PRAYER IS POWERFUL

JANEY SPARKS

I believe that Christ Jesus showed us how effective and powerful prayer is, setting a wonderful example for us to follow. I feel that praying in the way he taught, which Christian Science explains, is what brought about the many healings I have experienced. I want to share a couple.

One evening at bedtime, I started to feel symptoms of a cold. I could not go to sleep. I was having difficulty breathing because my head was very congested. My first thought was a pitiful, "Oh, no! I'm going to be sick." My second thought was, "NO!" To me, as a Christian Scientist, saying no to illness is a good start to prayer, because it helps me remember that God is all-powerful, and is always in control of my life. I continued praying and thinking about who God was—that He was "Our Father" who created me and that, therefore, I was His loved child.

According to the Bible, God made man in His image and likeness (see Gen. 1:26). And that means everyone. The book of Genesis also tells us that God made everything "very good" (1:31). As I could not imagine God, who is Spirit, having a cold, how could His image have a cold? If everything God made was good, how could I accept the idea of having something bad?

I remembered reading in the Sentinel a wonderful idea about how God is closer to us than our breathing. So I thought, "If God is that close to me, there couldn't even be a place for a cold." The book Science and Health, which I study every day along with the Bible, states, "There is no power apart from God" (p. 228). I did not think God wanted me to suffer. I affirmed God's goodness and that He was the only real power.

After a short while of praying with these thoughts, all symptoms of the cold simply vanished. That was it! I was well right away and very grateful to be able to go to sleep and have a good night's rest.

Another wonderful healing I had happened during the holiday season a couple of years ago. Our large extended family always has several Christmas gatherings during that time. A few days before Christmas, I started having diarrhea. Anything I ate or drank just was not agreeing with me. I would pray about this situation and would feel some relief, but then I would feel ill again.

Christmas night rolled around and I was feeling pretty sad about my condition. I decided to call a Christian Science practitioner and ask her to help pray for me. She spoke softly and tenderly to me about quieting my thought. She told me that God was speaking to the world, and the world was listening; God was speaking to man, and man was listening; God was speaking to me, and I was listening. These ideas brought such a peaceful calmness to my previously stressful thought. I was reminded of the Bible verse, which says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10). That evening I slept through the whole night. I went to church the next morning and then had a lovely lunch afterward. That was the end of the problem.

The power of prayer has been my only form of healthcare for my entire life. Prayer has healed me of such things as headaches, flu symptoms, poison oak, and a crippling joint pain. These healings all showed me that I can turn to God in prayer about any trouble. I am so grateful to know that the wonderful gift of prayer is available to everyone right now, and is effective.

JANEY SPARKS
BENTON, KENTUCKY, US

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