When God aligns a damaged spine

“Do you remember me?”

The man posing the question is gazing at me with a wry smile, his head tilting slightly sideways.

He seems vaguely familiar, but I’m struggling to place his face. We are standing in a long line of people, queuing for coffee at the back of a large high-ceilinged room, in what used to be a warehouse. It’s now a church-owned conference centre.

“I’m so sorry but I don’t,” I say, conceding defeat. “Please can you remind me how we’ve met?”  

He quickly explains how we were both at a day conference, a few months ago, where a well-known Christian was speaking.

What follows is this beautiful ‘light through the cracks’ story …

***

As the conference speaker finishes his message, he invites a response, asks the Holy Spirit to come and leaves the platform. I then make my way to the front, to join the team of people who are praying for those responding.

Pairing up with a man from the prayer ministry team, first-in-line for our prayers is a man in his late thirties or early forties, who is slightly hunched, hobbling, and clutching hold of his back with his left hand.

My prayer partner establishes that his name is Nathan, and asks him how we can pray for him.

Nathan then tells us that, two years ago, he was diagnosed with a condition called stenosis of his spine.  It means that some of the vertebrae in his spine are bulging; some are contracting; some are crumbling. As a result, his back is unstable. He is in chronic shooting pain. He regularly experiences tingling and numbness in his legs.

“It’s been getting steadily worse for the past two years,” he tells us. “I’ve also been told there’s some evidence of arthritis.”

Even as we listen to Nathan’s synopsis of his needs, I can feel a surge of compassion rising up within me.

My prayer partner seeks his permission for us to lay hands on him – and invites the Holy Spirit to come and minister.

Almost immediately, as I pray under my breath for this man in front of me, I sense God saying that he needs to forgive his father.

Knowing that it’s a nudge I mustn’t ignore, I take a deep breath, bring it up and ask if he is willing. Nathan nods his head in agreement, prays a simple prayer of forgiveness.

Nothing of note seems to happen.   

I then take authority in Jesus’ name, speak to his back, and command all the symptoms to get off him and go to the cross of Christ. My prayer partner does likewise.

Again, nothing of note seems to happen. It’s hard not to feel disappointed.

We watch as Nathan heads off into the crowd, and turn to the next person in the queue for prayer ministry.

***

“As I walked back to my seat, I could feel a burning sensation in my back,” Nathan explains. “It was like red hot heat, searing up and down my spine.” He grins, as he recalls it. “I knew that something was happening, as I could feel myself straightening up, instead of being hunched over.”

I look at him in amazement. “Go on,” I say.

“When I next saw the consultant at the hospital, I told him that I thought Jesus had healed me,” he says, “because I was pain-free by the time I left that conference, and I’ve been pain-free ever since.”

I can feel tears welling up, even as he’s speaking. Tears of joy. Tears of overwhelm. Tears over the unadulterated goodness of God.

“I had no idea,” I tell him. “My memory is that nothing noticeable happened when we prayed for you, so I just assumed nothing had changed.”

Nathan chides me. “Oh, you of little faith!”

I laugh, and he continues.

“The consultant arranged for fresh X-rays of my spine,” he explains. “They showed all the vertebrae in my back had come back into normal alignment. He told me that there was no evidence of stenosis and no evidence of arthritis – so I told him it was Jesus who had healed me, and he said he’d never seen anything like it.” Nathan is grinning broadly as he recounts this to me. “My wife and children say I’m like a new man!”

We chat some more and then: “Thank you Nathan,” I say. “Sometimes, I pray for people and I have no idea what happens next. So when I hear stories like yours, you have no idea how much it builds my faith to keep praying for people.”

***

As you reflect on this story, I’ve got three threads of thoughts for you to consider:

Firstly, have you ever prayed for someone to be healed, only for nothing to seemingly happen, and a sense of disappointment to ensue? What if, like Nathan, God is at work in that person, in ways that you are unaware of and which you may not know about? How would that impact your faith?

Secondly, do you have a health condition that seems incurable? You may have had lots of prayer for healing , but isn’t it always worth asking for prayer, just one more time> If so, why don’t you ask a Christian you trust to speak healing over your life and command the symptoms to go in Jesus’ name?

And thirdly, do you have someone significant in your life who you need to forgive, in the same way as Nathan had to forgive his father? If so, why don’t you ask God to help you forgive them?

As ever, constructive comments are welcome below.

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