One time I had a caller wondering if her prayer had done any good in bringing about a physical healing she experienced.
Because it took a while for the healing to occur, she pondered, “I wonder if the healing would have happened anyway whether I prayed or not.”
In a flash of inspiration, I replied, “Of course it would have happened. It’s God law that you be well and strong!”
Whoa…this was a new view I hadn’t seen so clearly before.
Many people don’t pray for healing, but get well anyway. And then they credit material reasons for the wellness, for example, by saying the body heals itself, or the ill would eventually go away anyway. But this is mistaken reasoning. Yes, it’s natural for the body to stay well. And yes, it’s expected that illness go away. But it’s not for material reasons. It’s for spiritual reasons!
God governs. God reigns supreme. There is a divine Mind controlling and governing every activity, function and aspect of our being as children of God. This divine Mind produces health and harmony in us, and no false belief of the human mind, including the belief of illness, can rob us of it. Jesus Christ proved it by restoring health to sick bodies with scientific surety, thus overriding the claim of evil that it could rob us of our God-given rights to well being.
So, yes, if we believed we were sick and felt like it, it would be natural and normal to return to wellness and for the sickness to disappear. There is nothing unusual about recovery at all. It would be expected. It’s God’s law in operation on our behalf.
It’s best to pray though, in all cases, because there are times when the belief of sickness seems to hang on longer and dig in its metaphorical heels. Prayer keeps our thought spiritually alert to healing truth so the error of belief can be mastered and not allowed to go as long as it would want to. Prayer is always the safest and wisest course to choose no matter what one thinks about disease “running its course.” Prayer puts a stop to it, shortens “the course,” eliminates the risk factor of what may or may not happen according to medical belief, and ensures a healthy outcome.
Thank you so much for this very helpful insight, Evan, it’s a great answer to something I’ve wondered about too. And it’s true…it IS God’s will that we be well,and actually, perfect! Bless you.
This is the best thing I’ve ever read about this subject. Thank you!
Thank you, Evan! You always share so much inspiration! Sometimes it is tempting to just not pray about things, but that isn’t a wise path to follow. Holding Truth in thought surely brings healing, sometimes instantaneously, but other times, it does take longer–I always like to know that “Truth is always the victor”. Recently, after a very long ‘seige’ of ‘incurable’ illness, for a few minutes I felt very discouraged. I had really guarded against this, too. Then the thought came “Why should I accept discouragement–progress is God’s law, and I am making progress whether it’s apparent right now or not”. Shortly, not only the discouragement lifted, but so did so much of the illness, and I have felt much better ever since, actually better every day. So grateful we can always turn to God and have the help we need.
Dear Evan, thanks for bringing up this topic. I find it to be fundamental to every healing. The crucial point in every healing is that it is not a transformation of sick matter into healthy matter. Spiritual man is healthy all the time anyway. If we look into a dirty mirror, it won’t change the truth about our real being if we clean it or not. It just helps our recognition of that. Prayer changes our thoughts (strictly speaking, not even our thoughts but it silences error), not Divine reality.
Evan, how can God ‘want’ us to be well? That makes God sound like a person. To me God as Principle, Truth, Mind, etc., as Presence itself – can not want anything. Good IS, health IS. Truth IS. Intelligence IS.
I find the use of human terms for God, He/She etc., takes away from what I feel is the source of all.
Would you comment?
Thanks.
CB
To above,
One definition of want is “to desire to do something or that something be done.”
My sense of God’s will is that God always desires good for us and that only good be done on our behalf.