Recently, a friend told me about how she had started offering to pray for people in her community when they mentioned they were having a problem with something. It could be anything: a back problem, travel issues, whatever. For her, this wasn’t a mindless response at every turn, but an active listening, and willingness, to follow God’s directing. She spent her days yearning to know God better, to do God’s will, and to let go of any views not entirely rooted in God. Sometimes she felt more successful at this than other times. And, as is true for all of us, the more she felt moved and uplifted by what she gleaned of God’s goodness each day, the more she had to share with people.
It was from this basis—not from the basis that she felt she knew everything about healing in Christian Science, or had worked out all of her own issues—that she offered to pray for the tailor who complained of an ailment while hemming her dress, and for fellow parents at soccer practice who voiced their struggles while hanging out on the sidelines.
One time, after she offered to pray for a fellow soccer parent, another parent who overheard leaned in and said, “You should take her up on her offer. She’s good at praying!” The woman didn’t remember ever having offered to pray with the person who said that. But word had apparently been getting around.
