Over many decades and through many life chapters, I have witnessed and experienced the power of gratitude. Feeling grateful is an essential aspect of prayer in Christian Science. I like to think of the connection between gratitude and prayer as analogous to supercharging a race car engine in order to magnify its horsepower. Gratitude can supercharge our prayers and open the way to permanent healing and liberating progress.
Christ Jesus exemplified how gratitude facilitates and enhances our prayers. Many of Jesus’ most powerful demonstrations of God’s power, including feeding the four thousand and raising Lazarus from death, were accompanied by deep expressions of thankfulness. Throughout his career on earth, Jesus embodied intrinsic gratitude toward his Father. He showed how thankfulness arrests doubt or uncertainty and inspires more heartfelt prayer and a greater willingness to accept God’s ever-present goodness.
A truly grateful heart is protected from the influence of human will. Personal will or any other self-centered influence has no part in true Christian healing, but tends to move it beyond one’s grasp. Feeling genuine gratitude for God involves surrendering self-will and letting the divine energy of God, of Truth and Love, govern and shape our lives.
