I mentioned in an earlier story that I had bought coffee for someone while out at the local shopping centre (see story about healing for Sammi – link here).

On this particular day, on my way to the store where Sammi worked, I had stopped to buy myself a coffee and a muffin for 4-year-old M.  As I stood to pay for my order I felt God prompt me to buy the coffee for the guy that was standing next to me.

I stood discreetly to the side, waited for him to finish his order and pulled some money out stating, as I did, that I would be paying.  The guy at the register and the guy I was buying for looked gob smacked.  I said it was a “random act of kindness”.  I suggested he receive the blessing and I explained I was a Christian and that I felt that God wanted him to be blessed .

He was astounded. 

A bit embarrassed I shuffled to one side to wait for my order.  As I waited he came over and said that he was a Christian too.  I smiled and after a brief chat I offered to pray for him, asking if there was anything he needed prayer for.

He responded that his daughter was due with her second child – would I pray for her please? I said “sure, give me your hand”.  He looked a bit surprised – I am sure most people expect me to go home and pray privately.  He gave me his hand and I prayed.

I prayed for a wonderful, peaceful, safe, and supernatural child-birth experience for his daughter and her baby, and a blessed start to life with the new baby.  As I finished he looked at me again, and mentioned that he was a retired minister – having just left two notable private schools as their chaplain.

We had a brief chat about his work , and we mentioned where we both went to church.

He then said to me that there was something else I could pray for – his church was going through a lot of change.  He asked if I would pray for that too.  I indicated that many churches were undergoing change and I prayed with him for his church, for the transition they were going through, for unity and for clarity in hearing God’s voice and His will for the future.  I prayed that revival would come to his church, especially revival in the youth.

He looked again and gathered up his order and mentioned as he left what a remarkable experience it all had been.

It was only a few days later that I figured a little of what God was up to … 

A friend of mine, who is also stepping out as I do (here is the link to the story at his blog: click here), also stopped for a minister recently.  On this occasion my friend had prayed for the minister’s healing, and the minister’s leg had grown out (one had been shorter than the other). The minister responded to the miracle with a “that’s interesting”.

I figure God is up to something.  He has more and more of us out there, starting fires in the community, fires of His love, fires of His passion.  As we step out we are showing the community, the Christian community too, that there is a way practical way to demonstrate God’s love “as we go”, as we go about our usual life.  By stopping for the one we are demonstrating His character, offering His salvation, being His hands and feet to a hurting world … through random acts of loving kindness in the community we are releasing the Kingdom of Heaven to a hurting world … it may be as simple as buying a coffee, or praying and watching the God of the miraculous, perform a miracle like a healing or a leg growing out, whatever it is, it is showing His heart to a world that thinks He doesn’t exist, or worse still doesn’t care …

I believe that the gentleman I stopped for on God’s prompting was deeply impacted by my offer to buy coffee, and then further when I offered to pray for and with him.  What might happen if he then took what happened to him and suggested to his church that they could do the same … what if he and a few others started to step out and offer God in practical ways to a hurting world in their sphere of influence … which in turn will perhaps inspire those others to step out too… it would be unstoppable as the Christian world took God out of the Church … then perhaps the world would taste and see that …

God is Good!

Click for link to Sammi’s healing another story from the day