It has been said that “the prayer of thanksgiving is the prayer of appropriation.” This was the manner in which Jesus prayed when he raised Lazarus from the tomb: “Father, I thank thee ….” Recognition, unification, and realization are the three steps in prayer or treatment. When we speak the words of thanksgiving to the God within, knowing “before they ask will I answer,” there is something in this attitude of thanksgiving that carries us beyond the field of doubt into one of perfect faith and acceptance, receptivity … realization. Appreciation, gratitude and thanksgiving—the motive power which attracts and magnifies the hidden potentialities of life.

How to Approach the Spirit If we wish to come to the Spirit for the healing of our wounds, let us come in peace and with spontaneous joy, for the Spirit is joy; let us come with thanksgiving also, for a thankful heart is in harmony with life. But we must come in quiet confidence, with an open and receptive mind, a believing heart, naturally, sanely and expectantly. In this way, we are entering the portals of Reality, clad in garments of righteousness.

We often think what we require is money, friends and physical healing. After these things, do those, who are outside a knowledge of the Law, seek; and they do well, for we need all these things. But they are the effects of right relationships to life. All people need some form of healing. Most people are unhappy, few have any realization of permanent peace. We seek fragments, when the whole is at hand. How illogical to think that anything can rise higher than its source. The Universe is a perfect, undivided whole, and healing can take place only when one is unified with It. How can anyone, then, be healed in part? Let us seek wholeness above all else.

Holmes, Ernest (1998-08-24). The Science of Mind: The Definitive Edition (p. 447). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.