Article July 7, 1980 Issue

"Why could not we cast him out?"

RAIF MARKARIAN

Christ Jesus' disciples once tried to heal an epileptic boy but without success. Jesus, in his customary manner, healed the boy at once. In answer to his disciples' puzzled inquiry "Why could not we cast him out?" the Master replied, "Because of your unbelief." Jesus evidently sensed his pupils' need for a greater understanding of God's all-power. Pointing to their necessity to grow spiritually, he added, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."^{See Matt. 17:14-21;}

Are we any better prepared than the disciples for a severe challenge like that of the epileptic boy? Through "prayer and fasting" we can ready ourselves to heal.

Study of the Lesson-Sermon ^{in the Christian Science Quarterly;} is an important base for prayer. But our study shouldn't be perfunctory. If we read out of a blind sense of duty rather than in response to an inner urge to learn more about God, then the time has surely come to "dig in"—to pray more earnestly, more deeply. To be able to heal, we must assimilate the truths we will encounter during our regular study. Then these truths must be practiced, if we are really to benefit from them. We must be on the lookout daily for ways to apply the facts of being we have learned—at home, at work, wherever we are. This is true prayer in action. To this end, I have often found it helpful to "play back" in thought the events of my day to see if I have effectively grasped every opportunity to practice the Science of being.

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