Finding lost articles

Can prayer be effective in finding lost articles? It certainly can. And why not? If God is omnipotent and omniscient -- and He is -- surely we can call upon Him to direct us in finding what needs to be found. The Bible declares, "The Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." n1

n1 Proverbs 2:6

How do we pray to recover lost articles? We begin with God, recognizing that He is the one divine presence, the all-knowing Mind, the only creator and cause. His creation is not material but spiritual. It is like Him, good and perfect. Because of His perfection and total control, He cannot be conscious of loss.There can be no loss at all in His universe. Further, God has made man -- your true identity and mine -- in His likeness, and this spiritual man can no more be conscious of loss than can God.

As we comprehend these profound truths and understandingly declare them when faced with a problem of loss, we are praying effectively, and we can expect that our prayer will make evident to us whatever we need to do.

True prayer requires much more, however, than the superficial statement that "nothing is lost." Instead, we need to lift thought above the material situation and understand in some degree that we are actually in God's presence. We need to really seek not so much to find a material object as to know the intactness of His kingdom, where there can be no loss.

It is helpful to realize that because divine Mind controls all, there can be no sensem of loss. This is spiritually true regardless of what the material senses tell us. Recognizing this calms our thought, and we are able to listen quietly and patiently for omniscient Mind to point the way. Mary Baker Eddy n2 states, "When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path." n3

n2 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science;

n3 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 254.

The perception that God alone guides us and that in reality there can be no sense of loss cancels the temptation to be disappointed should we determine that what we seek has been destroyed and is unrecoverable. In such case, we can expect that God's wisdom will provide another way to meet our need.

It is easy for a person to say, when he has seen some article recovered through prayer, that it would have been found anyway. But the one who has prayed understandingly and effectively is inwardly certain that his prayer has brought about, through the presence of the Christ, the right result.And when he has further proofs along this line, his conviction of God's power grows, and his ability to achieve proofs of divine power increases.

My wife and I have proved many times the efficacy of prayer in recovering lost articles.One time my wallet dropped from our car onto the center of a busy highway, many miles from home. When the loss was discovered some time later we prayed, knowing that in God's kingdom, where all is under His control, there can be no sense of loss. The wallet was found by a stranger, who returned it intact.

Another time, during a long drive, my wife realized that a gold earring she had been wearing was missing. We prayed as we often had, declaring the presence of divine Mind to lead us, and denying a mortal sense of loss. We felt led to return to a large, very busy roadside market where we had stopped, and we found the earring in a dirt pathway used by scores of people.

Again, a neighbor called us in great distress, reporting that a valuable diamond ring had slipped from her finger while she was working in her kitchen. She said she could not find it, despite a rigorous search. We went to her, declaring on the way that God provides unerring direction; we understood clearly that there can be no sense of loss. We found the kitchen in complete disarray because of the search that had been made. In thirty seconds we were led to the ring.

Nothing equals prayer in finding lost articles. DAILY BIBLE VERSE If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5