Prayer protected me at gunpoint

With so many news reports of violence, we might find ourselves wondering, “What would I do if I were in that situation?”

The Bible promises, “Thou [God] hast delivered me from the violent man” (Psalms 18:48). Can we truly trust God to keep us safe?

When I’ve been faced with violence, it’s been natural to pray – and to expect results. But I’ve learned that this prayer must be deeply earnest, trusting my welfare and that of those around me to God and obediently following God-inspired guidance about what to say or do.

Strong statements from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, have helped me feel certain that thoughts and actions that are unlike God, good, are errors and can be annihilated. One of these statements explains, “The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind, and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind – called devil or evil – is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality. There can be but one Mind, because there is but one God; and if mortals claimed no other Mind and accepted no other, sin would be unknown” (p. 469).

It is invaluable to know that there is only one Mind, God – and that because God is the only presence and power, divine Mind is All. This allness of Mind destroys the belief that there can be both good minds and bad minds.

Understanding Mind’s ever-presence annihilates the fear that Mind’s idea, man – which includes everyone in their true nature as God’s child – can ever be motivated to act in an evil manner or be harmed by evil. A perception of these spiritual facts enables an individual to prove that evil’s claim to power and influence is false, and thus to bring healing to harmful situations. God is very near to all of us, and we can rely on Him to protect us when we’re threatened with violent situations.

This assurance formed the foundation of my prayerful response when I was threatened by a man with a gun. I was on a trip abroad, and had been praying to affirm that, as God’s idea, man has integrity. This is true because man is God’s creation – entirely spiritual and always good, like Him – and forever embraced by divine Love.

A heavily armed man at a local checkpoint approached the car I was riding in. He tapped on my window with an automatic rifle and ordered me to roll the window down. Then he cocked his weapon, pointing it a few inches from my face, and demanded that I give him all my money.

It would have been easy to comply, and, hopefully, be permitted to go on my way. But in this case, prayer led me to look him in the eye and firmly say, “That is not going to happen!” Although I was tempted to doubt this divine direction and to fear being shot, I knew this momentary suggestion that God might not be in control had no real authority.

When I spoke those words, the assailant immediately stepped backward, bowed his head, and quietly let us drive on. Less than 10 minutes later, at another checkpoint, I was threatened again – and protected in exactly the same way.

My response wasn’t a formula for dealing with violent threats. Prayer may inspire different responses in different circumstances. And yet the harmonious outcome didn’t entirely surprise me. I realized that it wasn’t about two mortal men battling each other. The spiritual fact is that we are all children of the one parent Mind. This perception lifted me out of a feeling of victimization. And I believe this was what impelled the individuals to withdraw their threats.

The writer of Hebrews assures us, “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, ... and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (4:12). The power of the Christ, which was lived and demonstrated by Jesus, is our spiritual armor. Just as Jesus was protected in the midst of a mob intent on killing him (see Luke 4:28-30), we are privileged to witness the ever-presence of Christ, Truth, and its power to destroy hate, greed, and violence.

If we find ourselves confronted by evil of any kind, we can know that it has no legitimate claim to power. God is the only true power over us and everyone else, and recognizing this empowers us to demonstrate it more thoroughly, even when faced with the threat of violence.

Adapted from an article published in the March 18, 2019, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.