Prayer heals. It serves to redeem, uplift, and regenerate human lives. Prayer voices the hope and expectation of salvation. And thousands of rational, intelligent individuals today—followers of Christ Jesus' own method of healing—regularly turn to God in prayer. They do so without reservation when confronted with physical illness as well as when facing other human difficulties or moral dilemmas. Their fidelity and constancy are rewarded; their lives are renewed.

The First Epistle of Peter encourages us, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you."^{I Pet. 3:15.} And it is also worth asking ourselves about the hope in our own prayer, for one's spiritual progress depends in large measure on what he really expects from prayer and what his motives are.

For a student of Christian Science, his reasons for choosing to rely on prayer for healing are based fundamentally on an acknowledgment of God's allness, omnipotence, omnipresence; and correspondingly, on the scientific recognition of evil's insubstantiality, impotence, nothingness. If God, infinite Spirit, is in fact the only power (all-power), the individual who feels this to be true will naturally turn to God whenever healing is needed. Thus the individual prays—earnestly, humbly, affirmatively.

Many other important points are necessary to a full discussion of the purpose for Christian healing and of one's reasons for relying exclusively on prayer. Some points can be considered here; others will be explored only on the frontiers of our individual experience as we face the demands of working out our own salvation. But the following points are essential.

• We instinctively seek God's comforting presence in times of need because we know He loves us dearly. Healing is proof of the Father's tender mercy. Every healing realized through prayer witnesses dynamically to God's ever-present, sustaining care. Through the action of His Christ, prayer awakens human consciousness to understand and to feel the all-embracing protection, the liberating grace, of infinite divine Love.

• Then, it follows that we also turn to God in prayer not only because He loves us but because we love Him. As the New Testament declares, "We love him, because he first loved us." ^{I John 4:19.} Spiritual healing constitutes a central element of our worship of God. It acknowledges Him as supreme and upholds the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." ^{Ex. 20:3.} Christ Jesus reminded a questioner, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." ^{Matt. 22:37.} When we seek healing through prayer without reservation, we are genuinely expressing this pure, totally committed love for God. We are worshiping only Him, not matter or material means; we are serving God alone.

• Christian healing is the only means of healing that gives proof—practical, undeniable evidence—of the spiritual reality of all being. Scientific prayer affirms that God is omnipresent Spirit and man is His perfect reflection, entirely spiritual, undefined, expressing only His nature. When healing follows this realization, the affirmations of divine reality are demonstrated conclusively. God is Spirit; man is spiritual. No other healing method acknowledges and then validates this divine fact. Thus, we choose to rely on prayer alone.

• Christian Science teaches that physical difficulties are fundamentally mental in nature. They are the result of false belief. Accordingly, the only lasting healing and progress will come from correcting the misconceptions in human consciousness about God, man, and reality. The scientific, Christian method of healing does this. No other method can. For generations, people in every walk of life have proved that Christian Science is safe, sure, and reliable. And one can always pray, no matter what the circumstance or surroundings.

• Another primary reason we choose to rely on prayer for healing is that it coincides with the way our Saviour, Christ Jesus, healed. In simple terms, Christian Scientists view it as a condition of discipleship. When Jesus called his twelve apostles together to send them out to spread the gospel among the people, he commanded them, "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." ^{Matt. 10:7,8.} The apostolic demand remains for each of his followers today. And in fact, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, has shown the special significance of spiritual healing for our own era. She writes: "In different ages the divine idea assumes different forms, according to humanity's needs. In this age it assumes, more intelligently than ever before, the form of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 370.}

• Finally, when we measure our reasons for pursuing the way of prayer-based healing, we come to see that as significant as a physical healing may be, the most important accomplishment of our absolute reliance on divine law is revealed in another way. It is evidenced by our redemption, purification, spiritual growth. Actually there is no true Christian healing without these, for it is only as human consciousness is transformed that a permanent change for the better occurs in the human condition. In the final analysis, Christian healing is defined in the terms and conditions of both one's spiritual regeneration and one's well-being. And both are essential elements of salvation. As Mrs. Eddy writes, "Body and mind are correlated in man's salvation; for man will no more enter heaven sick than as a sinner, and Christ's Christianity casts out sickness as well as sin of every sort."^{Ibid., p. 241.}

There is much more that can be said of the reason for the hope that is in us. The pure joy and peace that come to the hearts of those who are faithful to one God, trusting Him in every circumstance, are blessings beyond price. With each step of trust and absolute reliance on divine Truth, we grow stronger in our resolve and find that we are increasingly better prepared to go into the world with the ministry of Christ-healing. And thus we are able to freely give, even as we have freely received the bounty of our Father's grace.

WILLIAM E. MOODY