Before I began studying Christian Science, I remember praying only twice. The first time, I prayed to love someone I was angry with. After I'd prayed, I was immediately healed of anger, and felt love for this person. I was amazed, because I'd never heard of prayers being answered this way.
The second time I prayed was about a family member's extremely complicated and frightening legal entanglements. I prayed the only prayer I knew, the Lord's Prayer (see Matt. 6:9–13). I prayed for days in utter despair, until finally I began thinking about what I was praying. I went over each line and thought about what it meant. When I got to "Thy will be done," I began to pay attention, because I knew I wasn't doing God's will. I realized I needed to bring my life into accord with this prayer so I could feel close to God. I thought about the kind of person I wanted to be, made a list of the qualities I wanted to stand for, and started to change. As I continued to pray, we were led step by step out of the legal problem.
At this time there was a lot being written and said about the power of positive thinking. One day I heard about redefining one's life through one's thinking. This idea came to me in an instant: "I think all the time, and I can learn to think different thoughts."
