I will ask Qormlach to pray for her, if it does not work I'll send everyone out of the room besides Qormlach, Simon and myself and let all of us three pray for her healing by laying on of hands. Knowing that there might be a spiritual cause for the illness I'll ask God to reveal it to me if that is the case. (lay on hands closed eyes for both prayers)
Prayer for healing 5 minutes minimum, can be extended, forceful prayer, biblical examples used. Once I'm out of words I'll switch to praying in tongues. Laying on of minimum one hand, eyes closed.
For the revealing one the same, minus the biblical examples.
After the first five minutes I'll ask her how she feels, if Qormlach hasn't healed her by then.
Qormlach prays, but gets no result.
You vacate the room, and start praying for insight into what might be interfering with the healing.
I see three possible foci of your effort: detecting the presence of opposing spirits, detecting the effects of magic cast upon the individual, and knowing information about the individual's present life. It is possible, though, that you are not approaching the matter this way, so I'd like some clarification as to what your expectations are in this.
--M. J. Young
Clearing the room is based upon Christ himself doing that one or two times. (I think with the daughter of Zairus (or however he was called) It's a way to eliminate 'unbelief'. So maybe for the following skill one of the 'components' or requirements is that only those who have faith are present.
I will pray with her with laying on of hands, eyes closed and asking God to reveal the source of the illness. Is it a curse, is it a hidden sin, is it demon occupation, is it something she has not forgiven someone else ... ? All in all I'm asking God to show me what is causing this in the spiritual. At least I'm expecting the spiritual. He might show me a physical cause, like the lower back, the knee ...
I explain the others what I'm going to do and invite them to do the same. So I imagine up to four people laying on hands (or more if there are more believers) If there are those that can not lay on hands I invite them to stretch out their hands in the general direction of the person and pray, or to just sit or kneel or stand and pray somewhere in the room.
I think you could call this a 'first person revelation of third person's source of ailment', or whatever. It would be 15 minutes, but we can extend it (keep praying, keep listening), with praying in tongues possible and times of silence when we are waiting for answer through visions or other kinds of revelation.
We will pray until we get answer or half an hour passes, whichever comes first.
You learn pray and realize that someone is using magic against this woman--something like voodoo, although of course that is specific to a human religion.
--M. J. Young
I ask the woman whether she has been visiting any witchdoctors, magic-doctors or something like that. If not I'll ask her whether she has recently or less recently upset someone, maybe an orc? What did/does she do for a living?
"Someone has put a curse on you", I tell her, "and these questions will help us to break the curse if you answer them. Finding the cause can be very enlightening and helpful to breaking it, through the power of my God."
She has no idea what a witch doctor is, nor where one would find a magic-doctor. There are rumored to be wizards still in the world, but no one knows where. She has not sought the prayers of a Gaian priest because she thought that with soup and rest she would recover quickly enough.
Her husband runs a small farm, keeps a few orcs to help manage things, and helps the neighboring farms with their work. She tends house and oversees the work of the house orcs.
--M. J. Young
"Well, do you have anyone who you would see as an enemy or anyone who you would think would see you as an enemy?", I ask her.
What exactly is her illness?
Her back is in pain--not the lower back, where so many people have back problems, but the upper torso toward the center of the back along and around the spinal area between the shoulder blades.
--M. J. Young
"Well, do you have anyone who you would see as an enemy or anyone who you would think would see you as an enemy?", I ask her.
If she doesn't I ask her to sit up if she can or turn around on the bed to that I can lay my hand on the place that needs healing. If it hurts her too much I'll hold my hand slightly over the spot. I pray for a clearer revelation of the source of the pain.
Maybe I will see a vision of whomever is cursing her.
She is unable to sit that way for you.
Are you repeating the 1@1 Diagnose Cause of Infirmity M+7@6 pray for fifteen minutes with appropriate words, both hands on the infirm subject, having removed everyone from the room other than the subject and the skilled user and a small team of other ministers, +36SM skill you just used, or doing something else?
--M. J. Young
I first wait for her answer, but assuming you ask me this she did not.
Yes I will pray this one again and see if I get a deeper revelation of this. If that doesn't work I'll command the pain to leave, in Jesus name (outstretched arm, spoken loudly)
Right--she is unaware of having any enemies. They own a few orcs, of course, who work the farm, but those are only orcs.
You repeat the process, and this time you get a fuzzy image of what must be a female orc holding something like a wood and cord model of a person--really not more than sticks lashed together with something like a walnut at the top, but having the shape of a body. She is using another stick to rap on the crossbar that represents the shoulders of this model.
The vision is brief.
--M. J. Young
Before the vision is over I take the 'fight' there. In the vision I 'speak' to the vision (visions can be weird like that, maybe it's better to say that I try to take control of the vision. I've done that before, 2 or 3 times) or rather to what it shows me. "I break this curse in Jesus' name! By His authority and might invested in me I break this curse." This has theological backing with verses about authority in Christ and invested authority Christ gave about power etc. In the vision I stretch out my arm.
So all that happens in the vision. There is no audible speaking going on for others to hear right now (unless, I guess, they are also in the vision).
Sorry--the answer was very clear, but the vision itself was weak and fleeting. It's gone before you can manipulate it. It is clear that there is an orc woman somewhere performing some sort of pain-inducing magic against your patient. You've been around orcs enough that you might recognize her (racial characteristic differences make such identifications more difficult, and most of your experience is with young males, with only some contact with older females).
So that doesn't happen in the vision.
(As a footnote, I have no trouble with the breaking of the curse by the words you used, and would grant you an example from scripture, but I would have trouble with the concept that you didn't actually speak the words aloud, and I wouldn't count actions performed by a non-physical body.)
--M. J. Young
Okay (I could try, right?). I will to this out loud now, not in the vision.
Whether or not that works I tell everyone present about the vision. I will try to describe the old orc woman. But I know visions are not always very clear on the details they show.
You raise your arm pointing toward the woman, and speak your words forcefully. The power floods the room, and she swoons.
"What are you doing?" her husband exclaims, but she raises her hand to grab him.
"It's all right. The pain is gone. Sir, what power is this?"
--M. J. Young
"It is the power of the Spirit of God, of my God. He lives in me and can work through me. He can live in you too. But there are some requirements. Before I explain them, let's show the people what He did, and then I can explain it to you all."
I will lead her outside if there is still someone left. Otherwise I will head to the pub with her and show that she's healed.
Then I will explain the gospel using the wordless booklet. I will put slightly more emphasis on the healing, but not in a way that it changes the message.
It's only been about fifteen minutes, and most of the crowd is still outside, although they're milling about at this point.
When you say that you intend to show the people what God did, are you going to stick to the simplicity of her having been suffering crippling pain and now released from it, or go into the matter of the spiritual attack against her?
--M. J. Young
Mostly the simple route of her having been healed. I might lightly touch the fact that it was a curse that has been broken by the Power of my God. Just to show that He is powerful. I am not publicly describing what I saw or accusing someone.
Do I recognize the orc woman in the crowd?
The crowd is all human from the tavern, most of them men; there were no orcs at the tavern at all, and only a few women.
They listen to your report. There are some questions, but Simon encourages them to come to a meeting tomorrow night at his leather shop to hear more.
As the crowd begins to disperse, Qormlach says, "I didn't know we were having a meeting tomorrow night."
"I didn't either," Simon says, "but I think we'd better at this point, don't you?"
--M. J. Young
"Good idea", I tell Simon. "Hey Qormlach, have you grown?", I ask him out of the blue with a smile, "I remember you being shorter."
I go to the woman that was healed and describe the orc woman I saw to her as best as I can. I tell her she put the curse on her. "Once she sees you, she will be getting pretty nervous I'd think. But you should forgive her. That is part of the power of God."
Qormlach says, "Didn't you know? We orcs age faster than you humans. But let me say, you don't seem to have aged at all."
The woman nods, but looks fearful. "Sir," she says, "what if she curses me again?"
--M. J. Young
"Well, it's only been half a year or something since I saw you, right? Can't age much once you're an adult by that short time.", I tell him. (I don't remember what the architect told me and whether aging was included. I might look that up. I know that my character dismissed it all back then so there's probably not much about it he remembers.)
*
I look at the woman. "If Christ is in your hart, you should not be afraid of it. It's like a burglar wanting to come in to your house to steal something. In order to be successful, he needs to be able to bind the one living there. The same with our hart. When an evil spirit wants to cause havoc in there, he overpowers your inner man, or woman in your case. But if you have invited Christ to live in your hart, no evil spirit will be able to cause any havoc there, because He is simply too strong. No matter with how much they are."
If she wants that I will talk some more with her.
"Well, it's only been half a year or something since I saw you, right? Can't age much once you're an adult by that short time."
"Right--I forget that humans age so much more slowly than orcs."
Nikolaj: "heart". A "hart" is something else entirely, despite the fact that they are pronounced the same in modern English.
But if you have invited Christ to live in your hart, no evil spirit will be able to cause any havoc there, because He is simply too strong. No matter with how much they are.
"Then I guess I'd better do that," she answers.
"I'll show you," Qormlach says.
As he takes the woman and her husband aside, Simon takes you aside. "That power over curses is something we may need again. There are many orc religions competing with Gaia, and some of them are very dangerous, and none of them are open to Christ. Qormlach finds that the young orcs are more open to the truth than the older ones. At first I thought it was because he was so young himself, but now I am wondering whether perhaps it is because the young are less entrenched in their old faiths."
--M. J. Young
Right, well, hart is dutch for hearth :), I make that mistake quite often. Sorry.
I am positively surprised by Qormlach's initiative. Good to see.
"I will read you some scripture about spirits when we get back home.", I tell him.
I'll go through the gospels picking the stories where Christ confronts spirits and tell him that that Christ is now alive in Him through the Spirit.
I also tell him that the young are usually more open for the new. "Sometimes that's good, like now."
"That's true," he says. "But it's also true that many of the older orcs were born in the jungles and taught their orcish beliefs, while those born as slaves were not so indoctrinated. At least, in the tribes the religions were very pervasive, while here they're only mentioned in secret, since none of the owners will allow orc religions."
After you read, he says, "We need this book."
--M. J. Young
"I am translating it for you guys an for us down at the ranch.", I tell Simon. "It's going to take some time. Next time I see you I will have a new book with me, God willing.", I tell him. "It might be wise to copy it yourself so you don't come without it if it gets lost.", I tell him.
"Yes," he says, "I will do that with the part we have."
It's getting late, and the crowd is dispersing. Simon says he has to open his shop tomorrow, so he and Qormlach had better get some sleep particularly if there's going to be a meeting tomorrow night--and your people are probably wondering why you're not in camp.
--M. J. Young
I bid all a good and blessed night and we will move on to the next day, which has the meeting.
Indeed it does, but the meeting is in the evening. Have you any plans for the earlier part of the day?
--M. J. Young