“Don’t focus on outcomes. Focus on what you’re doing,” a tennis coach instructed her students.

Many of her budding tennis players were concerned about getting the point rather than implementing their shots well. In a hurry to score, they’d miss the ball, hit it into the net, or fumble altogether.

“If you don’t hit the ball well, you won’t make the point,” the coach reminded the kids.

We can learn from this lesson.

In spiritual healing, the human mind often focuses on material outcomes rather than the spiritual steps needed to arrive at a desirable result.

Successful prayer requires spiritualization of thought to remove the fear, error, or ignorance that causes external suffering. If thought is centered on physical conditions, it’s not focused on inward transformation. Then, in frustration over delay in recovery, the patient complains, “Why am I not healed?”

In tennis, a player has to earn his points. Shots need to be executed well to score.

In spiritual healing, we earn our recovery by letting God take over our thinking. Once sufficient spiritual renewal has occurred, we make the point—we score. We reach the desired goal.

Don’t focus on physical outcomes in prayer. Focus on spiritualizing thought. It’s the quickest way to victory!