Suppose you receive a cable from a friend who is on a cruise ship at sea. She has just accidentally dropped her diamond wedding ring overboard! In the cable she asks for help through prayer. What kind of help is she expecting? Does she even expect to recover the ring? That's not impossible. But it raises the question: What is the real reason for her request for prayer?
The true value of prayer is realized in turning our thought to God. Prayer must be unselfishly motivated. Then we increasingly realize our God-given superiority to loss in any form.
The answer to prayer may not necessarily come in the manner we have outlined or hoped for. Yet heartfelt prayer, springing from at least some understanding of God's totally good nature, blesses us and brings healing to our consciousness. This often results in finding what we felt was beyond our reach. Inevitably, we gain. We gain sweet peace of mind and a lessening of the feeling of loss or despair.
