When I was learning how to dance with a partner, I struggled to let him lead. I kept trying to anticipate his moves, but since we were dancing freestyle, I didn’t always know the direction we would be going or the step that would be coming next. In essence, we were both trying to lead. Finally, my partner said, “Stay on the balls of your feet; relax; and let me lead you.” Once I let go of a need to be in control and really trusted my partner, it was amazing! It was actually very freeing to let him lead me.

The concepts of leading and following also apply to prayer. At times, we may be tempted to try to lead God—to tell God how we would like things to work out. But when we acknowledge that God is the supreme Mind and that He will lead us only in ways that are right for us, we can trust God to do just that. In the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy challenges readers with this question: “Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend?” (p. 2).

This infinite, divine Mind, which knows all, is also a loving God who leads us only to what is the very best for us and everyone. As Psalm 23 assures us: “The Lord is my shepherd. . . . He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake” (verses 1–3, New Revised Standard Version). Thinking we know a better way and trying to make things happen through our own efforts makes things more difficult and hinders genuine progress.