Catching an illness can leave us feeling helpless and afraid. Are we at the mercy of invisible germs? Do we have to worry every time we hear someone cough or sneeze? The answer is no. Contagion is no match for the power of prayer.
Prayer is the act of realizing the truth about God and man. In the case of praying about contagion, let’s start with what we know about God. The first chapter of Genesis details God’s creation. Concluding each description of what God made, the Bible tells us that “God saw that it was good.” Everything God made was good, and he didn’t make anything that wasn’t good. Is illness or contagion considered good? Of course not. Then it couldn’t have come from God.
When we realize this truth that illness and contagion were not created by God, they no longer have any power. Why? Because God by definition has all power, therefore nothing apart from God has any power. God demonstrated this to Moses on mount Horeb when God told Moses to put his hand inside his cloak. When Moses pulled his hand out, it was infected with leprosy. In Moses’ time, there was no treatment for leprosy, let alone any cure. Those who had the disease were shunned by society because they saw it as being extremely contagious. Moses would have been horrified to see this happen right before his eyes, but what happened next proved that this leprosy was powerless. God told Moses to put his hand back into his cloak, and Moses obeyed. When he took it out, his hand was as healthy as the rest of his body.
God was showing Moses that he had nothing to fear. Not even leprosy could stand in the face of God’s all power. Even more than that, God was revealing to Moses the truth about himself, that Moses was not a material, mortal man, subject to disease. Moses’ true being, and our true being, is wholly spiritual, “never in nor of matter,” as Christian pioneer Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. We are living our life in Spirit right now. Therefore contagion, illness, or disease, all material ideas, cannot touch us. Moses may have appeared to have leprosy for a moment. But he trusted God, and continued to obey the Divine instruction that showed him this claim of leprosy was not real.
Next time it seems like you are in a situation where you could be exposed to contagion, wether it’s a cold or an infections disease, know these simple truths: God is the only power, and your life is not material. This potent prayer has brought healing to countless individuals who found they were not at the mercy of contagion, but empowered by God’s all power.
Third Church wants to help you learn how to demonstrate this power of prayer. This Wednesday at 7:30pm, our Testimony Meeting will focus on the subject “Mission,” and this Sunday at 11:00am the service is on “Mortals and Immortals.” Our Reading Room is also a great resource to dig deeper and find helpful articles on how Christian Science heals. You can join any of our services on the phone at the following conference number:
Dial-in Number: 1-310-372-7549
Access Code: 607611