The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians (6:11):

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

His admonition has not lost any of its urgency these two millennia later. Christians, and in particular Christian Scientists, need to be alert and awake to the necessity of arming ourselves for the battle with the carnal mind that we all face daily.

Just like any good soldier going forth to battle, we can’t afford to neglect or forget any of those spiritual armaments that we need to carry on a successful campaign.

And that includes the absolute necessity to be praying for ourselves throughout the day—to be doing Christianly-scientific defensive/protective metaphysical work.

Yet the enemy—in the form of the suggestions of mortal mind—claims otherwise. They whisper that we don’t have enough time, or it’s really not so important. Or perhaps they try to delude us into thinking that it’s a form of selfishness to pray for ourselves. It might also propose that our reading the Lesson-Sermon or studying the Bible or Mary Baker Eddy’s writing is all the defensive work we need to do.

But what did Mrs. Eddy have to say on this subject?

In an address published in her Miscellaneous Writings (“Address before the Alumni of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, 1895”), she stated in reference to Christian Science teachers, but which also clearly applies to all Christian Scientists:

They must always have on armor, and resist the foe within and without. They cannot arm too thoroughly against original sin, appearing in its myriad forms: passion, appetites, hatred, revenge, and all the et cetera of evil. Christian Scientists cannot watch too sedulously, or bar their doors too closely, or pray to God too fervently, for deliverance from the claims of evil. Thus doing, Scientists will silence evil suggestions, uncover their methods, and stop their hidden influence upon the lives of mortals. (p. 114)

Having the spiritual weapons of our warfare always at the ready—weapons that are so needed for pulling down the strongholds of error, casting down the imaginations of mortal mind, and bringing every thought into the obedience of what God knows to be true about His creation (II Corinthians: 10) is something that we dare not neglect or forget.

Not if we expect to go forth triumphantly in our public healing work!