An example of Question 3

A woman came to me after church one day, kind of in a rush, and asked if I would pray with her. Of course I would, this is my favorite thing to do. We went off to a quieter place and I asked what was up. She said "I need you to pray for my back, as I’ve got a really busy week and don’t have time to go to the chiropractor" (my quotes are not word for word, as they are relying on my often faulty memory of the situation...) I LOVE this woman, and I wish more people were like her, so don’t think I’m judging her, I’m just going to tell you what I ‘heard’ when she said this. "I ‘need’ you to pray for my back because my #1, my first resort, my preferred method, is unavailable, and Jesus is a less than reliable second. If I had time for the chiropractor, I would not come to you/Jesus…" I logged this away in my mind and prayed for healing. When I was done praying I asked her if she had sensed anything, heard anything from God, felt anything while we were praying. (I always ask this question, and the answers are so interesting!) She just smiled and said "No" with a bit of a shrug, "I guess it’s up to Him now, if he wants to." Did you get that last bit? IF He WANTS to? I asked her if she believed there were any situation in which he might NOT want to. She answered, "well, if it’s not His will, if there were some ‘higher purpose’ for my pain." I asked her "If you believe there could be a "higher purpose’ for your pain, and this pain could possibly actually BE the will of God, then, are you not out of line is seeking relief from a chiropractor?" She is a wonderful woman, in that, she is not easily offended. I have asked other people this same sort of question, and had them be horribly offended. She is a very thoughtful woman. There are often long silences between question and answer with her. After one of these long silences she asked me "Well, if we’re going to go down that road, then, it begs the question… should I be taking any pain killers for this?" I smiled and shrugged and replied ‘It’s a valid question… IF you are going to believe that it ‘might be God’s will for you to have pain" (NOT to heal you) in order for him to accomplish some ‘higher purpose," then we are in conflict with His will in seeking relief from it." She was not at all comfortable with this new line of thinking. There was a lot going on in her brain at this moment. We prayed again, this time for a revelation of the TRUTH, and for unity in our prayers. Then we hugged and she quietly went on her way. I never heard from her for nearly two months. I had no idea how her ‘incredibly busy week’ had gone. Truth be told, I was sort of avoiding her, because I hate hearing that ‘nothing happened’ when we’ve prayed for healing. It’s very frustrating for me.

Anyway, about two months later, she came up beside me when I was alone and just quietly asked ‘Do you remember when we prayed together?" I said "ya". She said, "Well, I went through that whole week without a single pain killer! I had NO pain! I slept through the night, which is something I haven’t been able to do for years! I had this huge bottle of pain killers that I never once used!"

I was so relieved, so blessed, so thankful, so encouraged!