Recently a new friend told me that she hardly prays at all. This isn't because she doesn't want to. For years she has longed to know how and when to commune with God. She has wondered if you only pray to God when you're in trouble. Do you tell God what is wrong and ask Him to fix it? Do you inform Him that you need a car or some other material thing and ask Him to supply it? Does one say: "I'm ill. Please, God, take away this pain and make me well again"? She feels that if this is what you are supposed to do, it doesn't work. She has tried praying this way, and it hasn't achieved anything.
I know how she feels. There was a time when I, too, felt that prayer was frustrating and confusing. This situation changed when my grandmother was given a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Through reading this book, she learned how to turn to God for healing. She threw out all her medicines, prayed for herself, and was subsequently healed of a bowel disorder.
When my mother read it, she began to understand the laws of God as they apply to the healing of physical difficulties. This led her to discontinue medical treatment for a painful neck condition and to rely on divine Mind alone for healing. As she applied the spiritual laws of health and harmony through prayer, she was permanently cured of that ailment.
