I learned a valuable spiritual lesson while competing in a mixed doubles tournament a week ago.
In one of the matches, my partner and I got blitzed in the first set, 2 – 6. It was very frustrating because by all outward evidence, the score should have been the other way around. But they were out-doing us in about every point. They would successfully lob us if we approached the net. The 4.0 man player had a wicked backhand slice that I kept returning into the net. They simply were playing smarter.
Between sets, my partner and I conferenced and agreed that we couldn’t keep doing the same thing and expect to get better results. We had to change our game to meet what was coming at us across the net. It was also clear to me that there was nothing wrong with us as tennis players. It’s just that different circumstances require different responses, and we had not been adapting with the appropriate response to our opponent’s method of play.
So, we came up with a new strategy. We stayed back. I figured out how to return those backhand slices. And we lobbed them to keep them back. It changed the whole game. We won the second set, and the won the third-set tie break, 11 – 9. It was close, but the change in our game made all the difference.
The same rule applies to prayer. If you’re ever praying about a problem that is not yielding, you may need to change up your game. You may be praying all correct truths, and knowing many spiritual realities with clarity, but if you’re not meeting the need of the moment, the opponent may be retaining the upper hand.
For instance, if you’re praying to know God’s presence more, but the need is to address a sin, you’re not effectively meeting the opponent. Or, if you’re correcting a sin, but the greater need is to feel more love and express it, results may feel elusive. Or, if you believe you’ll get better over time, but the need is to grow in your understanding of God, the enemy could be trenching in deeper while you indulge ignorance.
Ask, what is the demand of the moment? What is the lie being hurled at you that needs to be specifically addressed and corrected so that you are not taken advantage of any longer?
If your prayer strategy is not working, that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you. It’s not a signal to get discouraged. But it could be a sign that a different strategy is needed to meet the demand of the moment.
Take a solid honest look at what is coming at you in consciousness, and counter it with a specific response that sends it back over the net to a place it won’t come back.
Thanks, Evan! And thanks for fixing the “Comments Section”! Yes, I agree…….sometimes the hardest thing to do is to really take a deep look and be honest with ourselves re. where are we holding on to some resentment, some hardness of heart, some stubbornness, etc. and then be willing to “change it up”! Christian Science healing absolutely happens, yet sometimes we are just going for the physical healing, without checking deeply to see if we are still holding on to or indulging a sin. Mrs. Eddy says the main purpose of Christian Science is the healing of sin. “Know thyself”!!
Brilliant and beautiful illustration of this practical wisdom.
Love it !…and will consider it today as I work.
Thank you so much Evan for your deeply metaphysical yet simple illustrations of truth.
Thank you for this practical approach. Loving the game, I have experienced being clobbered. Pulling back and looking at what is happening in my life experience may require me to sit down on the bench of thought and sort things out and turn to the trainer to Pray a right
Your messages are very pratical. Thank you again
Just what I need today!
Thanks so much for this inspiring suggestion. I have an article, “A clean beginning” by Mark Swinney (Sentinel, July 1, 2013) that I have underlined passages that apply specifically to my needs and read every morning before giving myself my daily treatment and reading the weekly Bible Lesson. He states that if we’ve ever felt frustrated when we don’t get the results we’re looking for that we need to step back and examine the premise from which we are basing everything. He states, “Rather than starting with a problem to be solved or a condition to be healed, starting with the truth is a clean beginning. One very specific aspect of truth is that God’s kingdom of spiritual perfection is already present. In fact, it already happens to be within you! Perpetually, you exist in it, and it in you.” He ends with, “Begin in the assurance that since God is your creator, you are whole even before you start to pray.” I have found that this leads to more effective prayers. I am so deeply grateful for all of the avenues of inspiration provided to us by the Christian Science periodicals and for your daily SpiritView!
Excellent! Thanks Evan…
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy paths.” I am trying more and more to trust God to give my understanding and to not try to create it myself. Your post is, as always, just right.
Thanks so much.
Doesn’t this blog remind one what’s going on politically today. The game change needed most importantly is prayer before action is taken. If taken based on matter thinking, mistakes happen and they could be grave but if God directed, success is more likely. Prayer is a very serious step in keeping the peace.
Ditto Kate’s remarks. And thank you Lori and Bevi for your comments. This met my needs for sure.