Article June 2, 2008 Issue

THE SIMPLE PRAYER THAT TRANSFORMS

BY KEITH WOMMACK

While teaching Sunday School, I asked my class of first graders, "What would you do if someone wanted you to pray for them?" A visitor to the class, a young girl, spoke up and confidently said, "I would tell them they were safe in God's pocket." I appreciated her comment.

After church, my phone rang. It was a man asking for Christian Science treatment through prayer. He wasn't familiar with Christian Science, yet had heard that it healed. He was suffering physically. To my surprise, the first words out of my mouth were, "You're safe in God's pocket." He began to cry and hung up, without giving his name. A week later, that man called back to report that he'd been healed of the physical situation he'd called me about—the instant he'd hung up the phone.

The uncomplicated work of the Christ, of God's healing message to humanity—expressed in the sweet confidence of that young girl in my Sunday School class—had taught me a valuable lesson about the effortless nature of healing prayer. I learned the importance of keeping my prayer simple. God knows His children. "I know thee by name," he declared to Moses (Ex. 33:17). This means to me that we are on familiar terms with God. As divine Mind, or infinite intelligence, God knows you as His spiritual idea. Not only that, but as divine Love, God treats you as a valued son or daughter—with utmost compassion, respect, and care. And He maintains your health and well-being. This tender treatment, this divine message of love speaking to each of us, is called the Christ.