My prayer is more effective when I keep it unassuming and uncomplicated.

I start with God, not a problem.

My prayer can resemble a chat with God although it quite often is me contemplating an alternative word for God, such as divine Mind, which leads me to see myself as spiritual idea or being.

I don’t focus on what other people have told me about God. In fact, I see myself only with God, away from any opinion about God. I’ve learned this technique through Christian Science as taught in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, where I read, “Being is holiness, harmony, immortality.”

I stay clear in my prayers, for example when I read this, “Science says: All is Mind and Mind’s idea. You must fight it out to the end. Matter, human mind, is of no help in this war,” I interpret that to mean simply that divine Mind is the healer. I do not complicate my prayer by assuming matter and human mind are adversaries.

Prayer shifts my consciousness to recognize and use spiritual principles of divine Mind, such as honesty, forgiveness, and moral courage. Similar to learning mathematical principles and applying them to add 9 plus 9, which reveals the answer of 18.

Now, if I need to use my fingers when counting. Fine. So be it. I am not guilty of misusing the science of mathematics by using my fingers. I know my fingers did not cause 9 and 9 to equal 18.

Likewise, if I use a temporary relief, such as a pain reliever, I am not guilty of misusing the science of Christ-spirit because I know that pill did not cause healing.

Prayer continues until I experience divine Mind’s truth, or what I call the Christ-spirit, shift my consciousness to the reality of “holiness, harmony, and immortality.”

Many times over, prayer is kept so simple that I do not need any temporal relief. Divine Mind’s healing power is felt superbly. I’ve had the 24 hour flu last 24 minutes. I’ve had achy joints and irritated nerves limber up and calm down, through prayer alone.