the Infinite; listen while
allowing the hidden glories and truths
of life to be revealed to our thinking,
listen to be convinced of Truth, listen
inwardly that we may receive the
intuitions of the Spirit. We come out
of the Silence with a grateful
outpouring of thanks for if we have
carried out these directions
conscientiously we shall feel such an
upwelling of spontaneous gratitude to
the Father for all that He means to us
that we will be compelled to express
our thanks. This fourth step is call
Conscious Realization.
After this time in the Silence and the
full expression of our gratitude we
return to the normal activities of
daily living carrying an enlightened
consciousness with us, and we go forth
in a godly way from Invisible Being to
visible expression, even as a completed
example is the perfect expression of a
perfect principle in the science of
mathematics. For in truth we include
our expression within our consciousness
just as omnipresence includes all
creation within its infinite
Consciousness. Hence our freedom is of
the same nature as is the freedom of
omnipresent Spirit.
To be sure that we are contacting the
Christ Mind, which is the greatest
achievement that can come to us, here
are some points to e kept in mind as we
practice meditation:
First, we must establish a strong
unwavering belief in the indwelling
Christ Mind. By means of regular, daily
affirmation, meditation and study, we
shall implant such a deep and abiding
faith that eventually it becomes a rock
upon which to build.
Second, we must make it our
responsibility to grasp every
opportunity to recognize the expression
of a God inherency in our contact with
others. Let us name if, claim it as
part of ourselves, give thanks for it
and for our ability to discern it, give
it more than a passing thought.
Third, our conscious mind must be alert
and dynamic during meditation, for
meditation is not a subjective state in
which we invite into our mentality
anything that may want to come. If we
are apathetic we open ourselves to a
host of jumbled impressions and desires
that will rise out of the subconscious
realm of mind.
Fourth, we are creatures of free will
and we can decide to open to the Christ
Mind and to it alone. Affirmations and
meditation bring us into a close
feeling of intimacy with that Mind and
we can follow out our intent. As we are
steadfast in study and prayer, knowing
that we are turning to the indwelling
Father in deep earnestness, we shall
find Him as willing to give as we are
to receive.
Fifth, after patient practice we shall
come to an inner knowing, a clear
conviction that it is the Christ with
whom we have been communing. When this
conviction comes it brings a wonderful
sense of joy and satisfaction, and it
is sure to come as a reward of earnest
and persistent seeking. There is no set
form in which it must come. Some say
that they see a light, some say that
they hear a voice, some have a deep
knowing that it is unaccompanied by any
phenomena of physical senses. It will
come to each one in the way best for
him, so do not make any special attempt
to bring lights, colors or
voices.
Finally, let us not permit the
intellect to reason away what we may
have received intuitively. Intuition is
superior to intellect for intellect
must ultimately depend upon intuition
for its clearest explanation of Truth
and for is working ideas.
To pray the meditative prayer takes
more time and thought than a
supplication for help, for it means
consistently thinking through and the
earnest endeavor to be true in all
thinking, speaking, and reacting in
accordance therewith. In fact it loses
all value unless followed by action
which conforms to the knowing. The
practice of living the truth is of such
vital importance that later there will
be an entire lesson devoted to the
practical application of it. Meditation
and practice are the two phases of
strong living. In stillness, strength
is gathered for activity; in action,
the energy realized is stillness is
exercised. Stillness is the night
wherein the soul reposes and is
refreshed for the activity of the day.
One soon appreciates the reminder that
we continue "instant in prayer," for
the affirmative prayer requires that
every minute be attuned to a constant
acknowledgment of God, the One
All.
To pray and depend upon God as the
source of life and strength is to
worship in Spirit and in Truth; is to
base motive and faith aright; and is to
fulfill the purpose of Life in
creation. The purpose of Life is that
God may be made manifest; that we may,
as individuals, come to know our true
Sonship. This is a consciousness of
Life Eternal. He who finds not God
within himself may seek in vain
elsewhere. He who finds not himself in
God and as God will have sought the
Christ in vain. When God is sought and
found as the expresser of form, and as
expressed in form, there is no place
where He is not apparent.
Regular, persistent practice of
affirmative prayer will bring us
eventually to the place where we will
establish a strong, unwavering belief
in the Christ Mind which is the eternal
Self of each one. It will implant such
a deep and abiding faith in the
guidance of that Indwelling One in both
the conscious and subconscious levels
of our thought that nothing can
dislodge it. It will bring to each one
who practices faithfully an established
consciousness which will promote
progressive spiritual unfoldment. This
is our goal in the understanding and
use of prayer.
Study these lessons from the plane of
Spirit; meditate upon their truths from
that high plane and the light of
understanding will reveal their truth.
If you will pray as herein instructed
you will feel the power of communing
with the Father; you will become aware
that Father and son are one. You will
worship in spirit and in Truth.
STATEMENTS OF
TRUTH
Affirmations declare that which is
forever true.
Affirmation brings realization.
Realization is conscious
possession.
Meditative prayer has the same purpose
as the practice of any art or skill
– the attainment of perfect
results.
Time spent in meditation gives me
opportunity to enumerate in definite
statements, aloud or silently, the
truth I know about God and about
myself.
For a successful Silence:
1. Withdraw attention from
externals.
2. Turn from personality and
concentrate upon the Christ Self.
3. Concentrate one-pointedly.
4. Be persistent in giving yourself
unreservedly to God
It may take much practice in meditation
before we attain the real Silence and
have an awareness of the presence of
God. Be persistent, be humble, have
faith, and one day you will find a
refuge, and abiding place within
Spirit. This is the "Pearl of Great
Price."
Questions For
Review and Discussion
1. Explain why the Lord's Prayer
may rightly be prayed in the present
tense.
2. Name the four steps of
meditative prayer and explain what each
step includes.
3. Why does the meditative-type
prayer do more to convince you of your
sonship than the prayer of
supplication?
4. What do you understand
intuition to be? Do you desire to be
receptive to it?
5. After some practice discuss
your reactions to the instructions
given in this chapter.
Chapter 7
* * * * *
Divine Science - Its
Principle and Practice from the writings
of Nona Brooks and Malinda
Cramer
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