By Norris Burkes, Feb 6, 2026
“Can I pray for you, chaplain?” asked a pushy pastor who, unannounced, found his way into my office when I was working at the Mather VA Medical Center in 2013. He seemed determined to introduce himself and bless me with his famous presence, so I let him talk.
I knew things would get interesting when he introduced himself as the “Spirit-Filled Brother So-and-So.” If you are unfamiliar with the adjective “Spirit-filled,” it means to embody the spirit of Christ. Or, loosely translated, it’s the charismatic next step after “born-again.”
Let me pause a moment to say, I know lots of wonderful charismatic people. And most of them will tell you that if you are indeed filled with the Spirit, there is no need to self-identify as such. If truly spirit-filled, it will be obvious.
Suffice it to say, I was quickly wishing that Mr. Brother Pastor spirit would go floating out of my office. But instead, the tall, broad and aging pastor sat down and proceeded to recite his resume.
He talked about the prison ministry he started, and he fed me the details of his meals to the homeless. He buzzed about the radio preaching he did in Fresno and the television ministry he ran in Bakersfield. In between each story, he paused to wait for my “amen,” but alas, I offered only a polite nod. He talked so long and so fast, I was having trouble hearing the Spirit.
He then shifted his dialogue covering the many years he served as a pastor and the hospital visitations he made. He confessed that he pitied me because he knew that “’government chaplains’ can’t really talk about God.”
And somewhere during his pontification, he told me that he was praying that God would make him “teachable.” He didn’t even stop to notice the smirk that his word “teachable” brought to my face.
Instead, he abruptly assumed a crouching position and announced that he would now begin to pray for me. That’s when I decided that I’d answer his prayer and offer him a teachable moment.
“Wait just a minute,” I said. “How do you know what to pray for?”
“Huh?” he asked.
I asked this because some people offer prayers not as a gift, but as a way to establish power over the pray-ee. My guess was that PastorPray4U was planning to recite to God all the wonderful ways that his visit blessed me today.
I continued. “Well, you mentioned a few minutes ago that you were praying God would make you teachable, so let me share something with you.”
He gave me a glassy stare, as clueless as a calf frozen before a new gate.
“When I visit a patient, I always ask them how I can pray for them. I ask them what they want me to pray for. Wouldn’t you like to know what you can pray for me?”
With that, God answered his prayer to become teachable, and he leaned back in his chair and spread his hands open on his lap.
“You’re right,” he said. “How should I pray?”
I asked if he would pray for our incoming chaplain supervisor and the delayed new chapel our VA administration was considering.
He agreed with a humble nod. Then I asked him to pray that God would comfort the families of the two young hospital employees who’d unexpectedly died the previous week.
He nodded his head, still unsure what to say.
He did pray, just not the prayer I’d expected. His prayer was a humble and contrite one asking God for the things we agreed upon.
After he’d said the “amen,” he raised his head and our eyes met. This time, I saw a “spirit-filled” face that indeed told me he just might be teachable.
Chaplain Norris is retired but not expired. But Pastor Norris continues to share teachable moments on Sunday morning at 10:30 at Community Church of Nevada City, 300 Main St.
This column was excerpted from his book, “Thriving Beyond Surviving.” All of his books are available at Amazon or on his website. Contact Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or 10566 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or call him at 265-4711.
