Testimonies
From Our Members
When you’re struggling with a challenge of any sort, it can be really helpful to hear how someone else prayed about a problem they faced and how they overcame it.
That’s part of the beauty of our Wednesday evening meetings, where people share these kinds of experiences.
To offer some encouragement, a few of our members share below how they prayed about a particular problem and how things worked out.
A while back I noticed that when carrying a pot of water from the sink to the stove my right wrist couldn’t bear the weight of it. This went on for several days and I ignored praying about it because it seemed relatively minor and my days were very full. Even though I had done nothing physical to cause the condition, I still assumed the problem would go away on its own. However, before long the whole arm became painful. Even lifting it to set it onto the arm of my chair required my other arm to raise it high enough. And I had to be careful when setting it down because the slightest touch to that arm resulted in pain. That’s when I began to pray about ideas like strength and flexibility since it was difficult to lift or bend either my wrist or arm. Continuing to look for a physical cause and realizing that I was working 60 hour weeks, I wondered if the prevalent world belief in “stress” could have been what needed to be redressed.
When the pain and weakness continued despite my own prayers I called a Christian Science practitioner for help. She reminded me that my constrained time could not affect my well-being since God gave me the ability to do whatever it was my duty to do. In this case, it was to fulfill my responsibility as a new speech pathologist, requiring many hours of daily preparation (and often time consuming research). We focused on the fact that I was very much blessed to be working in a field I enjoyed as well as with the individual families on my caseload. I was also grateful to find myself in a new home in a welcoming neighborhood. Whatever was required of me to perform my job and settle into my new (yet unfinished) home couldn’t be onerous, but was cause for gratitude.
Several years ago as I was getting dressed one morning, I discovered a tick embedded in my leg. I pulled it out the best I could, but over the next few days, the area where it had been began to show all the signs of Lyme disease.
Whenever I have been sick or had a health issue I have prayed for healing and that’s exactly what I did in this case.
Over the next few weeks the symptoms got worse and my knees took turns swelling and being uncomfortable. There were days when there was no pain, but then it would return.
One night it was almost impossible to find a comfortable position in bed and after very little sleep, I got up about 4:00 in the morning. As I prayed in the wee morning hours, I reached out to God for guidance on what really needed to be healed.
I got a glimpse of who I am spiritually. It was very clear to me that this condition of Lyme disease was not part of my core spiritual identity as a child of God. The more I focused on how God originally made me in His image and likeness, the less I thought about the problem.
I had this cool sense that the disease didn’t really belong to me and couldn’t even touch my spiritual selfhood. I felt an overwhelming peace and relaxed in my chair. The pain just sort of drained out of my leg. The welling went down and I was fine.
I am so grateful for this healing. And I’m grateful that I caught a glimpse of my spiritual identity that was never touched by this disease.
On a trip overseas I fell a few days after my arrival. As a life long Christian Scientist, I turned to a quote from Mary Baker Eddy’s textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (page 424):
”Accidents are unknown to God.” I felt enveloped in God’s love and protection.
Later in the day, the pain became quite acute. A concerned friend recommended that I go to a hospital. After many hours with numerous X rays, the doctors informed me that a bone in my heel was fractured and recommended immediate surgery. I was told not to walk without crutches, but because I was overseas, I could postpone surgery until I returned to the US 2 weeks later.
I was grateful to have the opportunity to turn to God in prayer and rely on Christian Science for healing. I spent much time praying with help of the text book as well as some podcasts and articles created and published by the church in Boston, MA. I felt a sense of calm and joy without any fear.
The following day I was out walking without crutches. I stayed 3 weeks as planned making great progress each day and shortly walking normally without any pain.
When I returned to the US, the insurance company required a checkup by an orthopedic doctor. Several X rays were taken but there was no sign of any fracture. I was not surprised but grateful for this complete healing!
Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, (page 192): ”We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine metaphysics. Christianity is the basis of true healing. Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love receives directly the divine power.”
I am deeply grateful for this healing and proof of God’s care!I was an atheist until I learned how Christian Scientists defines God as Truth, Life, and Love. I realized I did believe in Truth, Life and Love, and saw how much better the world would be if we understood that as supreme. Then I came to the church and found how wonderful it is to be around people that are growing in that understanding. It is so great to be with people who have a positive, healing world view. This has made all the difference in my life.