Article January 1, 2000 ISSUE

I pray every morning

Name: Lyndsy Jones

Sometimes there are a lot of pressures as to how I should look and act, and it's hard. If I didn't really see myself as a spiritual person, it wouldn't get me anywhere. So I always have to know who I really am, and that's why spirituality is very important.

Prayer has always been a part of my life. I pray every morning, throughout the day, and at night before I go to bed. In my prayer I'm knowing that I can accomplish anything, that I already have what I need, and that God supplies me with everything I need.

One time I wasn't eating much, because I wanted to lose weight. And I got very sick.

I had to realize that it didn't matter how I looked on the outside. My mom kept telling me that I was God's child and so I was perfect and spiritual, not material. And it wasn't until I changed my thoughts that things got better. I prayed. My way of praying is talking to God. I don't pray asking God to change me in some outward way. I pray knowing that I am perfect and there is nothing to change, because God created everyone perfect and spiritual. At first it was hard because I still thought I needed to look a certain way. But praying with my mom, I realized that I didn't need to be in that position—I was already perfect in every way that really counts.

One minute I was sick, and then immediately after I changed my thoughts I got up. I was, like, “I want to eat.” Dinner was being made, and I ate so much and I felt so good, so happy I never had that problem after that day.

I play softball, and one time we were having a tournament. The day before the tournament, I noticed it was kind of painful for me to sit down. By the second game, I couldn't really walk without having the pain in my back, and by the end of the day it felt like I couldn't move. I couldn't sleep that night.

I went from barely walking to crawling. So I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me, and my mom was praying, too. She was planning on coming to see me at my school.

The night before my mom was supposed to come. I picked up a Bible Lesson that is put out by my church. There was this passage from the Bible: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:27 ). I tried to understand that. My mom and the practitioner kept telling me that I was perfect already, but it was hard to believe it because I was in so much pain. But as I read more in the Bible, I felt a little better. I realized that I couldn't be in pain, because God wasn't in pain and I'm His reflection.

Then I sang a hymn to myself. I just kept saying that God was with me and His arms were “encircling” me, like the hymn said, and so I shouldn't be in that painful position at all.

I decided to take a bath. As I was in the tub I kept praying. And I spent like half an hour in there, and when I got out of the tub I just stood up perfectly, upright. And I glorified God because I was so happy. I went to school that same day as if nothing ever happened. It was a good healing, and the pain never returned.

Every year my school has this thing where you volunteer to help clean up wherever it's needed. And it was so cold one morning. We were going to be outside in a city neighborhood all day, and at first I kept thinking, “I don't wanna be here.” But when we got in there, we saw the people, and they kept thanking us. We hadn't even started working yet, but they were so grateful we were there. We spent all day there. I looked around before we left, and I saw that everything that we had said we would do was done. And I just felt so good that I was able to give—that I was able to share my work, my help, with the community. The people in the neighborhood were happy, and I felt proud to be part of that.

About the author

Birthplace: Freeport, Bahamas
School: Principia Upper School, St. Louis, Missouri
Religion: Christian Science

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