For several days one time, I suffered with symptoms of the flu, the most noticeable of which (to me) was a sore throat. During this time I was praying to overcome the difficulty through my newfound understanding of God in Christian Science. However, I didn't seem to be making much progress. The pain in my throat would diminish, only to return later, and I was becoming more and more frustrated.
At work a few days afterward I overheard a conversation in which all the symptoms I was struggling with were mentioned. I tried to put the incident out of my thought, but the description I'd heard kept coming to mind.
That evening I retired early but woke up around midnight with an earache. I tried to sleep but couldn't. Finally I concluded that if I was going to spend a sleepless night, it might as well be spent in prayer—for if nothing else, I would certainly be a better person for it. After all, hadn't Luke recorded that on a particular occasion Christ Jesus "continued all night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12)?
