This couldn't be, I whispered to her. My main day of teaching at the university was Monday, and I was looking at a full day of lecturing. I couldn't afford to cancel classes because I had already missed my limit of canceled classes for that semester. To make matters worse, I was scheduled to deliver a three-hour lecture at a nearby church that Tuesday evening, and I didn't want to let the church down.

It made no difference. The doctor said I wasn't going to be able to speak either day, so I had to make other plans. My throat felt as if it had broken glass in it, and I was reduced to whispering. On Sunday evening I whispered a few greetings to various church friends; I tried to speak normally, but it hurt too much. After the service I had to get home, try to contact our department secretary that night…and cancel my classes for Monday. I could cancel with the church the next day.

As I was walking out of the sanctuary, two lay elders intercepted me. "Hey, J. P.," one yelled, "you can't leave yet. Hope (my wife) just told us you have laryngitis, and we can't let you get outta here without loving on you a bit and praying for your throat!" So one elder laid hands on my shoulders and the other placed his hand on my lower throat area and started praying.

To be honest, I wasn't listening to a word they said. I had already left the church emotionally and wanted to get home to make my phone call. But something happened. As the two men prayed gently for me, I began to feel heat pour into my throat and chest from one elder's hand. After two or three minutes of prayer, I was completely and irreversibly healed! I started talking to the brothers normally with no pain, no effort, no trace that anything had been wrong. I never had to make that call to my secretary. The laryngitis never returned.

J. P. Moreland, distinguished professor of philosophy, Talbot School of Theology; source: Kingdom Triangle (Zondervan, 2007)

Other illustrations available this week on PT.com:

• Finding Comfort in the Worshiping Community
  
• Teenager Escapes Jail in Friend's Suitcase
  
• A Gossip-Free Workplace
  
• Gratitude Is Good for Your Health
  
• Lives of 95 Percent Boredom, 5 percent Terror
  
• Earning a Free Gift
  
• Abused Employees Retaliate
  
• The Danger of a Sad Soul
  
• "The Nativity Story": The Gift of the Magi