wrists

Praise report…Wrist healed…It’s time to invite…

Categories healing, Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 19:14, salvation, Stopping for the one, wrists5 Comments on Praise report…Wrist healed…It’s time to invite…

In my last post I told the story of stopping for a cashier at a local supermarket.  I prayed for her wrist, which was in a brace, and she was healed on the spot … pain gone … brace removed … smiles all around … God is Good!

Last Friday morning, I had the pleasure of being guided to walk down the entire length of our shopping strip to buy some chocolate for my son’s birthday party.  I lined up to pay in the shortest queue at my local supermarket and realised that the same girl I had prayed for was serving on this particular cashier and, to my delight, she was minus the wrist support!

I smiled as I stepped forward and said “hello” and I promptly asked her how her wrist was, mentioning that she did not have her support on this morning …

She smiled and said “no”, and then went on to say that it was much, much better.

I asked if it had been completely clear of pain, and she responded that it was nearly completely clear of pain, and that it hurt a just a little, now and then …

I offered to pray again for her and, smiling broadly, she quickly and eagerly agreed, holding her arm towards me for the prayer …

I took her wrist, which now displayed a large faced watch, with a large white wrist band, and I prayed that it was time for the fullness of healing.  I rebuked anything that would come against the fullness of healing, and I released the oil of the Holy Spirit.  As I did this I felt the Holy Spirit say quietly to me “ask her if she wants Me in her heart” …

So, I simply asked her what I heard.  I asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.

She said “I’m a Buddhist …”

So I said “ok, but would you like to ask Jesus into your heart?” I had got the impression that she needed to “fill the house” with Jesus, and all the while, the anointing of the Holy Spirit was constantly tangible around us.

She answered simply “yes” …

I said something along the lines of “then, just ask him into your heart … say, Jesus come into my heart” aware that we were at her place of work and people were approaching the desk to be served …

She responded again “yes” …

I thought … “oh gosh … what do I do here?” and noted two blokes nearly at her cash register.

I then felt her focus shift and I asked the Holy Spirit for guidance … and I ever so gently felt the release, to “let it go” so I again quietly released the oil of the Holy Spirit into her wrist … and with the Holy Spirit’s encouragement I stepped aside, took my items, wished her a wonderful weekend and mentioned that I may see her again soon …

She smiled broadly saying “thank you …”

It was time …

It is time …

It was time for her to be healed the week or two before …

It was now time for her to be invited into the family of God … however brief the invitation may have been …

It is time for us, as God’s children, to be aware of the time … and to do the inviting, no matter how awkward, no matter how clumsily, and no matter how simply we do it … if we do … lives will be changed …

Who was I to argue with the Holy Spirit about place and time … it was a pure, timely and simple invitation … His words … His timing … straight from Heaven to her heart …

Who am I to say whether it was “effective” …

My son invited friends to his party recently …

My son (read with excited, Aussie accent): “Do you wanna come to my party?” …

Friend’s response: ”yes!”

Deal done!

Maybe that’s all it took for her … or maybe it will require another invitation … I don’t know …

All I know is to be who I am called to be … to do as the Father shows me … and to invite as the Holy Spirit instructs me to invite … the rest is His responsibility … He’ll get them to the party, the same way my son’s friend’s parents got them to my son’s party on Saturday … they all made it … they all got there … because their parent knew where, how, when to go …

It may take another invitation … it may not …

Regardless I think that it really is that simple … the stepping over into the Kingdom of God isn’t complicated for, as Jesus said:

… the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these … (Matthew 19:14 NIV 2011)

and the “such as these” are the children … It is the “grown ups” that complicate things … the invitation has to be “just right”, sent at the “right time”, given in the right envelope, the right package … with clear instructions, directions, and strict guidelines on dress, behaviour, timing, etc etc etc … but if I take my son’s lead it really is simple …

“Wanna come to my party?” …

I hear the Holy Spirit say …

“Wanna come to My party?

Just say “yes” and I will get you there …

You leave the rest to Me …”

It’s not complicated …

I know she doesn’t need to know scripture and verse … it’s a matter of her spirit saying “yes” and coming alive to Jesus Christ … it’s a spiritual matter … one that the intellect and soul can catch up on later …

Whether she has new life … I do not know …

Whether she is still on the scale of “pre-Christian” … or “Christian” … I do not know …

What I do know is that I heard and I obeyed and I stepped out and a life was changed.

She was healed the first time.

She got a top up the second time … and was invited into the family …

And ultimately all will be well simply because …

God is Good!

And with the flick of a wrist she was healed…God is Good!

Categories God is good, healing, praise report, Stopping for the one, wrists9 Comments on And with the flick of a wrist she was healed…God is Good!

About a week ago I was doing a big grocery shop … restocking the bare cupboard so to speak.

As my products were being swiped through I looked at the girl serving me, and a knowing feeling came upon me … and I knew I was to offer to pray.

I looked for any obvious signs of injury and could not see any … always a bit awkward I felt if you did not know why and if it was busy …

My purchase was finished up, and I could sense that the woman behind me was itching to get through and out; so, I resolved in my heart to unpack my shopping into my car, come back with the trolley and then offer to pray.  I silently hoped and trusted there would be a pause in the customers … knowing that so often there wasn’t … either way, I knew I just had to step out and offer regardless of who was there …

On my return to her check out counter I quietly waited while she finished serving the woman after me.  I mentioned to her that I wanted to pray for her, and that I would wait, and as I explained this I saw a bandage on her wrist … I had not seen it before … and I said with a smile that I now saw why I was to offer to pray …

She smiled, and kept serving the woman … turning back to me and smiling broadly …

She finished up, and another person came to be served, but instead she turned to me and I quickly asked about the wrist … it was a very sore repetitive strain injury (RSI) that required the support of a bandage for her to lift and shift the groceries …

I gently held her wrist in my hand and invited the Holy Spirit to come, explaining that I was a Christian, and I commanded the pain, the RSI and the spirit of arthritis to leave.  Once I did I released the oil of the Holy Spirit into her arm … I then asked if I could place my hand on her shoulder … she agreed and I prayed freedom of movement into her shoulder and I got her to swing her arm around, explaining to her I felt the problem extended down her arm from the shoulder, that she needed to gently move her shoulder and arm in a circular manner to release and free the arm …

She did so and I asked her to check the injury out.  She shifted her thumb …

No pain.

She wriggled her fingers …

No pain.

I suggested she take off her support, and as she did she wriggled her fingers and turned her wrist … as she looked at me smiling …

No pain!

With the flick of her wrist, the pain had gone and she was healed in Jesus name!

I said “thank you Jesus!”, smiled and thanked her for letting me pray … blessing her and encouraging her to move her shoulder and arm regularly as I left the store …

A simple prayer … a little out of my way … a small moment of my time taken to release God’s goodness and healing power … a moment to agree with God’s will for another life and now she knew that …

God is Good!

Stopping for the one…a call to arms! a God is Good praise report.

Categories arms, As you go, Christian, God is good, healing, Stopping for the one, wrists2 Comments on Stopping for the one…a call to arms! a God is Good praise report.

A couple of moths ago I was heading up the street with my 5-year-old scootering along by my side, when I saw a man walking towards us on the footpath with a plaster cast on his arm.

I felt “the prompt” and looked at him thinking about the “call to arms” that God has prophetically been releasing to the church and knew that I needed to offer to pray. (Heaven’s clarion call to arms stories one, two three)

I did and he happily replied “yes … I’m a Catholic … you can pray …”

I found out that he had broken his wrist and if it didn’t heal properly, which at the time it wasn’t, he would need surgery.  In fact he was due to have a scan that week to determine if he needed surgery.

I told him a few stories about healings, including A’s broken legs being healed by God (see links below) and I placed my hand on the cast, invited the Holy Spirit to come, while I fought feelings of doubt in my mind …

After the prayer, during which he felt some heat and then relief, we briefly chatted about churches, faith, Christianity and when it was time to move on he asked how he could let me know how he got on, so I gave him my e-mail address and wished him well, thinking to myself that I would probably not hear from him since I rarely ever got any feed back from the “random” encounters who were given my details …

Well I was wrong!

He wrote by e-mail received yesterday (24th May 2012) the following:

Hi …., I’m the guy you met … a few weeks ago, thought I’d better get in touch, and give you an update. I was told in my first follow up visit to hospital that I may need surgery to insert a pin in my wrist. When I went in last Thursday, they advised the wrist was almost completely healed, no surgery required, and the plaster removed, hopefully the prayers you so kindly offered contributed to this quick recovery-so I thank you most sincerely, and more importantly the higher power you invoked.

He went on to say:

Many years ago when I was really struggling financially, after attending Mass, I was chatting to an older lady, who told me something quite miraculous was about to happen to me, and she gave me some Lourdes water, after I put my dole form into Centrelink, I blest my self with the water, and bought a $6.00 lotto quickpic, and won over $3000.00! I know praying for financial relief is not something so accepted, but it certainly gave me the chance to get back on my feet again.

In the same e-mail he then asked for more prayer, around another issue saying:

Now I’m confronted with another problem that would require more than a miracle to overcome … (details are left out by author)

He then completed the email with:

Thank you so much for your prayers, God bless you, D

He knew where to come back for help … the Christian who stopped and prayed for him on the street … the Christian who believed in the power of prayer for

“powerful and effective are the prayers of a righteous person” (James 5:16).

What random encounter is being set up for you today? 

Look for the arms in bandages … is He calling you to arms?

How many miracles are we walking past every day of our lives?

Will you stop for the one and let God …?

I could have walked past this one, but chose not to, and by “stopping for the one” a man tasted and saw once more in his life that …

God is Good!

Links to A’s story of healing and a family’s salvation (in three parts) see: Part 1 for the start of the story and Part 2 and Part 3 for the praise reports

Fun with Tradies

Categories John 14:12, praise report, prayer, shoulder, Stopping for the one, wristsLeave a Comment on Fun with Tradies

Here is a story from a friend of mine who steps out with Jesus every day. He is a young husband/dad, on fire for Jesus, and is taking God at His word … that greater works will he do in Jesus name (John 14:12). He is giving this “stopping for the one” a go … read and be blessed … because … God is Good!