Me: “Are you SURE you want me to actually get up and go pray for her?”
Holy Spirit: “Um… yep!”
This was the conversation taking place during a debrief worship session in a room filled w/ 50 of my squad mates. I was quietly sitting in meditation with the Lord, when I opened my eyes. I began to look around at the worship going on around me. My eyes stopped on this one girl (I won’t refer to her name for personal, spiritual reasons for me. I’d be happy to share why if you’d like to know).
It wasn’t like anything out of the ordinary was going on with her. But for some reason I couldn’t shake Holy Spirit prompting me to get up. So I went over, placed my hands on her shoulders, and began to pray as words and images flooded over me. Romans 8:26 had never been so real to me as it was in that moment.
Not going to lie… I expected some type of reaction after I was done. Maybe a hug. Possibly tears. Perhaps a confirmation. Nothing.
It didn’t disappoint me though… I just kind of went back to my spot and continued worshipping.
Afterwards, we had a time of vulnerability. It was just as a squad mate Dave described at the time… “… as if Monday night was vulnerability domino night in Heaven, and God was like, ‘Here we go!’” People started sharing deep seeded hurts that God wanted to heal and set free. We would all pray after each person. It was incredible.
During that opening up time, the girl I had prayed for stood up. I can’t even remember most of what she said, because the Spirit inside of me started to stir as she spoke. Then she said something to the effect of, “and during music worship, somebody came and prayed over me. I didn’t even recognize the voice but knew it was God speaking to me.”
My jaw dropped. Then I couldn’t stop smiling. I think Jesus was chuckling a little bit in Heaven. She heard the voice of God and exactly what she needed to hear through me, and I was reassured and joyful that I had heard the voice of God. I had been obedient to his call.
I began thinking back to our month in Lavender Hill, South Africa and what God had brought my team through. Just to be frank with you, it was a scarier situation than I let on to you in previous blogs. We heard gun shots every few nights, with two instances being close by. Some serious spiritual warfare taking place.
The decision was up to me whether or not we continued living in the area. I prayed constantly. I sought provision from Holy Spirit. Even with all that was occurring, I never felt God tell me to leave. And that was hard. . I literally felt like the lives of my teammates were in my hands. But what a testament to Jesus that He brought us out safe and sound! And what another confirmation for me that I was being led by the Spirit and being obedient to Him.
The encouragement here that I’m trying to get at is this… God wants to speak to us all the time! It’s not just situational. The question is, are we willing to listen? Will we let Him in? If we answer is yes, we better hold on tight.
I almost didn’t go over to my squad mate, because I thought maybe I was just imagining things. Don’t make that same mistake. I’ve heard two different stories of people prophesying images of “sheep” and “bananas” over other people. Lives were changed.
So let’s all listen more! Let’s grow in intimacy with Him! Get down and dirty with Holy Spirit! #pumped
PS: If you read this and know the girl I’m talking about, I kindly ask that you don’t tell her it was me who prayed for her. It’s not a huge deal if she finds out, but I just don’t want to take away from what God did at all. Thank you.
