Recently, I spoke with a devoted grandmother whose son lives with his family clear across the globe and whose daughter lives with her family near her. This grandmother is concerned for them all – far and near – and prays deeply for their safety and care.
After devoting time to praying for her family, she called to tell me with great joy, “I found out that praying is an inside job!” In other words, she was discovering that genuine prayer begins within our own hearts, as we seek and understand God’s care more fully. We can acknowledge divine Love’s government of all by first being clear in our own thinking that God is in control.
My friend added, “What I want to see ‘out there’ must start within me.” Through prayer, she saw harmony, care, and intelligence replace the feelings of fear and helplessness she had felt. She found healing in her thought based on the awareness of God as the source of all good, and only good. By understanding this truth, she gained the conviction she could trust that her family is safe and will remain so. Such a clear, confident consciousness of the goodness of God comes through humility and quiet listening that reveals to us whatever is needed.
The subject of this week’s Christian Science Bible lesson is “God the Preserver of Man.” The understanding of God as our preserver moves our thoughts in a new direction. The Bible gives us the assurance of God’s protection in many ways. For example, we read: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God” (Psalms 62:5-7).
Studying the Bible and “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy has brought an understanding of God’s protection and guidance to parents, grandparents, businessmen and businesswomen, and leaders in all walks of life for 150 years.
Mrs. Eddy knew God as divine Mind – universal intelligence – and as divine Love, which gives man practical, tangible answers that meet our human needs. She saw evidence of this spiritual understanding in the healing work of Christ Jesus, and the effect of her prayer was the discovery of Christian Science.
Science and Health explains, “The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness. … All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth” (p. 151).
Christ Jesus held no consciousness of disease, sin, sickness, or death. He knew they were not the realities of God or His creation. Jesus understood the presence and power of God to be the only reality, and this awareness comes to humanity through Christ, ever operating in consciousness. Jesus stilled storms, walked on water, challenged evil beliefs, and brought health, harmony, and safety to the world. Today we study to learn more from his healing words and works and to gain in our understanding of how to put them into practice in our own lives and for others.
Prayer for our world begins in our own hearts and is each person’s privilege as a child of God. Each one of us has complete access to God’s love. One step at a time, or even with a single inspired thought, we can increasingly trust in God as Spirit, as good. We feel the presence of the one divine Mind. The Bible asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” And it concludes, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:35, 37).
We see God’s care evidenced throughout our day in safety, health, and harmony. Healing comes as we more fully accept the Christ, the spiritual idea of God which Jesus expressed throughout his ministry. Every individual heart, reaching out for Mind’s provision and protection, can see more and more of the fullness of this care.
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