"And the prayer of faith will cure the sick", says the Bible. Let us note again that faith mentioned here have nothing to do with acceptance of an existing condition. Rather, it is a conscious and steadfast effort to change the undesired condition, to bring forth wholeness, which is a rightful state of an individual. How can it be possible? Though through constructive use of spiritual laws.

There is the fundamental difference between a prayer which asks God to change universal laws for our benefit, and a prayer which seeks to bring us to alignment with those laws. The first one is a prayer of ignorance, the second one is a prayer of true faith.

I heard it a number of times even from traditional theologians that prayer never changes God - it changes us. Yet prayers of many people seem to be structured as if they are trying to influence God. Sooner or later they have to realize that it is impossible.

It us useless to remind God that we are still alive. His life is our life. It isn't necessary to describe our needs and wants to God. "Your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him". And, certainly, we cannot earn God's favour through flattery which is often called "praise".

What is, then, the prayer of faith?

The prayer of faith is a quest for deeper knowledge. This includes knowledge of God, the world, and ourselves.

It has been said that the Father knows our needs before our asking. But what do we know? Sometimes we pretend to be perfectly aware of God's will, when in fact we barely know ourselves. There is great undiscovered and undeveloped potential within us. So often we are looking for help from the outside when, in reality, we already possess all we need to be whole, complete, successful, and happy persons. Let us, then, dig deeper!

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". Prayer by itself will never make us free, for it cannot be a substitute for knowing the truth. Prayer should not look like a list of petitions. It should be a mean to grow in knowledge of the truth of our being. Freedom from our limitations will come as the natural result of our inner unfoldment.

The prayer of faith is a point of decision.

Last week we talked about the voice of Truth within, asking us: "Do you want to be well?" When it happens, our positive and determined answer is needed. It can often be given in prayer.

When we pray, we "shut the door" of our minds and stay focused at the presence of God within. This practice is important, because we live in a mental atmosphere, where thoughts and expectations of others may unconsciously influence us. If we aren't careful, we may live our life in mental submission to other people, accepting their will as our own. But the question is, what do we really want? We can decide that in prayer, and then chose the best couse of action.

The prayer of faith is the point of contact with power which is greater than what we normally use. This is why miraculous healing is possible.

Eric Butterworth wrote about "the flow of life". I agree that a concept of the flow gives us accurate understanding of life's nature. Life is not a thing, it is a dynamic process. And it doesn't always flow with the same speed.

Let me give you an example. There are slow and large rivers - but there are also swift mountain streams. There are waterfalls as well. Water never changes its nature, but it may act differently at different sections of the same river. So it happens with our life. We should not think that our life will always move for us at the same speed. Presuming that, we may miss its dynamics and get mentally out of the flow.

Release of power through prayer is not a "divine intervention", as some people call it. We simply recognize divine laws and begin to cooperate with them. No wonder life currents in our life start moving with greater speed.

(to be continued)