Saturday, May 10, 2008
A Whole Bunch of Testimonies All Rolled into One!
As we were ministering in a fellowship this past Friday, I was praying for a man and I kept asking the Lord for something specific so that he would know that the Lord was looking after him. So, I kept getting pictures of him with flowers. I asked him, “Do you work with flowers?” “No.” “Do you do anything with flowers?” “No.” I finally asked him where he worked. He said, “Les Roses.”
We both laughed hard as Jesus connected the picture with the interpretation and released joy.
I was praying for a man who complained of sinus pressure. I asked him where it hurt and he pointed to the middle of his forehead. I started praying for him and as I started praying for him, I felt pain in the exact spot where he had just pointed. I felt like it was the Lord telling me that He was up to something. So, I prayed for a few more moments and asked him about the pain. He said that it was all gone with a surprised look on his face.
Sometimes when we go to a fellowship to minister to people, we stand in the front and just see who the Lord highlights specifically. Oddly enough, there are many times when our team will individually “get something” for the same person out of a large crowd. This happened last Friday, but what I want to tell about is this one guy I felt the Lord had a word for.
As I was scanning the crowd, I kept going back to this brother who was sitting not too far from the front row. As I looked at him, I felt like he had a pastor’s heart. I also felt like he had a heart of a lion. As I continued to look, the Lord gave me some more stuff for him as well. When I got my chance, I started telling him what I thought the Lord had told me. I no sooner got the word “pastor” out of my mouth that he and his wife started laughing and he said, “I was going to preach this morning before I knew that guests were here!” He received the rest of the word as well. Afterwards, he came up to me and thanked me for being obedient to the Lord because he had walked into the service that morning feeling a little lost and discouraged and had specifically thought that the Lord wasn’t going to say anything to him.
How encouraging it was for me as well!
Sometimes we have to step out in faith even if it means looking like an idiot in front of a bunch of strangers. At this service, I called out the name “Helen.” No one, I mean, NO ONE answered and there were about 75 people there. Later, after the platform stuff was over, I asked this one lady if she knew a Helen and she said, “Sure, she was supposed to be here this morning.” Does the Lord have a sense of humor or what?
I was praying for a man and kept getting the word that he was going to do some preaching and teaching. I asked him about it and he beamed with a smile and said, “Yes, the pastor has recently asked me to do some teaching and I’ve done some preaching, too.”
Our group had been to this particular fellowship many times before and one on occasion a few months ago we had had the opportunity to pray for this baby with a heart condition. However, this past Friday, the pastor of the group brought this man to me and explained to me that he was having a hard time receiving the teaching about healing because his daughter (the baby we had been praying for) had just died. Instantly, the compassion of Jesus fell on me and I hugged this total stranger and as we both wept openly, I whispered in his ear, “This was not part of God’s will. This was not His plan. I don’t understand healing anymore than you do. I don’t know why this happens. I do know that it isn’t right.” I prayed on that Jesus would help carry his pain and would draw close to mourn with him. I don’t know how much my words meant to him, but I know the embrace was probably more powerful. Sometimes the shooba is weeping with those who weep.
During the worship time, I got a word of knowledge for learning disabilities. During the ministry time, I had two brothers come up to receive prayer. I haven’t yet heard anything back from them and I may not for a long time, but it was the first time the Lord had ever led me to pray for something like that and that in itself is significant enough to blog.
As I was going to the fellowship, I was listening to a message from this guy in California. He was talking about how God uses unusual circumstances and coincidences to speak to us. He used the word, “kisses.” As part of his sermon illustration, he recalled a time when the Lord kept bringing up pearls through different people who prayed with him or in random conversations. As another part of his sermon illustration about unusual coincidences, “kisses from a good God,” he spoke at length how God had led him to start praying for children with Down’s Syndrome. He told one story of how, after he had prayed for this one Down’s kid, he was able to drink fluid through a straw. Anyway, I got to the fellowship and when I walked in, I made my way through the crowd and found a place to sing. I looked over to my right and there was a lady with pearls all over the neckline of her sweater. I thought that was odd and that the Lord probably had a prophetic word for her (which He did from two of us on our team individually). I looked over to my left and saw a man holding a kid. I thought to myself that if this baby has Down’s, I’m going to freak. The child lifted her head and she was a normal little kid. As I continued to sing, the pearl lady moved a little and I saw a little boy standing between the legs of his mother. My mouth dropped—he had Down’s Syndrome. It wasn’t the time yet to pray, but during the ministry time, I approached the lady and asked her if I could pray for her son. The testimony I had heard in the car was about a boy who was named Joey. I thought, “If this kid’s name begins with a ‘J,’ too, this has just moved into the twilight zone.” I asked her, “What’s your kid’s name?”
“Jeremiah”
To Be Continued. . . .
My wife and I went to a local restaurant to get some take out. As I was standing at the counter, I got a physical word of knowledge for the Syrian man working there. I asked him if he had pain in his left Achilles’ tendon. He looked quizzical at me and asked me if I was a doctor. I said that we were healers. He then asked me for a card. I said, “I don’t have one.” He asked for some cream. I said, “I don’t have any.” He finally asked if I had a center. I said, “Nope.” So, I asked for his hand and released the Kingdom into his foot. Something must have happened, because then he asked me to pray for his left knee. AND after I did that, to pray for both of his shoulders. AND, after that, to pray for his right knee! So, after 5 miracles of healing, I asked if all the pain was gone and he confirmed that it was. I said, “Praise God! Now, we’ll take our food, a Pepsi, a Mountain Dew, and all of your pain.” He was grinning as we left his restaurant.
So were we.
My wife and I went to eat at a food court with our kids at a local mall. As we were eating, a man in a wheelchair started eating his dinner not far from us. There was also another boy in a wheelchair on the other side of us. Feeling ambushed by Jesus, I went over to the man in the chair who turned out to have severe mental and physical problems. I told his caretaker that we would like to do some “treatments” for him for free. He took my number, but hasn’t called yet. Here’s the crazy thing: I was so nervous walking up to him, but as I started talking, I felt love overcome all fear.
As for the other boy in a wheelchair, the family started talking to us and we found out that they are neighbors to some of our close friends here. What a set-up!
We both laughed hard as Jesus connected the picture with the interpretation and released joy.
I was praying for a man who complained of sinus pressure. I asked him where it hurt and he pointed to the middle of his forehead. I started praying for him and as I started praying for him, I felt pain in the exact spot where he had just pointed. I felt like it was the Lord telling me that He was up to something. So, I prayed for a few more moments and asked him about the pain. He said that it was all gone with a surprised look on his face.
Sometimes when we go to a fellowship to minister to people, we stand in the front and just see who the Lord highlights specifically. Oddly enough, there are many times when our team will individually “get something” for the same person out of a large crowd. This happened last Friday, but what I want to tell about is this one guy I felt the Lord had a word for.
As I was scanning the crowd, I kept going back to this brother who was sitting not too far from the front row. As I looked at him, I felt like he had a pastor’s heart. I also felt like he had a heart of a lion. As I continued to look, the Lord gave me some more stuff for him as well. When I got my chance, I started telling him what I thought the Lord had told me. I no sooner got the word “pastor” out of my mouth that he and his wife started laughing and he said, “I was going to preach this morning before I knew that guests were here!” He received the rest of the word as well. Afterwards, he came up to me and thanked me for being obedient to the Lord because he had walked into the service that morning feeling a little lost and discouraged and had specifically thought that the Lord wasn’t going to say anything to him.
How encouraging it was for me as well!
Sometimes we have to step out in faith even if it means looking like an idiot in front of a bunch of strangers. At this service, I called out the name “Helen.” No one, I mean, NO ONE answered and there were about 75 people there. Later, after the platform stuff was over, I asked this one lady if she knew a Helen and she said, “Sure, she was supposed to be here this morning.” Does the Lord have a sense of humor or what?
I was praying for a man and kept getting the word that he was going to do some preaching and teaching. I asked him about it and he beamed with a smile and said, “Yes, the pastor has recently asked me to do some teaching and I’ve done some preaching, too.”
Our group had been to this particular fellowship many times before and one on occasion a few months ago we had had the opportunity to pray for this baby with a heart condition. However, this past Friday, the pastor of the group brought this man to me and explained to me that he was having a hard time receiving the teaching about healing because his daughter (the baby we had been praying for) had just died. Instantly, the compassion of Jesus fell on me and I hugged this total stranger and as we both wept openly, I whispered in his ear, “This was not part of God’s will. This was not His plan. I don’t understand healing anymore than you do. I don’t know why this happens. I do know that it isn’t right.” I prayed on that Jesus would help carry his pain and would draw close to mourn with him. I don’t know how much my words meant to him, but I know the embrace was probably more powerful. Sometimes the shooba is weeping with those who weep.
During the worship time, I got a word of knowledge for learning disabilities. During the ministry time, I had two brothers come up to receive prayer. I haven’t yet heard anything back from them and I may not for a long time, but it was the first time the Lord had ever led me to pray for something like that and that in itself is significant enough to blog.
As I was going to the fellowship, I was listening to a message from this guy in California. He was talking about how God uses unusual circumstances and coincidences to speak to us. He used the word, “kisses.” As part of his sermon illustration, he recalled a time when the Lord kept bringing up pearls through different people who prayed with him or in random conversations. As another part of his sermon illustration about unusual coincidences, “kisses from a good God,” he spoke at length how God had led him to start praying for children with Down’s Syndrome. He told one story of how, after he had prayed for this one Down’s kid, he was able to drink fluid through a straw. Anyway, I got to the fellowship and when I walked in, I made my way through the crowd and found a place to sing. I looked over to my right and there was a lady with pearls all over the neckline of her sweater. I thought that was odd and that the Lord probably had a prophetic word for her (which He did from two of us on our team individually). I looked over to my left and saw a man holding a kid. I thought to myself that if this baby has Down’s, I’m going to freak. The child lifted her head and she was a normal little kid. As I continued to sing, the pearl lady moved a little and I saw a little boy standing between the legs of his mother. My mouth dropped—he had Down’s Syndrome. It wasn’t the time yet to pray, but during the ministry time, I approached the lady and asked her if I could pray for her son. The testimony I had heard in the car was about a boy who was named Joey. I thought, “If this kid’s name begins with a ‘J,’ too, this has just moved into the twilight zone.” I asked her, “What’s your kid’s name?”
“Jeremiah”
To Be Continued. . . .
My wife and I went to a local restaurant to get some take out. As I was standing at the counter, I got a physical word of knowledge for the Syrian man working there. I asked him if he had pain in his left Achilles’ tendon. He looked quizzical at me and asked me if I was a doctor. I said that we were healers. He then asked me for a card. I said, “I don’t have one.” He asked for some cream. I said, “I don’t have any.” He finally asked if I had a center. I said, “Nope.” So, I asked for his hand and released the Kingdom into his foot. Something must have happened, because then he asked me to pray for his left knee. AND after I did that, to pray for both of his shoulders. AND, after that, to pray for his right knee! So, after 5 miracles of healing, I asked if all the pain was gone and he confirmed that it was. I said, “Praise God! Now, we’ll take our food, a Pepsi, a Mountain Dew, and all of your pain.” He was grinning as we left his restaurant.
So were we.
My wife and I went to eat at a food court with our kids at a local mall. As we were eating, a man in a wheelchair started eating his dinner not far from us. There was also another boy in a wheelchair on the other side of us. Feeling ambushed by Jesus, I went over to the man in the chair who turned out to have severe mental and physical problems. I told his caretaker that we would like to do some “treatments” for him for free. He took my number, but hasn’t called yet. Here’s the crazy thing: I was so nervous walking up to him, but as I started talking, I felt love overcome all fear.
As for the other boy in a wheelchair, the family started talking to us and we found out that they are neighbors to some of our close friends here. What a set-up!
