The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, speaks often about praying with the idea of “reversal.” In many instances, I have found this to be a helpful idea to guide my prayer. When a problem arises, we can reverse our thought about it. We turn away from mortal mind—the false mental sense that we are material—and replace it with an understanding of our true, spiritual identity. This results in healing!
Some time ago, I burned my hand while cooking with hot oil. I aimed a firm mental no at the suggestion that life is in matter and could therefore be hurt or damaged. I knew God was my life and that God does not create pain or discomfort. Then I remembered that a call would be coming in soon that I would need to be on without distraction—yet I was still in pain.
A passage from Science and Health came to me: “When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, ‘I am hurt!’ Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real.” It continues: “Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics …” (p. 397).
