The alarm goes off at 4:45am the other day. I forgot why because it was still pitch black outside. Then I remembered that we were getting up to go with Pastor Victor to the church to pray from 5am to 6am. I hadn't done this in a long time and to be honest, wasn't looking forward to being up that early to pray. But this year is a year of sacrifice and I was wanting to sacrifice my desire of whatever I wanted to do. Lately I have been asking God to give me more. More of His spirit, his words for people, prayer, visions. As we were at church I walked around and prayed for each seat in there. I began to pray for the town, the people here, the church, my team, squad, our hearts, family back home, friends and so much more. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be; surprisingly, time went by fast.
It was our first day of doing evangelism on the streets. We were going in 2's around the town to talk, pray, and invite people to church. I asked Shayna if she wanted to be my partner. Earlier that morning Shayna asked if we could go to the rooftop (a place my team and I like to go at night that overlooks the entire town) and if I could pray over her; just her and I. She has been hungering for more of the Spirit as well. She didn't know what that looked like whether it be speaking in tongues, prophesy, hearing His voice, prayer, or whatever. She just felt a little dry. Right when she asked me I felt completely honored to do that. I got really excited because I knew God has been building me up as a "prayer warrior" and I love being able to pray over people and for her to want me to do that, with something so dear to her heart, felt really great to be used by God.
While sitting in criss-cross-apple-sauce position shayna had her hands open to receive as I prayed. We then went our separate ways on the rooftop praying. About 10 minutes later I walked over to her as she stands with tears of joy. Tells me she had the craziest experience of falling to her knees and something broke completely free from her as she began to babble words she didn't even know. She giggled because right then and there, God gave her the gift of speaking in tongues. We both laughed, giggled, hugged and talked about how cool God is. When you least expect Him to do something and when you are fully dependant on him and letting the Spirit lead, is when it happens. That really was the spirit leading us.
Over the next couple days we prayed asking the spirit to lead us to those who He wants us to talk to on the streets. All of a sudden it started raining. Pouring. We prayed God would let the rain stop, or use it for an opportunity. About 3 minutes later as we were dancing in the rain there was a lady who started yelling for us to come into her home. She unlocked the door and welcomed us with chairs to sit on. We then got to talk to her and her little 3 year old son about her life and God. As we finished up, the rain stopped. That really was the spirit leading us.
On our way to meet our teammates, Shayna and I saw a group of about 10 teenagers studying. We looked at eachother and said, "let's go for it." We walked up there, introduced ourselves, joked about how they all wanted to come with us to travel the world and that they could fit in our backpacks. Then we asked if we could pray for them. They all looked at eachother until they said, yes. Shayna began praying and I just observed, taking in the moment watching all of their heads bowed, eyes closed, hats off and watching them as they looked vulnerable. That really was the spirit leading us.
As we walked into the town square, we felt like we needed to go talk to a group of people sitting on the sidewalk. As we began to just chat, then came over one of the kids' mother and baby. We asked if we could pray for them. She then asked if I could go pray for her whole family, who was working/living at a stand where they sold clothing on the street. One lady was on the phone, asked if we spoke English and if we could translate what was on the other end. I listened and told her they were saying she needed a PIN number to continue with her call. I asked who she was calling. She then told us the story of her 19 year old son. He left a while back to go to the U.S. The companions he was with came back to Honduras. But her son didn't. She has been trying for a long time now to get ahold of him. She doesn't know whether he is in the States, stuck at the border, in another country; she sounded hopeless. We then prayed for her, her son, and family. As we prayed, she broke into tears. I can't imagine being a mother and not knowing. That really was the spirit leading us.
These are just a few short stories that happened while being led by the spirit. So many more, and more to come. I have been learning a ton about the Spirit. He lives inside of me. Being led by the spirit is allowing myself to do things I wouldn't normally do, listening in silence, be out of my comfort zone, and makes me have a bigger heart for His people. I am always pleasantly surprised that when I let the Spirit lead He does amazing things and uses me in ways I never expected.
Galatians 5:16 "Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves."
It's been amazing to see how the Spirit is working in myself and the people around me. I truly am praying that I would seek after the spirit in ALL I do and that I would be completely and genuinely selfless. He amazes and excites me each day and I pray that never stops, that it could continue and He keeps growing and challenging me to do things I never thought I would. It can be scary, but it's awesome!
Please be praying for our team and that we would be strong in all we do and that we would be completely and willingly led by the Spirit each day!
