Burst Into Flames: A Parable

by Richard McInteer

Blake rang the doorbell at Nikki's house a couple of minutes before seven. There were several cars parked in her driveway and in front of her house. He was a little nervous, just because he wasn't really sure what he was getting into tonight. The door was opened up by a tall, thin man with a goatee who looked like a young college professor.

  The man opened the door wide, saying “You must be Blake! Come on in! I'm Steve.”

  Behind him was a roomful of various people, young and old, men and women, of wide variety. Nikki came out of a back room and when she saw him gave him a hug. This was the first time Blake had seen her since their initial meeting. She was prettier than he had remembered. He was introduced to each of the people in the room. He met a tall, skinny man with gray hair called Mac. There was a heavy, African-American woman with a big smile and welcoming manner named Trina. He was introduced to Anton, a small blond guy and Mary a dark-haired girl who appeared to be only around 20. There was a dark-skinned man with a thick accent, whose name Blake didn't catch and a very shy-appearing woman in her 50's named Abby or something similar.

  Trina made a space next to her for him to sit and started asking him about his church when Nikki asked the group, “Does anybody know if Cathy is going to be coming?” Somebody apologized that they were supposed to pass on that Cathy had to work late and wouldn't make it. Nikki, then said, “Well it is 7 o'clock so we need to get started.”

  Blake was a bit surprised to see this starting out promptly at the specified hour. His surprise must have shown on his face, because Trina leaned over and whispered, “Nicole considers it to be part of Godly integrity to start things on time. You know: to do what you say you are going to do.”

  Nikki was speaking to the group, “Let me give you a quick summary of what is going on with my family and then we'll get on to the important stuff. My sister is Brittany, she is 26 and mother of Sabrina a 2-and-a-half year old. She lives with her current boyfriend which is called 'Ak', yes 'Ak'; don't ask me, I sure don't know what that's about. My sister has been heavily involved with drugs and alcohol for about 12 years. There had been hope when Sabrina was born that a baby might bring her out of the self-focused mode she had been in. Indeed, we had every reason to believe that she was doing much better, not that she was always clean, but that she was much more settled and more in control. A couple of weeks ago, one of my sisters dropped in on her and found Brittany totally zoned out and Sabrina crying because she was hungry.

  “My sister took care of the immediate situation, but it was obvious that there was a big problem. This whole situation created a major stir within the family, I have six siblings that all live within 20 miles or so. Every one of them was upset. Somebody called social services, which maybe was a good thing, but the immediate effect was to make Brittany feel betrayed and angry with the family, putting us in a worse position to help her.”

  Nikki continued, “When the social worker showed up at Brittany's, there wasn't any obvious evidence of problems. She apparently talked to Brittany about the issues and consequences of drug use by parents of small children. Apparently, Brittany denied everything and the social worker asked her if she would submit to a drug test, which she refused. When the social worker tried to tell her about drug treatment options, Brittany lost her politeness and hustled her out the door.”

  Going on, she said, “So, Brittany is refusing help and trying to raise Sabrina, but also can't seem to stay away from her various chemicals of choice. Her boyfriend is no use, he is rarely there and is pretty continually high.”

  One of the gals in the room spoke up, “So what do you want us to pray?”

  Nikki paused a moment before saying, “More than anything else, Brittany needs the Lord. Right now the chemicals have a strangle-hold on her and she can't see beyond her next high. Sabrina is an innocent victim of Brit's mess, she needs protection. Only the Lord knows whether it would be better for her to stay with her Mom or to be removed from the household. The best outcome would be if Brittany could be freed from her addiction, then she could be the mother that Sabrina needs. God IS able to deliver, so let's pray that God would deliver Brittany from her slavery to the addiction and open her eyes to Him so she can be saved.”

  Blake was astonished. His view of what they should pray for was much simpler, like 'protect Sabrina' or 'guide the authorities', he would never have dreamed of deliverance and salvation of a drug addict. While he knew that God could perform a miracle in this situation, he almost felt uncomfortable going on the line to ask Him for one.

  Nikki asked if anybody else had any questions before they started praying. Nobody did. Everybody stood up and moved toward the center of Nikki's living room so they could join hands. At first, Blake felt out of place and terribly aware of the fact that he was holding hands with 2 virtual strangers, but that quickly faded.

  Nikki started with a prayer of praise for God's almighty power. As she prayed, other joined in, praying their own prayers of praise. The prayers flowed out with one prayer supporting another. As one person prayed a thought, one or more people would echo that thought in their own prayers. While it was totally unorganized, it flowed with the beauty of a symphony.

  The words being prayed were not the really amazing thing. What really knocked Blake's socks off was the overwhelming presence of the Spirit of God. He had never experienced God's power like this. It was all over and through him. It seemed to swirl around the circle. The Holy Spirit was so tangible and close that Blake could almost taste it. The sense of loving power was unimaginable. Blake knew that their prayers were being heard. He was also positive that Brittany must be affected, wherever she might be tonight.

  Even though Blake had not believed he would be participating in the prayer time any more than he had to, he found himself drawn into by the Spirit and power. He found himself praying fervently, just like everybody else, for God to work a miracle in Brittany's life this very night.

  He had no idea how long they had been praying when the doorbell rang. The prayer dwindled down to just a couple of people still muttering prayers. Nikki opened the door. At the door was a thin, twenty-something girl who was sobbing, with a preschooler in tow. Blake didn't need introduced, he knew this was Brittany and he knew what (or Who) had brought her. Through her flood of tears, she said, “Please help me get clean.”

  Nikki brought her into the living room. As if this was what happened every day, we all descended on her like a flock of buzzards on carrion, laying our hands on her and Sabrina and taking up our prayer with renewed vigor. There was an exhilarating air of accentuated faith, since we had already seen obvious evidence of God's hand working through these prayers. Sabrina watched and listened to the prayers with big eyes, but after a few minutes she lost interest and went to sit on the couch and play with a doll she pulled out of somewhere; the praying adults simply closed ranks on Brittany.

  Brittany cried. She begged for help. She even prayed. She cried some more.

  In time the prayers dwindled down and people began to release their precious hands from Brittany. There was a lot of exhausted and exhilarated hugging. Blake found himself drenched with sweat and his face wet with tears that he wasn't aware he had cried. At first he was embarrassed, until he noticed that there wasn't a dry eye in the place except little Sabrina.

  Nikki and Brittany were tightly holding onto one another. Brittany was apologizing for everything and they were mutually expressing love to one another. They moved together to a love seat to talk, never letting go of one another. A couple of the people settled into chairs to pray further. Mary went to talk to and play with Sabrina.

  Blake was stunned and dazed with what he had just experienced and the miracle he had just seen. He was just standing there in the middle of the room watching everything around him, feeling like he had just run, and won, the Boston Marathon. He was exhausted, but so amazingly alive!

  Trina came up to him and said quietly, “There are no limits to what God can d
o! Glory, it is hot in here, what say we go outside to cool off?”

  Blake agreed. As the headed for the door, Mac went out ahead of them. Blake was shocked to see that it was completely dark outside. He wondered how long they had been praying. He glanced at the time on his cell phone and realized they had prayed for almost 3 hours! It had seemed like no time at all!

  As they got outside, Mac said, “Now that was what I call a good time! I love seeing Jesus at work!”

  Trina replied, “Praise His wonderful name! I feel like singing, but I don't think the neighbors would appreciate it.”

  Steve walked up and said, “Just imagine them sitting in their houses, watching TV or doing housework, totally unaware that a miracle has happened right here in their midst!”

  Mac said, “It’s been amazing, but I have to get up early in the morning, so I better go.”

  “I would love to hang and bask in the glow, but I better go, too.” said Steve

  A few hours earlier, Blake had been uncomfortable with these strangers, but now after what they had experienced together, he enthusiastically returned the offered hugs. It felt like these people were truly his brothers and sisters.

  As the men went to their cars, Trina said to him, “So I get the impression that this was a new experience for you.”

  Blake spoke with a shake in his voice, “It was. That was so amazing. It was like God was right there in the room with us. I never dreamed of God being so...” Blake searched for a word, “intense.”

  Trina said, “The Bible talks about God being like this, but people just don't expect it. Our faith has run down to almost empty. When you expect a useless God, you can't expect this big God to show up.”

  “I just can't believe how He answered the prayer right away.”

  “Jesus told us over and over again how powerful prayer was. He said things like, 'whatever you ask in My name, I will do it'45 and 'ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.'46 He wanted us to know prayer is powerful.”

  Blake thought a moment and said, “I'm amazed that you don't have people harnessing that sort of power for selfish reasons.”

  Trina said, “But it doesn't that way. Remember, this is something that requires faith in God, not faith in me. If I try to pray because I want a fancy car, I'm just seeking stuff for me, it like I am just worshiping myself. When Jesus talks about praying in His name, He meant more than using 'in Jesus name' like magic words. You gotta believe in who He is and what He wants. There is nothing at all, that my Jesus can't do and there's 2 parts to that: my faith and His power. When my faith in Him is real, then His power is right there.”

  About that time the remaining guests came out of Nikki's house. Mary has holding Sabrina's hand. She saw Blake's puzzled look and said, “Sabrina is going to come over to my house next door and play for a while and maybe even stay the night while her Mommy talks to Aunt Nikki.” Mary and Sabrina walked next door while the others made their way to cars.

  “She's not gonna have a easy time, that girl.” said Trina as she nodded toward Nikki's house and Blake understood she was talking about Brittany.

  “But hasn't God delivered her?”

  Trina said, “He has, but does she have what it takes to stay delivered?” she looked down as she continued, “I had a son, Joe, who got messed up in drugs when he was a teenager. He wound up in jail and hooked on crack. My church, we cried out to God, over and over to deliver him from the drugs, but when he got out of jail, he went right on where he left off. One night at our prayer meeting, God answered our prayers and Joe got hit upside the head by the Holy Spirit. At that moment, Joe repented his sinful life and asked to be put into a treatment program. At that point, I thought God had won. Joe sought healing and sought the Lord, but the crack always called to him. It was always a struggle for him: follow crack or follow Jesus. He died in a car accident, but he died with Jesus in his heart. I almost think God took him out of mercy. While I miss him, I hated to see him battling the crack, it was so hard.”

  Blake paused, then said, “That is so sad. Those drugs can so ruin a life, so quickly. What do you think will happen to her?” gesturing toward Nikki's house.

  “I don't know.” Trina answered, “I know God can even eliminate the desire, but I don't know what that girl is going to do. Nikki is a giant prayer warrior and she loves her sister. She's going to stay on her knees for the poor thing. That goes a long way.”

  “It's hard to imagine that all that power wasn't enough to completely heal her.”

  Trina said, “I know what you mean, but the devil is crafty. He's not going to give her up without a fight.”

  “Well, I’m going to keep praying for her.” said Blake

  “That's the best thing we can do.” said Trina. “You have yourself a good night.”

  “So, you think its OK just to leave them?”

  Trina replied, “It's just a couple of sisters, surrounded by the Holy Spirit, having a long talk. He's taking better care of them than anything we could do.”

  “OK,” Blake said, “you have a good night, too.”

  The two new friends hugged, then Blake went to his car. After experiencing the Spirit of God the way he did, he felt on top of the world. As he ran through the evening in is mind, he found himself wishing Elaine had been there. From somewhere, his imagination or God, he couldn't tell, came the thought, “She was there.” Even though he couldn't think of any sort of scriptural basis for this idea, it made him feel better.

  Tonight's God experience was so much more like the God that Elaine had known, he felt really close to Elaine, just because he had experienced it. The giant thrill that he felt when the room had filled with God's Spirit, that must have been a taste of what Elaine experiences in the presence of God, in heaven. He thought, “Wow, to be back with Elaine and to be in the presence of God at the same time, could a single being experience so much joy without just exploding?”

  CHAPTER 16

  “...Tell about all His wonderful works!” Psalm 105:2