I was on a phone call outside when I felt a sharp pain on the back of my shoulder. I slapped at it, assuming it was a harmless bug biting me. But the pain slowly spread, and when I went inside and slapped several more times at the area, I felt even more sharp stings. I soon discovered that there was a wasp walking on my back, stinging me every time I slapped at it. Looking back, this seems humorous to me, but at the time, I was extremely uncomfortable, and the pain continued unabated.

As I prayed about the pain, I was thinking along the lines of an idea I love from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible” (p. 514). But I must admit, as the day went on, I was having trouble being sincere in acknowledging that all God’s creatures are harmless and useful, and I found myself ruefully wishing that this particular creature had been destructible when I hit it the first time!

That evening, still in a great deal of pain, I realized I had been trying to convince myself that this wasp was harmless, useful, and indestructible, but I wasn’t really feeling sincere about this prayer. I have found that honesty is very important in prayer—Christian Science reveals Truth as a Bible-based synonym for God. So I decided that since I wasn’t praying with honest conviction, I’d instead just listen to what God was telling me.