For those times when healing seems elusive no matter how much prayer is offered, it can be helpful to further align thought with the truth that God reigns supreme over all, and evil has no place nor power in all of creation.
Prayer to God in Christian Science is about demonstrating the supremacy of good over evil. If unanswered questions loom—Will my prayer work? Does Christian Science heal? Does God hear my prayer?—they can be evidence of evil leveraging for a credible position. They need to be dismantled to prevent hope from abandoning faith in God and caving in to the taunts of evil.
Christ Jesus conquered evil, including death, and left his example as an inspiration to followers for eons to come. Mary Baker Eddy successfully practiced and taught his teachings in her discovery of Christian Science. Students of Christ today have the truths they need to triumph over the claims of evil, too. Sometimes victories come quickly. Other times a mighty struggle is required to uproot an entrenched sin or pernicious fear. But whatever the trial faced, a delayed recovery is not a signal to give up and concede to evil. It’s a sign to go up in consciousness, lessen fear of evil, strengthen one’s understanding of God, and spiritualize thought until the perceived threat disappears.
When Daniel was cast into the lions’ den for his worship of the one God, he did not give up. He demonstrated the wisdom of worshipping his God by remaining steadfast in prayer. His faithfulness saved him from being eaten alive. When Jonah was swallowed by the whale, he did not give up. He prayed more, listened to God better, and was discharged from the whale’s belly to follow through with God’s original command. When David confronted the behemoth Goliath, he did not tremble in fear and run away. He faced the giant, continued to pray, and held his ground, knowing that God backed him up. The giant fell, and David stood. When Paul was stoned, whipped, beaten, scourged, and imprisoned for his teachings, he did not give up. He deepened his prayers, strengthened his trust in Truth, and became one of the most influential and successful evangelists of all time.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross by the hatred and malice of his persecutors, he did not wave a white flag and concede defeat.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross by the hatred and malice of his persecutors, he did not wave a white flag and concede defeat. He solidified his commitment to God, forgave his enemies, found spiritual peace, and remained patient while his full demonstration of life over death was unfolding. He walked out of the tomb alive and triumphant.
When Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, was ridiculed by critics, condemned for her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and ostracized in public for her convictions, she did not lose faith in her vision. She did not retreat in embarrassment, closet herself from public view, consign herself to failure, and quit working. She faced her foes fearlessly, demonstrated the integrity of her ideal, and proved the worthiness of her teachings. As did the prophets before her, she overcame evil with good, and went forward to establish the Christian Science Church and several periodicals, including The Christian Science Monitor. She eventually became one of the best-known and most respected women of her time.
Modern-day students of Christian Science, likewise, have abundant opportunity to defeat the claims of evil. Eddy wrote, “The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good” (Science and Health, p. 450). Evil claims that it is real, powerful, and able to negate God’s spiritual help for humankind, but this is a lie begging to be demoted and stripped of credibility. And it is stripped of its disguise by the understanding that the omnipresence and omnipotence of God cannot be denied. Evil challenging God’s goodness is like darkness challenging light. The effort is futile.
Whatever character evil assumes, it must be stripped of prestige and seen for the lie it is.
The lies of evil take many different forms. There are external types such as political, social, or economic persecution of those who uphold high moral and spiritual standards. There are physical forms such as disease, deformity, pain, and loss of faculties. There are mental forms such as fear of failure, doubt, anxiety, or worry that wear on faith and trust in God. There could be a dire medical diagnosis, a financial blow, or a relationship calamity that argues for evil. Whatever character evil assumes, it must be stripped of prestige and seen for the lie it is. As Jesus proclaimed, the devil is a liar. There is no truth in him (see John 8:44).
Years ago, an ugly bump swelled on my forehead. I prayed over a year for relief. The condition worsened. It seemed I had exhausted all my metaphysical options. When I reached what seemed like a physical crisis point, I became consumed with fear. “What now?” I wondered. “Is this the beginning of the end? What about my wife, my children? Who will take care of them?” My mind whirled out of control with wild, ominous speculation. With hope sinking fast, a thought popped into my mind like a life-preserver thrown to a struggling swimmer. “You’re afraid of failure!” I agreed. I was afraid of failure. “That’s your problem,” an internal angel voice confirmed. “You don’t believe the truth you’ve been praying. That’s why you’re afraid of failure. And now you feel like a failure.” It was a metaphysical snap to attention for me. An aggressive, ugly, and ruinous fear that had been lying low in my thought finally surfaced. Now I had a chance to eliminate it and move on.
To resurrect hope for recovery, I took full possession of this promise from Psalms 56:4: “I will not fear what flesh can do unto me,” and I added, “because the body can’t do anything to me. I am wholly spiritual, never material.” I reasoned that if I sincerely believed I was wholly spiritual, I would lose all concern about when I was going to be healed, whether I was going to be healed, or how I was going to be healed, because I would see myself safe and well. And so I did. I let Truth lift my thought to pure spirituality, where God reigns supreme and there is no danger, threat, or appearance of disease. I wrestled to see clearly that all my family, including me, were spiritual beings, not of matter and eternally at one with God, where there is no coming and going, no lack, no separation, no illness, death, or loss. Spirituality was my only reality, I affirmed.
The effect of my reinvigorated prayer was dramatic. I lost the fear of death. I saw that failure was impossible because God never fails to preserve all of creation in its original spiritual form and existence. I was OK. My family was safe. I felt unshakable peace. A soft, warm, heavenly glow seemed to hover around me. My thought became rock-steady calm, and opened to further spiritual revelations of truth that led to complete healing a few days later when a foreign substance was ejected from my forehead and the condition vanished.
In the midst of trial, it may feel as though our enemy is getting the better of us, but it helps to remember that any adverse condition or situation is a temporary mortal fear ready to yield to spiritual truth. Persistent prayer, a deeper love for God, and a stronger faith in Truth expose hidden error, bring to light key insights, zap fear, and allow Truth to take over and healing to happen.
Christian Science arms each of its students with the spiritual might and power needed to dethrone evil and gain a decisive victory. The absolute fact that God rules supreme and evil is naught is an unchangeable condition of reality, which dooms every assertion of the carnal mind and ensures its destruction. Evil has no choice but to give up and consent to God’s government and command. Jesus Christ knew this and proved it. Daniel, Jonah, David, Paul, and Mary Baker Eddy knew and proved it. Vast multitudes of believers over the centuries have proved it. You can prove it, too.
