Elijah: Prophet, or Christian Science Practitioner?

In looking at the story of Elijah's prophecy of drought, and in his interactions with a widow woman afterwards, I noticed some correlations to a Christian Science practitioner...

First of all, when Elijah received the intuition about the drought, he just told it like it was to king Ahab--pretty bold! To me, this is similar to a Christian Science practitioner speaking an absolute truth, when impelled by God to do so. It can take a certain boldness to declare something that may not make sense to the material senses.

Then, Elijah received another intuition of where to go during the drought, and that God had commanded a widow woman to feed him. When Elijah saw her, he first requested a drink of water. Now in a drought, that request might have been met with some hesitation, but the woman didn't hesitate. After all, the water likely came from a public well, and wasn't something the woman would have felt a sense of personal responsibility for or ownership of. And this might be seen as Elijah gently approaching, gently preparing to introduce a new thought. So, unlike earlier with the king, this situation called for gentleness, not boldness. Elijah was always listening to know not only what to say, but how to say it, just like a practitioner.

Then, once Elijah sees that she is receptive, once she's already going to fetch him some water, then he asks the tougher question--he asks her for a morsel--just a little bite--of bread. Now that was something she'd feel personal responsibility for, but even so, she's ready to give Elijah some--only she doesn't have any. She barely has any ingredients to make any. In fact, she was ready to use the last of what she had, and then eat it and die. This is like the work of a practitioner identifying a false belief to be corrected. Here, perhaps, Elijah identified the woman's false sense that supply is material and therefore limited, and beyond God's control. He also saw that the false belief was at its extremity, and therefore ripe for destruction.

Then Elijah tells her to do as he asked, and that her supply of meal and oil would not run out. And as she is obedient, she finds that what Elijah said was true. The healing was the change in the woman's thought, and the natural fruit of that deeper, clearer understanding of supply was that she had enough food for herself and her household.

This is my favorite part, though. See, Elijah knew from the very outset that God had commanded the widow woman to take care of him. So he never had any doubts that the situation would work out harmoniously; God was speaking both to him and to the woman. That's kind of like a practitioner knowing from the outset that the patient is receptive and is, essentially, already well--just based on the fact that the patient was willing to contact him/her for help. And what exactly did Elijah do? He just shared something he already knew--that supply is of God, Spirit, and not subject to material limitation. Elijah understood that really well; the widow woman was ready to understand it...Bada bing, bada boom: healing! Elijah didn't do anything to the woman, but simply responded to her receptivity as he was led by God to do.

...And his needs were met, too. But Elijah never had any doubt that that would be the case, because he knew God was in charge of the whooooole thing. :)

So, was Elijah a prophet or a Christian Science practitioner? I'm not sure I see the difference. :)

"PROPHET. A spiritual seer; disappearance of material sense before the conscious facts of spiritual Truth." --Mary Baker Eddy, from the glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.