I learned something the first day we were there. If you plan to work with God while on vacation, go to a prayer meeting first. We both had shoulder and neck pain we were hoping to get healed. We went to a prayer meeting at a small town fire station our first night in town. I didn’t know the words to most of the songs, so I closed my eyes during worship. God showed me images of the speaker, a man named George. First he was in a school desk that grew bigger and bigger. There were more images of him, then an image of Dutch Sheets, then Bob Jones, then the word ‘Apostolic’. I really wasn’t expecting this. It took a long time for me to get up the courage to get up. I approached George and told him I thought God had a message for him. We led the group in prayer for him as God moved him to a new level of ministry.
Later, I asked George if he would impart to me a spiritual gift. (Romans 1:11) He replied ‘sure.’ He said, “you argue with God.” I tried to convince him I only did what everyone else did. I said, yeah, don’t we all? He said, “You question what God tells you and then dismiss it.” I confessed my guilt. He prayed for me and said, “Let the first impression you receive be the one you accept. It is from the Lord. Do not question it.” I knew this was a problem I had to overcome. Other prophets had told me the same thing. Later George asked if anyone had back pain they wanted prayer for. My wife and I had him pray for us. I wasn’t really having back pain – it was a shoulder injury that had been tormenting me for months. Nothing happened immediately, but 24 hours later the pain was completely gone.
I’ve been having pregnancy dreams for almost a year. I’m usually transporting pregnant women. My daughter and wife have been having a lot of them too. Something has been growing inside all of us. It isn’t babies. God keeps telling me over and over He will heal people if I continue praying for them. I have His promise of a healing ministry. It’s been incubating for about 11 months. I know there’s another part to it and that would be evangelism. God loves people and wants them physically healed. But healing from God involves the soul and spirit, too. Deliverance, repentance, salvation and discipleship are also part of the healing process. The second night of our vacation I had 2 dreams. In the first I watched a baby being born. In the second, I picked up a newborn baby and took it to my ambulance to transport it to a larger hospital. I’ve been waiting for this dream for a long time. I know what it means. It’s the birth of a new ministry. The wait is finally over.
We went to the New Jersey shore on the hottest day of the trip. We spent time relaxing on the beach and walking in the waves. We saw dolphins a little ways off shore. It was nice to be away with my sweetie. We enjoyed out time together. But I couldn’t stop thinking about praying for people. We spent the afternoon cruising up and down the boardwalk. We shopped and ate and talked about our vision for the future. And we prayed for just about everyone we saw with a physical affliction. I saw a woman about 70 years old. She had obvious right side paralysis, probably from a stroke. I asked if I could pray for her, and she was delighted.
We were sitting on a bench when I saw a woman about 30 years old pushing a stroller. She was walking with tremendous difficulty. My heart was breaking for her. As I watched her walk away I leaned forward, closed my eyes and said, “come on Lord, let’s do this!” I saw an image of an album cover from the band “Styx”, then the words “Classic Rock”. I saw the woman park her stroller by the bathrooms and go in. I got up and walked over to the bathroom area and began to wait and pray, and then I saw a man in a wheelchair with a leg immobilizer. I asked him what happened. He told me about a car accident and how his broken arm and leg were held together with metal rods and screws. He was glad to let me pray for him. I turned around when I was done and she was right behind me. I gave her a smile and asked how she was doing. She said fine. I asked if she liked the band Styx and she said yes. I asked if she liked classic rock and she said yeah, how did you know? I said that God told me and He wanted me to pray for her to be healed. She said it wouldn’t be the first time. We prayed. I made some declarations for her financial prosperity and some other things God showed me. I felt His presence grow stronger while we prayed. I went away marveling at His mercy and compassion. We prayed for about a dozen people that day. God gave encouraging words to a few more. Some were surprised, but everyone received it well. I didn’t see any miracles but healing can be progressive. Even if nobody was healed, we got to sow a lot of seeds.
The couple who led my wife's old bible study group hosted a get together for us. The pool party got out of hand quickly. An F-1 tornado touched down a few miles away. Two of the dads and myself got trapped with the kids under the balcony as 60 mph winds, heavy rain and hail pelted us for 15 minutes. Lightning struck all around us. It was kinda crazy. As quickly as it came - it left. The sun came out and we went back to grilling and hanging out with friends. The host, Bill has a torn ligament in his knee. He's going in for surgery soon. Everyone gathered around him to pray for healing at the end of the night.
We were hoping to give prophetic words to my wife's family while we were there. We had an afternoon of explaining prophecy and revealing God’s plan to a few of her relatives. We also gave words of encouragement to others. Ministering to unbelieving family members is very hard. I’d say it’s impossible without God’s direction. We were amazed at how receptive they were. God must have been plowing the ground for some time before we arrived.
We drove to the airport for the flight home and arrived early. The last time I flew out of Philly, I missed my flight because of car accidents on the freeway. It was close to rush hour, but we zipped along without a single slow down. God needed me to be on this flight. I was standing in line at a coffee stand when the Holy Spirit showed up. I felt His presence and knew He wanted to tell me something. I closed my eyes and saw the word “migraines” and saw an image of a slightly overweight woman about 50 with short brownish blonde hair. Then I saw an image of Kathleen, a receptionist I know from a local hospital. I looked around wondering who to pray for and didn’t see anyone like the person in the image. I did see a short woman in front of me and asked her if she had migraines, but she said no.
I went to the gate and waited to board the plane.
I continued looking around and still didn’t see her. On the flight to Seattle, I read the book Power Healing by John Wimber. After about an hour in the air I noticed a woman like the one in the vision standing in line at the bathroom. I got up and asked if she had migraines and she said, yes. I asked her name and she said Kathleen. I told her about the vision at the coffee shop and said I believed God wanted to heal her. She sat in my seat as we prayed for her. She told her husband what had happened. I got a word for him, too. I asked him if he had prostate cancer. He said no. I felt certain it was an accurate word and thought maybe it was for the future. I wrote a note to his wife telling her that if he developed prostate cancer in the future they should pray for healing. I rested the remainder of the trip. God showed me many visions every time I closed my eyes. I love Him so much.
I’m writing about these things to encourage you to look for similar opportunities in the everyday things you do. Everywhere we go God is waiting with mercy and grace, healing and encouragement for many who don’t know it yet. We can all prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:31) We can all be used to heal others. (Matthew 10:8 ) It does take time to develop compassion for others, to hear what God is saying and to grow in spiritual gifts. But we seem to be in a season where God is bringing acceleration in gifting. Working with God isn’t a chore; it’s really a lot of fun.
If you'd like to read another story about an adventure in praying for people on a plane, read this story:
http://beritacalvary.blogspot.com/2009/06/healing-at-35000-feet.html
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