ARTICLE XVI.
PRAYER

§ 62. Prayer is turning to God and speaking to our Heavenly Parent in full confidence that we will be heard. This is the heart of prayer. An active, hopeful reliance on the Deity so opens the soul that God’s life flows in and gives us strength. Prayer is the deliberate effort to see the Divine purpose more clearly and to pledge ourselves more loyally to its fulfillment. When the disciples came to their Master, and said, “Lord, teach us to pray,” his answer was in the words that we to this day call the “Lord’s Prayer” (Matt. 6:9-15; Luke 11:2-4). It serves as a model for our own prayers, which should come from the heart. The first preparation for prayer is to wish to love and to serve God. If we do not find this desire in our hearts, we should examine ourselves to see what is wrong in our will and ask God to help us to a right state of mind and heart. To pray aright we must be sincere. Jesus says, “God is a spirit; and whoever worships him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). We must not say with our lips the prayer that we do not feel. When we are happy, our joy may overflow to the Heavenly Friend from whom all our blessings come; when we are unhappy, we may pray to the same loving Friend for comfort. When we are away from God, we should pray to be brought back again; and when we have sinned, we shall find no peace until we have asked our Parent to forgive us and to help us to be obedient children again.

§ 63. Objects of Prayer: The chief objects of prayer are spiritual. We ask God for strength, peace, purity, love, etc., that is, for the fruitage of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-24). We know that to do any duty effectually it should be done in the right spirit. But we cannot always obtain a right spirit by an effort of the will. We may be depressed, or anxious, or vexed, or irritated. In that case this bad spirit will go into our words and actions and prevent us from exercising the good influence we really have at heart (Gal. 5:19-21). But if we open ourselves to God and ask for help to feel right in order to do right, we may be sure that this help will come. May we also ask for outward blessings? Some good and wise persons think that we ought not. They consider it selfish to do so, and they also believe that this is asking God to suspend the action of universal laws. Others, however, say that we may ask God for anything we desire and that God wishes to have us do so, just as a good father and mother like to have their children bring to them all the wishes of their heart. Only, in such cases, we must ask in submission, as Jesus did, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). We also are wise to ask in Jesus’ name (John 16:23-24). This, however, does not mean merely repeating the words “through Jesus Christ,” as though these words might have some magical power. But “the name of Christ” means the spirit of Christ. We must ask in Christ's spirit, not selfishly, but including the good of others in our prayer. To pray in his name is to pray in the same spirit in which he prayed, just as the phrase “in the name of a prophet or righteous man” (Matt. 10:41) means in a spirit of sympathy with the prophet or righteous man.

§ 64. Times of Prayer: It may be well to have some fixed times for prayer, for example, the beginning of the day, when we are about to resume the duties of life and need to go to them in a right spirit, and at the close of the day, when we may look back and give thanks for what God has helped us to be and do and ask forgiveness for our failures. It is also desirable to pray, even for a moment, before any work that requires preparation that it may be done aright. But this is left up to each individual.

§ 65. Answer to Prayer: Some Unitarians believe that the only answer to prayer is the good influence that the thought of God's presence exercises on the soul. In this sense, prayer has the same result as contemplation or meditation. Others, however, believe that by a law of the Divine government, prayer puts the soul into such a relation with God that we can receive a direct divine influence. This law requires us to ask as the condition of receiving some special blessing, which we should not be in a condition to receive unless we pray for it. This makes a real communion between God and the self. Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: for every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7, 8).