Article May 14, 1990 Issue

"Isn't he like his Father!"

Prayer that heals begins with the truth —the truth of man's spiritual perfection.

Barbara R. Banks

When we ask for help in Christian Science, what are we really asking for? A physical healing, the resolution of a discordant situation, a good job, more money? Of course we want that healing, harmony instead of discord, interesting worthwhile work, supply that is assured. But when someone sits down quietly to pray for us, he or she doesn't start with thought focused on these objectives.

Mrs. Eddy once wrote to one of her students: "Christian Science is absolute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards it; it is at this point and must be practised therefrom. Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration."^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 242.}

So, when praying for anyone, we must start here, with present perfection. We do not set out to get something but rather to realize that God, who created man, supplies His children with all good, everything necessary for their completeness and well-being. We have to acknowledge this goodness, accept it, rejoice in it. Praying in this way, we perceive the specific truths that will meet the particular need, and the human evidence has to conform.

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