Testimony of Healing October 14, 1996 Issue

I have a lot to be grateful for

Patricia I. Wilson

I have a lot to be grateful for.

At one time I had recurring sties on my eyelids. For one Wednesday evening meeting at church the readings included the story of Christ Jesus being brought before Pilate. When Pilate pointed out the power he had over Jesus, either to crucify or release him, Jesus' answer stood out clearly to me: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11). The next time I felt the soreness on the eye that in the past had announced the arrival of another sty, I refuted it with a paraphrase of Jesus' answer: You have no power over me unless you come from above! The soreness disappeared and nothing eventuated. This happened twice more, and that was the end.

Another day we were off for a family holiday, and I was reading in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany by Mary Baker Eddy. She had written a letter asking members to pray for peace, and then later, she asked them to cease that special prayer. This was followed by an explanation of her second request (see pp. 279–281). Suddenly I saw vividly that it wasn't the length of prayers that healed. It was because man was made whole that he could be whole. Prayer, as it were, keys you in to what is already a fact.