Prayer

We sometimes think that we pray when we read and declare certain statements of Truth. We have very little idea of the way in which the answers to those prayers are coming. And we do not prove that we expect them to be answered. For almost immediately after praying we go on doing the things we have been doing, which does not allow of any answers. And we think and say that which is not in accord with the prayers we have made. For example, we go into the silence and declare statements of prosperity. Then in writing a letter we speak of lack and failure and longing. Which proves that we have those thoughts and feelings of lack in our heart and that we are really dwelling on them more strongly than we do on the Truth that we have prayed.

Prayer, then, is to change mind and heart so that God’s omnipresent good may fill our mind and heart and manifest in our life. If we do not keep on thinking in accord with the prayers we have made, we do not get good results. For all thought is formative; all thought has its effect in our life. When some of our thought energy is expended in negative beliefs and feelings, and we show that we have old mental habits in the subconscious mind, we get those old negative results—even when we are praying daily and when others are praying for us.

We have a very decided part; we are to cease worrying, and being anxious, and thinking and speaking of the past and of the apparent lack and idleness. We are to concentrate all our attention upon the Truth of God, and the truth of our own being, upon the very things we would see taking place in our life. We cannot do this so long as we have negative thoughts in our heart.

As we pray, the word of life is going down into us, breaking up old fixed beliefs and reorganizing our life. The word of life—life as God has planned it—is taking hold of our subconsciousness, and we know that we are free and will begin to use our freedom. Working in the consciousness of freedom, we will be happy and well and busy and prosperous. But our attention will be upon what we are doing rather than upon outer results. The results will take care of themselves once we have started our foundation in Truth.

"With God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26) Those who receive spiritual help are the ones who place their undivided faith in God and who bring their thinking in line with His Truth. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Myrtle Fillmore

Myrtle Fillmore was one of the founders of the Unity movement, which was founded in Kansas City, Missouri in 1889 after Mrs. Fillmore had been cured of her tuberculosis, she believed, by spiritual healing. This resulted in the Fillmores'(both Charles and Myrtle) studying spiritual healing, and being influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins. This gradually developed into the Unity movement as the Fillmores attempted to share their insights through magazines, books, and pamphlets and through “Silent Unity,” a telephone and mail service that offered people help through prayer and counseling.