Years ago, while my husband was away, I was home with our three young children when they all began exhibiting aggressive cold symptoms. I kept them home from school and did my best to make them comfortable. I also prayed for them, as I always did when they weren’t feeling well. As the day wore on and the symptoms persisted, though, I began to feel overwhelmed. Exhausted from caring for the children, I started to question whether my prayer was making a difference.

That afternoon, as I sat beside the kids’ beds, a wave of fatigue and discouragement washed over me. I thought, What if I get sick, too? Who will take care of them? Almost instantly, I began to feel the same symptoms. Fear crept in, and for a moment, I felt as though I had no strength left to meet anyone’s need.

At once, I recognized that fear and doubt were hindering the natural healing effect of prayer as taught in Christian Science. That’s when a familiar passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures came to thought: “When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious—as Life eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 495).