The Pastor's Soul Volume 4: Listening to the Voice of God

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PAIN ETCHED SALLY'S FACE. Nerves damaged by radiation treatments left her in constant agony. "The doctors say they can do nothing more," she said. "God is my only hope. I noticed a passage on healing in James 5 yesterday that might help."

As she opened her Bible, I saw two verses underlined in red: "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up."

"Would you please gather the elders and pray for me?" she asked.

It wasn't that simple.

I grew up in a denomination that ill-prepared me for her request. The unwritten but strongly implied rule of our denominational culture stated that pastors who ministered in the area of healing were charismatic at best and deluded at worst. Also, our churches were organized around deacons; we had no elders. Furthermore, I was not sure what a "prayer of faith" was. Finally, I had never anointed anyone with oil and was not certain how to do it.

I chose my words carefully: "Sally, you are the first person to ask me to pray for healing according to James 5. I am not certain what to do." I explained my pastoral dilemma and then proposed a solution: "I suggest that we both pray and fast for five days. I'll meet you in my office next Friday afternoon, and if God tells us to proceed, we will."

Sally was no novice. She had walked with God for many years. She agreed to the proposal.

Five days later we both wrote on paper what we thought God told us and then exchanged papers. The conclusions were identical. We made plans for a healing service on Sunday afternoon. Since we had no elders at the time, I invited our deacons.

During the thirty ...

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