“…There are times when I should pray with my spirit, and times when I should pray with my mind. Sometimes I should sing with my spirit, and at other times I should sing with my mind.” (I Corinthians 14: 15, Contemporary English Version)

There is no formula for prayer. The only stipulation is that we do it! The way in which we find our peace, honor and acknowledge and worship God, and glean healing inspiration, takes on different forms. And the wonderful thing is we know exactly when to do what and how to carry it out. Yes, we do! Why? Because the voice of God Himself leads us to Him, directs us in how best to celebrate His presence and claim the benefits.

We will find at times that we are led to argue for our innocence, our joy, our freedom. We feel compelled to seek out mentally, through conscious listening and receptivity, the word of Truth which would reveal God, good, in this moment for us and for others. We feel that there is a human ignorance that just must be filled with divine intelligence, God’s honest and energizing Word about our lives. This impulse to understand guides our prayer.

At other times, it is our heart that leads us. It may be an inner call to gratitude and praise, to a singing forth of God through the light of our lives and the eloquence of our poetic souls. It may seem at these times that the human mind, in fact, must stay out of the question altogether; that it must be still and simply receive and feel the loving goodness that God is constantly bestowing. Thus we sing with our spirits, without needing to know every detail of why we sing or how we do it, but only to let ourselves be at one with His song.

Whether we pray with mind (through honest seeking of Truth) or with our spirit (through a release of thinking to God’s presence), we can know that this activity is right and good because omnipotent Love has guided us to this perfect song and guarantees that it will be glorious, in tune, harmonious, beautiful, powerful, and healing!

This is today’s e-inspire. These messages are based on passages from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. These books are our “pastor” in Christian Science. Come back every Tuesday and Thursday for fresh inspiration. Or get a free subscription to receive an inspirational message like this one every morning directly to your inbox by contacting me at lamolitercs@aol.com. A downloadable compilation of categorized messages is also available by request.