Sometimes, we take in the news or experience things in our own lives and say, “I can’t believe it!“ Admittedly, this is generally an expression of exasperation. But with a different thought behind them—one based on spiritual authority—the same words convey something very different. They become a prayer of affirmation that what we are seeing isn’t the reality it seems to be, but a transient belief in a mortal or material existence, which isn’t so in light of the allness, the reality, of God, Spirit. 

That’s not to suggest that simply disbelieving something that we don’t want to be true is a prayer. But it is prayer to know the truth that God, our creator, exists and is good—infinitely good. That’s a truth Jesus demonstrated by his singular life and multiplicity of healings. Evils, from sickness to sin and even death, yielded to Christ, the spiritual idea of God that Jesus knew and loved and fully embodied. His many healings proved that anything that isn’t good isn’t of God, and is, therefore, a temporal belief rather than the solid fact it seems to be. And his capacity to heal illustrated the ability inherent in each one of us to discern God, good, as the universal reality. 

Even a shocked “I can’t believe it!” hints at this spiritual sense. It shows that we expect good in our lives and instinctively balk at what is an affront to that expectation. This aversion to the wrongs we see and hear is rooted in the truth that God doesn’t create anything unlike Himself, so He doesn’t know anything unlike good. And in our true, spiritual identity as God’s image or reflection, neither do we.