Do you take the Bible seriously? I know you do. What I mean is do you not only believe the promises of God but do you act on them. As a pastor for many years, I believed the Bible was the inspired, authoritative Word of God. Sounds like good theology, doesn’t it? Putting it into practice, however, was something else.
The Crisis
Gary burst into my office at the church in tears pleading with me to intercede with God for his 8 year old daughter, Joy, who had been having headaches and the doctors had sent her to a hospital in Sacramento, CA. Between sobs, Gary told me the CAT (CT) scan report indicated a malignant brain tumor that was inoperable. The tumor was located in the pineal gland in the center of the brain. The doctor indicated to Gary that they could not operate on the gland to remove the tumor because of its location and chemotherapy and radiation treatments could not be attempted because of both the location of the tumor and the risk factors. Unless God did a miracle, Joy would die from the tumor.
The Test
I contacted our prayer chain and asked people to pray for Joy’s healing. I then called the deacons in the church and explained the situation. I told them that I had read James 5:14-16 and God promised that He would heal in response to the faith and prayers of the elders. Since we had no elders in our Baptist church, they would serve in that same capacity. I told them that Joy’s father, Gary, had called us to do this on behalf of his daughter and was fulfilling the first part of James 5:14. Then I told the deacons that I believed the promise of James 5 and would be driving to the hospital in Sacramento the next morning. I challenged those who had faith that God would heal Joy in response to the prayer and anointing of the elders to join me. Three deacons did and we set off from the church the next morning.
The Faith
Gary and Fay, his wife, had taken residence in their RV which they had parked in the hospital parking lot. When we arrived the next morning, they met us at the nurse’s station and together the six of us went into Joy’s room in the ICU. Her blond hair had been shaved and replaced with a head bandage and she looked small and frail in the hospital bed. I asked the nurses if we could have a few minutes alone with her to pray for her. After they vacated the room, I read James 5:14-16 to Joy. I asked her if she had any sins to confess which might block God from healing her. She couldn’t think of any other than she had been mean to her sister, Teresa. She prayed for forgiveness for that and the deacons, her parents, and I placed our hands on her head, arms, and shoulders. I anointed her with olive oil right over the top of her head bandages. We each prayed and pled for God to destroy the tumor and heal this little girl. Then we left.
The Miracle
Seven days later Gary called me from the hospital to report that the latest CT showed that the tumor had stabilized and was the same size as the previous scan. Two weeks later, an elated Gary called to report that the tumor had shrunk in half and within three weeks it was gone! Joy had been discharged from the hospital and was home recovering. God had flat out done a miracle for Joy! The following Sunday morning, now four weeks since we had prayed and anointed her, she sat with her sister and parents in the back row of the church. Gary had asked if he could thank the congregation for praying for Joy. Between sobs he thanked everyone but then Joy stood up in the back row and exclaimed with great conviction, “God healed me!” People were ecstatic. They applauded, hugged and kissed one another, and no little girl was ever so smothered in kisses as Joy.
Take God’s Word seriously. It is good for both orthodoxy and orthopraxy, right doctrine and right practice.
God still works miracles today. God said it and I believe it and that settles it for me,
Irv