The healing touch

            There’s a prayer list in my Bible cover that I pull out to remember God’s fulfilled promises. It’s not a list of requests. It’s a list of pray-ers, more than 40 people who promised to remember me daily in their prayers until my request was granted.

I had just been traumatized by one of life’s blows and was in emotional and spiritual pain. My sisterly neighbor held me in her arms as I wept, and her husband, the priest of their family, anointed and blessed me with prayer. My pastors gave wise counsel and a sympathetic ear. A friend halfway around the world comforted me with an email.

The apostle James wrote: Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. …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. James 5:13-15 NIV

I was in trouble and sick at heart! I invited some Christian friends to my home on a Saturday evening and served strawberries and sparkling cider to lighten the mood.

We gathered in a circle, and each in turn offered a prayer for my situation, to strengthen my Christian growth and reliance upon God and to ask for healing. As each person left, I accompanied them down the walk. Each one hugged me and, amazingly, thanked me for being included! I had forgotten that when helping others, we are God’s instruments and His healing touch. My friends were feeling the anointing of the Holy Spirit as they prayed for me and were thrilled to the core, knowing that the God of the universe had chosen them for His service. They were awestruck.

God loves you so much. He has gifts to give you, even in your time of trouble, and He wants to work through you to love others. Let the Great Physician heal you, and let Him use you to heal people with His gentle, loving, and powerful touch. There’s no feeling like it in the world.