Patience
The other day, I witnessed someone being extremely impatient with someone else. It reminded me of a time when I learned a valuable lesson in patient prayer.
My husband and I both had the day off and we decided to use the opportunity to have my car serviced. On the morning that this was to be done, I woke him and said I was leaving to go to the dealership. He said he was getting up and would come shortly.
After getting to the dealership, I waited for my husband to come. We didn't have cell phones but I called home on a land line and got no answer. I wondered if he had fallen asleep. My car would take most of the day and we had planned to have breakfast and do some shopping.
I decided I needed most of all to pray. The wonderful thing about prayer is that you can do it anywhere, any time. You don't need books to read. You don't need cell phone or extra land lines. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says that we should enter into our closet and shut the door. Most translations refer to this as entering into a quiet room. We can do this anywhere.
I went outside the busy, noisy dealership and sat on the curb. If my husband called the dealership, I would be right there. I sang hymns to myself and prayed the Lord's Prayer. Right there, on the curb, was my quiet room.
After about an hour and a half, my husband arrived. I was so full of prayer that it was a joyful reunion. It turned out that there had been a serious accident on the highway on the way to the dealership and he wasn't able to get off the highway. He had had no way to call me. We went on to have a wonderful day together.
This has stood out to me as an example of being patient and trusting in the prayerful work I am doing. I am grateful that we are being taught every day the value of prayer through Christian Science.
C. N., Williamsport, PA
My husband and I both had the day off and we decided to use the opportunity to have my car serviced. On the morning that this was to be done, I woke him and said I was leaving to go to the dealership. He said he was getting up and would come shortly.
After getting to the dealership, I waited for my husband to come. We didn't have cell phones but I called home on a land line and got no answer. I wondered if he had fallen asleep. My car would take most of the day and we had planned to have breakfast and do some shopping.
I decided I needed most of all to pray. The wonderful thing about prayer is that you can do it anywhere, any time. You don't need books to read. You don't need cell phone or extra land lines. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says that we should enter into our closet and shut the door. Most translations refer to this as entering into a quiet room. We can do this anywhere.
I went outside the busy, noisy dealership and sat on the curb. If my husband called the dealership, I would be right there. I sang hymns to myself and prayed the Lord's Prayer. Right there, on the curb, was my quiet room.
After about an hour and a half, my husband arrived. I was so full of prayer that it was a joyful reunion. It turned out that there had been a serious accident on the highway on the way to the dealership and he wasn't able to get off the highway. He had had no way to call me. We went on to have a wonderful day together.
This has stood out to me as an example of being patient and trusting in the prayerful work I am doing. I am grateful that we are being taught every day the value of prayer through Christian Science.
C. N., Williamsport, PA