Q How do you conquer discouragement when study and prayer not only don't bring healing and progress, but seem to worsen existing problems?
A To feel discouraged is to feel hopeless. But as long as God is Love—and I believe with all my heart that He is—hope will never desert you. Even in the most distressing circumstances, you can think of that Love as a shining light that can't be dimmed. The Bible says, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5).
As tempting as it is to think about the problem, experience has proved to me that when one begins to focus on the goodness and power of God, healing will come more readily. I once fell hard on one elbow. After I'd spent some weeks praying for healing, it still hurt, and I wondered if it was broken. I realized the focus of my prayers needed to shift. Instead of continuing to pray simply for my bone to come back together, I started praying to see that God brings all people together. Divine Love, I realized, was the one source of everything and everyone. I was praying about the same basic ideas as before, but now I was broadening the focus of my prayers to include everyone. This eventually wiped out any sense of hurt and brought a complete healing.
