Angels of Humility: A Novel (23 page)

Sarah was succeeding in her goal of praying in tongues whenever she drove. She usually visited the jail at least three times a week, sometimes more, depending on her mobility each day. As she drove she prayed out loud in tongues so she would know if she got distracted and stopped.

“Sarah,” said Joel, “Today I’ll teach you how to become even more of a threat to Satan’s kingdom through intercession—”

“That’s right,” interrupted Malta, who was too excited to wait. “Begin by praying in tongues silently and then pray with your mind at the same time. You’re praying with your spirit and your mind. You’re praying two prayers at once.”

“You might be praying about the same thing or each prayer might be totally different, but twice as much prayer is ascending before the Lord’s throne as a fragrant offering to Him.”

Sarah switched to praying silently in tongues and in her mind she prayed for the other drivers to get saved. Then she prayed for each inmate by name.
Wow, I can do it
, she thought, as she pulled into the parking lot. I
just doubled the amount of prayers I prayed in the same amount of time. This is even better than praying in tongues when I read or watch television. This is praying in tongues while I pray! God, You are so awesome. I’ll call this type of prayer “double dipping” because it’s getting twice as much accomplished! Oh, and Lord, I need Your grace to develop this new habit
.

The jail was about half full now, with almost 50 inmates. Although they all had varying levels of responsiveness to her, they all knew two things about “Momma Sarah.” She always brought cookies, and she sure loved to talk about Jesus.

She had continued praying for Will with little visible response. But she was not about to give up. The glimpse of his father beating the helpless little boy always brought compassion. One day when he cursed at her, all she could see was the little, terrified boy behind the hulking, angry tattooed man. “Bless you, Will,” she responded as she moved on.

The next time Sarah came to the jail, she had traded her cane in for a walker. She’d bought the deluxe model that had a basket on the front to hold the cookies and pouches on the side to hold her Bible and multiple tracts. As she entered, one of the guards said, “Sarah, the director wants to see you in his office.” That made her heart beat a little faster, and she prayed a little harder as she shuffled down the long beige hall. She had met the director once before, and he seemed like a nice young man. Everyone seemed young to her these days.

The director, Richard Walker, welcomed her into his office and even helped hold her chair as she sat down. After some chatty small talk he said, “As you know, we have no chaplain. We just haven’t been able to fill the position. I know you’ve been visiting here regularly, and I wanted to know if you are interested in the position; part-time is all that’s budgeted for now.”

“Me, a chaplain?” Sarah tossed back her head and laughed. “I’m very flattered, but I don’t think I’m official chaplain material. Maybe I could be an honorary chaplain until the position gets filled. Now I’m just having a good time getting to know these inmates. But I’ll pray that the Lord would bring the right person to fill the position.”

At home she followed through on her promise. As she prayed, the Lord showed her a picture of the man he wanted as part-time chaplain. He was limping toward the jail entrance, and from Sarah’s vantage point, all she could see was his back. He knelt at the door and cried out to God. She knew he was repenting, and it had something to do with the jail. She couldn’t make out his words, but she could feel the heaviness of his great burden. Then God’s mercy spilled down on him like refreshing rain. As he stood to his feet, his new posture was confident, assured. He walked steadily through the big double doors, and once inside, the jail roof exploded in a fireball of heavenly activity.

Sarah was enthralled with the scene the Lord was showing her. “Yes, Lord, Yes, Lord,” she was yelling. “Bring Your servant here.” Then she was inside the jail looking at this man, still with his back toward her, ministering to the inmates with power and authority. When he moved to Will’s cell, he went in and touched him and spoke, “William, you are a man like me. We both had unloving, abusive fathers. However there is a heavenly Father who loves you like you’ve always wanted to be loved, like you need to be loved. The good news is you don’t have to earn it, and you can never lose it.” As Sarah watched the ministry continue, William broke.
Whoever this new chaplain is, he’s certainly anointed for this work
, thought Sarah.
Lord, please show me who this is
. When he finally turned, Sarah smiled and let out a shout of delight, “It’s Pastor Paul!”

The Lord went on to show Sarah that she was supposed to minister with Paul under his authority at the jail. He showed her that He had another pastor slated to take the church to its next level. Paul’s position at the jail would almost immediately transition into full-time work. “Praise the Lord,” Sarah shouted. “Thank You, God! Thank You for answering my prayers.”

Then she thought,
That’s why Will isn’t responding to me. The Lord’s arranged it so Pastor Paul will touch his heart
. She decided she’d be no less dedicated in her prayers for him, but she was able to let go of some feelings of failure that had been attacking her.
Thank You, Lord, that Will’s salvation is in Your hands and doesn’t rest on my minuscule capabilities
.

The next day at the jail Sarah went straight to the director’s office. She was moving so fast the janitor commented, “Slow down Sarah or the wheels on your walker are gonna ignite.”

“I can’t slow down. I’ll just have to take that chance,” she replied, laughing.

In the director’s office, she didn’t even sit, she just blurted out, “I know who your part-time chaplain is.”

“Well Sarah, let me in on the secret so we can both know.”

“It’s Pastor Paul from the Victory Church.”

“Nope, it’s not him.”

Sarah was taken aback. She almost felt slapped. After yesterday’s revelation she thought everything would fall smoothly into place.

“W-what do you mean it’s not him?”

“Sarah, he was my first choice. For some reason, I thought he’d be the one, but when I asked him, he told me an immediate, ‘No.’ Didn’t even want to pray about it like I thought pastors do. “

“You asked him and he told you no?”

“He sure did. Said he wasn’t the least bit interested; then he hung up on me.”

“Well, I’ll talk to him. I know he’s supposed to be here.”

“I hope you have better luck than I did.”

Sarah prayed all the way to the church. As she pulled into the drive, the first time since that fateful Wednesday night prayer meeting, she felt the emotional turmoil churning again. She was toying with the idea of going home and making a phone call, but pressed through when she saw Paul’s Toyota in the parking lot.

Pushing her walker down the hall, she breathed a prayer for the Lord to bring about His will in their lives, especially as partners in ministry. Then she took several deep breaths and knocked on the large oak door with Paul’s gold nameplate prominently displayed.

“Yes?”

“Pastor, it’s me, Sarah.” Paul shook his head.
Just what I need, an unexpected visit from Typhoid Sarah
. “Come in,” he said in his most cheerful voice.

Sarah had barely sat down before she, in her exuberant naiveté, tactlessly blasted him with the verbal tidal wave she was so excited about. “Pastor, I heard from the Lord that you’re supposed to take the part-time position as chaplain. I’m supposed to work with you. Then, I don’t know when, but you’ll eventually work there full-time. The Lord has someone already picked to succeed you here. And there’s an inmate there named Will. I can’t get through to him, but I know you can because you both were abused by your fathers—”

Saldu had started talking to Paul even before Sarah did, in an attempt to prepare him, “Let go of your selfish ambition and conceit; humble yourself and see others as better than you are. Don’t continually look out for your own interests, but take an interest in others.”
²
Paul totally disregarded the conviction. He leapt to his feet and leaned far over his mahogany desk. “HOW DARE YOU barge into my office like this.” Sarah had unknowingly hit both of Paul’s most vulnerable sensitivities: his abusive father and his fear of being replaced at the church. This church was where he sucked up what little self-esteem he had. Of course, the idea of having to be around Sarah regularly was also repulsive to him.

Sarah was taken aback at the hostile reaction to what she considered extraordinarily good news. “Oh, I-I’m sorry. I was so excited. I saw it in the Spirit. I saw that we’re going to be ministering together—”

“Sarah, take your craziness and get out. Just leave me alone,” he yelled, pointing toward his door. “I don’t want anything to do with that jail, and I certainly don’t want to minister with you!” He could feel his heart beating in his neck. He knew his voice was elevated, but he couldn’t help himself.

“B-b-but don’t you see,” stammered Sarah as she struggled to get out of her chair, “You were attracted to my land. You thought it was to build a
church there, but you were attracted to the land because you’re supposed to minister at the jail—”

Paul marched around his desk and flung open his door. It slammed into the doorstop with a loud thud. Pointing toward the hallway he screamed, “I said, GET OUT.”

Sarah was still shaking when she pulled into her driveway. She’d had a good cry—all the way home. I
sure didn’t mean to make him mad. I thought he’d be excited to know what wonderful plans God has for his life
.

When Sarah got inside, she called Barbara, who came right over. She listened for a long time and then prayed over Sarah’s wounds. “Sarah, can I give you some advice?”

“Sure.”

“The next time you hear from the Lord and it involves someone else, ask the Lord what to do. Are you supposed to pray and tell them at a later time? Are you just supposed to pray about it and not share it at all? But if you feel like you’re supposed to share what the Lord has shown you, do it in a gentle way. Don’t try to be their personal Holy Spirit. It’s your job to pray and His job to intervene. If you are supposed to share, you could say something like: ‘I think I heard this from the Lord, but I’d encourage you to pray about it and see if you get confirmation.’ If you say that you heard it from God, what can they say? It puts them on the spot.”