The Cherokee Parable of the Two Wolves fits in well with this discussion.
Also, this excerpt from “By Prayer and Fasting”, CS Sentinel article, July, 1943, by Ruth W. Herwood:
“Jesus responded, ‘Bring him hither to me.’ … It was as if he had said, Bring him to where it is known that Spirit is the only power —to the understanding that man is spiritual, not material.
“It was evident that in no other way than by the understanding and recognition of man’s perfection could this child be saved. Jesus’ explanation to his disciples of their failure, ‘This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting,’ showed the necessity of fasting from any material suggestion of a personal self needing to be healed, and the holy desire to do the will of the Father, divine Spirit. The pure reflection of God. Mind, could see only the pure image of Love.
“It is significant that the healing of this child came after Christ Jesus had returned from that sacred mountain-top experience known as the ‘transfiguration.’ Before that pure elevation of thought, disease could have no witness, and so melted away into its own nothingness.
[The article then quotes p. 222 of Mrs. Eddy’s Miscellany, and her interpretation of prayer and fasting as “refraining from admitting the claims of the senses.”]
“This interpretation of Jesus’ words by our Leader shows plainly the requirement of absolute purity of thought as a requisite for healing.
“Prayer and fasting bring the pure recognition of the Christ. We find ourselves in ‘the secret place of the most High,’ where Christ dwells forever with the Father. The realization that the divine image and likeness ceaselessly beholds the face of God is the prayer which heals. Such prayer demands fasting from the illusion of the senses. It is the Christ-consciousness which heals and saves.”