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November 10, 2020
How I’ve been praying during COVID-19
When I first heard about the outbreak of the coronavirus, I didn’t think much of it. A few weeks later, we were unexpectedly getting a week off from school, and at first, I was happy. It felt like another vacation. However, I quickly became disappointed, and even scared, as I saw my school and the rest of the country getting shut down. Like lots of people throughout the world, I went from living my normal life to being in lockdown almost instantly and without warning.
I felt lonely, confused, and fearful about the future. Would my father’s business have to close permanently because it might be shut down for too long? Would life ever go back to normal?
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It was hard to look outside and see empty streets that were once full of people. To comfort myself, I began thinking about some of the things I’d learned in the Christian Science Sunday School. I remembered something Jesus said: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). And I also thought about Bible passages that encourage us to trust God, like this one: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5, New King James Version). To me, trusting God means letting God take care of me. God is Love, so God really does take care of us in every situation, and as we recognize divine Love’s care, fears begin to fade.
I felt more comforted as I prayed, and also less afraid.
I prayed not only for myself but also for my dad’s business and for the rest of the country. I knew from other healings I’ve had that prayer is always helpful, because it shows you that God’s goodness is present and powerful, no matter what things look like on the surface. I felt more comforted as I prayed, and also less afraid.
As my trust in God grew, it was easier for me to recognize signs of progress in my community, including my father’s business reopening. But even though I’m grateful for the good things that have happened, I’m not done praying yet. I like reading the chapter “Fruitage” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy to get inspiration for my prayers, because “Fruitage” is full of people’s stories about how they were healed just by reading Science and Health. Some of these people were in desperate or challenging circumstances, but all of them still found healing. Their experiences remind me that some situations take persistence, but God is always there to help us, to lead us forward, and to heal us.