Articles

One of the major issues that humanity is trying to deal with is the fear of climate change and its effect on the environment. Understandably, there is a great deal of concern about this issue, and a lot of human effort is going into combating climate change physically and chemically.

Can we actually hear God’s voice? We read in the Bible how God communicated directly to Moses, Abraham, David, and the prophets. Christian healer Mary Baker Eddy said we can hear God, too.

One evening I was driving home from work and got pulled over for speeding. While I was waiting for the police officer to give me a ticket, I prayed.

In the book of Acts we read, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” ( 16:25 ). Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown in prison, and had their feet bound in the stocks, and yet they continued to glorify God in songs and prayer.

Many years ago when I worked at a technical training institute in my home city of Chandigarh, India, we were told there would be additional paid projects conducting programs for engineering colleges in the summer. As a teacher trainer, I was looking forward to this, but soon my joy faded when I found that they were distributing these programs among favored individuals.

When my husband and I moved to Sacramento, California, from Carson City, Nevada, in 2002, I was shocked at the number of homeless people within the capital city. I decided to pray about how I could help.

One of the most beautiful illustrations in Scripture appears in the last chapter of Revelation: “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” ( 22:1 ). Water is referred to numerous times in the Bible as a symbol for the Word of God (see, for example, Isaiah 55:10, 11 ), so this “pure river” is evidently pouring forth from the throne (a representation of God’s all-power) to cleanse and heal us, and further still, to teach us knowledge of the living God and His Christ—and of our inseparable relationship to God as His loved sons and daughters.

Desperate circumstances, strained relationships, perilous events, even physical beatings and imprisonment—the Apostle Paul knew them all. In a letter to the Christian church at Corinth he recounts his sufferings for Christ, then makes a startling statement: “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” ( II Corinthians 12:10 ).

Like the disciples in the Bible, many of us may find it tempting, when discouraged, to go back to old ways of thinking and acting. And if we revert to those familiar ways, we may find we come up empty, as some of Christ Jesus’ disciples did after one long, fruitless night fishing near the end of their three years with him.

I’ve been asked before why a student of Christian Science would choose prayer to resolve an issue when a simple medical procedure or treatment is available. Of course, the answer to that will always be individual, but for many folks part of it may have to do with the ultimate goal, what they’re really after.