Last Wednesday one of the teachers who was at West Brook writing curriculum was in severe pain from two herniated disks – one in her neck and one in her lower spine – and was planning to see the doctor that afternoon to schedule surgery. I finally got the courage to pray for her, right there in the main hallway of the high school where I teach, but even after praying twice there was no change. She felt nothing. On the commute home I was seeking the Lord to see where I had failed, in case I had, and He kept reassuring me that I had not. Friday morning the colleague with the two herniated disks for whom I had prayed Wednesday, with no apparent effect, came to the room where I was writing science curriculum with a large smile on her face. She had been to the surgeon Wednesday to schedule surgery, but he felt that he needed another set of x-rays before planning the exact procedure he would use to fuse the vertebrae in her neck. When the x-rays had been read, they showed no herniated disk in her neck at all, even though all of the previous tests had clearly shown a badly herniated disk. Her doctor decided that he had misdiagnosed her and that she only had a pinched nerve. She told me that by Thursday afternoon the pain in her neck had diminished until it was much less than it had been. I guess my prayers were time-release prayers. Even though nothing happened that either of us could determine, God still started working when I prayed for her Wednesday, first with the signs, and then with the symptoms. She said over and over how happy she was to settle for surgery to fuse the vertebrae in her lower back as long as they did not have to do her neck. I offered to pray again so that she would not need ANY surgery, and to ask God to complete the healing in her neck and to fully heal her back. She agreed. Right there, in a room full of science teachers typing away on computers, we prayed – eyes open and in a normal conversational tone – but a few were listening in, yet playing it cool. No one has said anything to me yet, but seeds were planted. Once again, nothing happened when I prayed that either of us could determine. By this morning (Tuesday) her neck was no longer bothering her at all. Her back was very painful so I prayed again. I choose to believe that this prayer too is a time-release prayer.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 03:58:45 +0000