Last night, I got in the car and waited for Doug.
Just before Doug got in the car, I asked, “Please check under the car for a cat.” Doug rolls his eyes and bends over, trying not to get dirty, and looks under the car, which is 7 inches off the ground, and jokes, “There are 6 cats and a turkey under the car.”
See, I have an image in my head of a cat hiding under a vehicle. Doug knows this image is in my head and therefore will take the time to check under vehicles even though he is confident that if there was a cat under the car, the noise of opening and closing doors would scare it out before it got hurt. He humors me literally and checks, but his ability to be in tune to mental conditions keeps the peace and furthermore aids his prayers.
When we are praying for healing, we need to be aware of the images in thought in order to deal correctly with the mental state. If we are praying for other people, it helps to know their mental state is probably different than our own.
Doug’s prayers are effective with me because he knows I have images in my mind that he does not. He doesn’t over analyze my images. He doesn’t hypnotize me to change the images in my mind. He can read my mind and then tell it with authority to be quiet, while divine Mind is acknowledged as tangible and effective in healing.
“Then Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!'” (Matt. 8:23-27, NIV)