In 1901 at the time of the passing of William McKinley, then President of the United States, Mary Baker Eddy wrote an article entitled "Power of Prayer," which now appears in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany." In it she explains why the prayers of a nation did not save the President's life. She writes (p. 293), "Had prayer so fervently offered possessed no opposing element, and President McKinley's recovery been regarded as wholly contingent on the power of God,— on the power of divine Love to overrule the purposes of hate and the law of Spirit to control matter,—the result would have been scientific, and the patient would have recovered."
Mrs. Eddy's explanation points to four opposing elements: first, dependence on material means as an aid to God's power; secondly, lack of understanding that God really is omnipotent; thirdly, belief that hate can overrule Love; and fourthly, belief that matter is not subject to the law of Spirit. The alert Christian Scientist is on guard lest there enter into prayer any element claiming to hinder the results of which Christian Science treatment is capable. The elements opposing prayer are of course not necessarily limited to these four.
However, dependence on material means as an aid to God's power can claim to take rather subtle forms as an opposing element to prayer. Christian Science teaches us that these erroneous conditions must be seen for what they are, namely false aggressive suggestions and that they must then be destroyed. It is not enough that the patient abstain from medicine and other material agencies. Human thought seems to be very powerful. It sometimes believes that abstaining from medical help is harmful. This general belief creates an undefined fear, which must be handled.
