Effectual Prayer

Frances W. Foulks takes the reader through eight steps of prayer--from what makes prayer effectual to actually living in the consciousness of the Christ. This is a timeless book, so while writing style differs from what the contemporary reader may expect, it is like remembering your grandmother's advice when faced with a current problem. Rev. Foulks' observations are astonishingly simple but not simplistic. In commenting on how we ourselves limit our capacity to receive an answer to our prayers, she says: "The answer desired when the prayer is offered may never be manifested, for as long as we are seeking things, our desires change with the fashions, and there is no perfect pattern for substance to follow."

The meditations offered in the back of the book were given to the writer in various times of need, to be used for herself or for someone seeking help through her. Foulks says the meditations came not from herself but "as the voice of the Christ speaking through her." She offers them as her gift to the reader.

Throughout the book, Frances Foulks reminds us to prepare, admonishes us to relax, helps us to concentrate when we pray. She offers practical, sage advice on how to do what we need to do most in our lives--pray.

Frances W. Foulks was ordained a Unity minister in 1923 and later that year studied with the famous New Thought teacher Emma Curtis Hopkins. A close friend of Unity cofounder Myrtle Fillmore, Rev. Foulks compiled Mrs. Fillmore's corespondence into a book, eventually titled Myrtle Fillmore's Healing Letters. In 1924 Foulks retired from her staff position at Unity to devote herself full-time to writing, although she continued to be a guest teacher and lecturer at Unity School and at other Unity centers. She wrote extensively for all of Unity's periodicals and published two books, All Things Made New (now out of print) and Effectual Prayer. Frances Foulks made her transition in 1936.