Not long ago I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very ill. I don’t know what was wrong, but the symptoms were those I’ve heard that describe food poisoning or stomach flu. In the first moments when I became aware of how I felt, my impulse was to rush to the bathroom. But as I came more fully awake, I realized that before that I could pray, using what I have learned about healing prayer through my study of Christian Science. I thought about Christ Jesus and the healing grace he brought to mankind, including his promise that we, his followers, are able to heal with prayer, as he did.
The account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis came to mind, and I thought about what it meant that man was and is made in the image and likeness of God. I recognized that if God made man, male and female, in His own image, then I must be His likeness, and I took a couple of moments to think about the fact that the only way I could feel ill would be if God felt ill first. I almost laughed out loud at the thought of God in bed with an upset stomach. As I continued to think about God’s freedom from sickness, reasoning that as His image I, too, must be free from sickness, I realized that I was no longer thinking about getting up and going to the bathroom. The symptoms I had felt so severely lessened until I was lying calmly in bed feeling normal and well. Soon I went back to sleep, and I woke the next morning without any feelings of illness.
I am so glad to know about Christian Science and to realize that I can pray for healing under any circumstances and expect prayer to help and heal me. All that I have learned about this Science I have found in the Bible and also in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science and wrote a book that helps us understand the Bible’s message for this age. That book is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and it has been such a help to me all my life.
GS
