If someone struggling with an illness were asked, “What do you most need?” they would probably answer, “Healing.” One who is out of work, weary with the search for employment, might say, “What I most need is a job so I can take care of my family.” Struggling parents may long for more obedient offspring. Adults having to care for elderly parents or other relatives may feel what they most need is relief from a sense of burden.
These are all legitimate human needs. But Mary Baker Eddy, the author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, recognized one primary need we all have, regardless of our differing human circumstances. She wrote, “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds” (p. 4). As this spiritual need is met, we’ll find that it brings solutions to our human needs as well.
In order to grow in grace there must be a strong desire for it, an earnest petition that our heavenly Father-Mother Love bestow His/Her gift of grace upon us. The Apostle James assures us, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). The Amplified Bible translates this verse, “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” Grace is dynamic; it can transform character and behavior. It’s a gift freely given to us by God, but we have to desire it fervently.
