DO YOU SOMETIMES wait for a particular report to come on the television or radio and then realize when it's almost over that you missed it because you were thinking about something else? I have been considering this recently in relation to listening to God. I've read many articles, both in this magazine and others, about people who have been wakened in the middle of the night with a strong urge to pray about something very specific. They listened, spent time in prayer, and learned at a later time that their prayer was effective in helping someone. I'd often wondered why that had never happened to me.
I found out recently that I may have been so caught up in other things that these important promptings seemed to me like background noise, and I was ignoring them. But one night after my family and I had gone to bed, I couldn't fall asleep because I felt fearful about robbery. At first I started to ignore this thought. I had too many other things to think about and didn't have time for this apparently unfounded fear. Then I realized that the most effective way to deal with fear was to pray.
I spent several hours affirming many of the simple truths that I've learned through studying Christian Science. Among the ideas that came to me were these: God's creation is good, just the way God made it, and that includes each and every one of us, with no exceptions. We all have the ability to listen to God. We all reflect Him and therefore can do only good. No one needs to want anything but what God gives, and we can trust that God will give us what we need each and every moment. Therefore, there is no basis for anyone to have a desire to steal from or injure another.
The Bible passage "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,... where thieves break through and steal" Matt. 6:19. reminded me that this time of prayer, wherever it was leading, was lifting me above earthly cares into heavenly ideas. It was helping me see everyone as God's creation—not just my friends and family members, but even those I had thought of as criminals.
I prayed for some time, until the fear dissolved and I fell peacefully asleep. I hadn't yet realized that this was only the first step in listening.
The most effective way to deal with fear is to pray.
THE NEXT MORNING when I arrived in my office, there was a call waiting from my husband saying our hardware store had been robbed. The safe had been taken; it held two days' cash receipts and almost four weeks of account receivable records. Insurance would cover only the cash.
At first I was very upset and angry. Who would do this? How would we cover the bills that would continue to come in? But then I remembered what had happened during the night—my slowing down long enough to listen to God. I felt overwhelming gratitude to God for preparing us for this. I was no longer angry. I knew, with more conviction than I had ever felt before, that this would be resolved satisfactorily.
I continued to feel grateful for each instance of kindness.
I STAYED AT WORK but continued getting reports from my husband throughout the day. The police had not found the safe but they did have some suspects. People came forward with descriptions of someone they had seen around the building after closing hours. Hearing what had happened, some of the people who had large accounts with the store came in and offered to pay early and to estimate their accounts for the past four weeks. I continued to feel grateful for each and every instance of kindness and goodness.
The Bible says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isa. 55:11 God had sent His word. We had listened and now could expect the accomplishment and prosperity that this verse promises.
I left work early to offer some support at the hardware store. As I got in my car, I said out loud, "OK, Father, you've taken us partway through this, and I know you will finish it. All of the praying that has been done by family, friends, and me is effective. I will not outline an outcome; I will just put this totally in your hands."
Right away the thought came, "Put it away and trust Me." So I did. I went on my way without worry or concern.
Often we feel as though constant prayer is required until we see certain specific results. If our prayer is the result of a heartfelt striving to learn more about our relationship to God and to love more, these are surely reasons to continue to pray. But if we are praying out of fear that we haven't done enough, that God hasn't heard our prayers, or that we haven't prayed the right way yet, then we need to let go of the fear, know that our prayer is effective, and "put it away" with God!
How do we know when to do this? I've found that it's a good idea to test each thought by asking myself if this is what God is knowing. In addition, we have the right to know that our prayers are effective. That's what I needed to know at this time, instead of continuing to pray out of fear.
Once I let go of the fear and stopped second-guessing my work (and God's), I started to see good things happen.
WHEN I ARRIVED at the store, my husband and his brother came bounding out of the brush behind the store, yelling to me to call the police because they had found the safe. They had been talking together about the same time I was in my car leaving work, and had decided that no one could have carried that safe very far. (The police had concluded that no vehicles had been involved.) So my husband and his brother decided to search behind the store one more time. The safe had been opened and the cash was gone, but the entire account receivable box was there—completely undisturbed. I shed tears of joy and gratitude to God.
Although there are no formulas for prayer, I did learn some important things from this experience: Slow down enough to really listen to God. Test your thoughts to ensure that they are from God and not based in fear or human will. Insist on your right to know that prayer is effective. And then trust God to follow through.
