This is not the focus I’d intended for my next BLOG, but I believe it’s right to give update here about some of the things that have been happening these last couple weeks…in particular because it gives testimony to the grace, mercy and protection of God, but also because I believe in being real. This may be a long post, but I encourage you to read and rejoice with me about the goodness and faithfulness of God as well as in the power of prayer.
Earlier this month, I travelled to Tulsa for a few days to take care of year-end things for the ministry in Asia I work with. I scheduled the days purposefully to coincide with the prayer conference happening at a church in the the Tulsa area. It’s only the second year I’ve been able to attend the conference, but it was significant on many levels for me that week. Little did I know how much more significant it would be for me just a week later.
I have been pushing and pressing myself in life and ministry commitments for some time, now, and in many ways failing to fully yield to the Lord’s direction to...
Earlier this month, I travelled to Tulsa for a few days to take care of year-end things for the ministry in Asia I work with. I scheduled the days purposefully to coincide with the prayer conference happening at a church in the the Tulsa area. It’s only the second year I’ve been able to attend the conference, but it was significant on many levels for me that week. Little did I know how much more significant it would be for me just a week later.
I have been pushing and pressing myself in life and ministry commitments for some time, now, and in many ways failing to fully yield to the Lord’s direction to...
...slow down and take some time rest. The week of the prayer conference was one of those “push” weeks. I drove 14 hours through the night to get to Tulsa; drove another 13 hours straight to get to a ministry commitment in Kentucky just a few days later and then drove straight through again to North Carolina after just two days in Kentucky. My actions were setting myself up for a dangerous situation.
The day after I got back, I decided to take some time to exercise and pulled up the Monday morning session from the Prayer Conference on the archive to listen to while I was on the elliptical. Not long after, I started to feel very strange. I got off the elliptical, my head spinning, my heart racing and it was hard to breathe. I got down on my knees, only able to speak the Name of Jesus and pray bits and pieces in tongues, and was eventually flat on the floor and struggling to get up. I was home alone at the time and unable to get help.
I was in and out of consciousness and when trying to move about at different times, passed out completely at least twice, hitting my head both times, and ultimately getting a concussion as a result. But the whole time this was happening, I still had my ear buds in my ears, and every time I would regain consciousness, I would hear the pastor praying in the Spirit. It may seem like a small thing, but I can’t tell you how much that ministered life and strength to me at the time. When I was unable to be praying for myself, it was like God was using the pastor’s voice to fill the void.
I was ultimately able to get to the ER and later a doctor told me that what likely happened was due to blood clots in my legs. I had put myself at risk with the multiple long trips with little stopping and when I exercised, it likely moved those clots to my chest causing the episode that I’d had. He said that because of my age, my heart was able to overcome what was happening…but that usually when things like that happen to those who are older, their hearts just can’t handle it and they simply stop beating. Younger or not, though, I know that the main reason I was able to overcome was because of the Overcoming One…JESUS! But there’s more.
A week after it happened, I was in a church service and testifying about how the Lord had intervened, primarily focusing on how significant I knew it was that I had someone praying in my ears the whole time it was happening…whether I was conscious or not. I was still in awe that the power of prayer from a week earlier was part of what God used to sustain me when I needed it. As I sat down from testifying, though, the Lord began speaking to me about the fact that it was more than just the prayers in tongues that day, though that was certainly a part of it. He began to remind me of what I’d not only heard but had also hooked in to at the beginning of the recording, too.
I remembered that the pastor had taken time to have everyone pray for someone who was in the hospital. The Lord reminded me that I’d sensed a strong connection to what was being said as I listened to the recording. Why it stood out was that I’d thought it was strange that something that had been addressed in prayer for someone a week earlier…and even having heard later in the week that he had gone home from the hospital…would still be connecting with me right then. That was “old news” and “old prayer” right? I took note of it but continued on with my exercise.
Well after the church service when I’d testified, I went home to listen to that part of the archive again. I couldn’t remember what was specifically prayed about, but with the Lord bringing that back to my remembrance, I was pretty sure I knew what I was going to hear. Still, I began to cry as I listened and realized all the more how God had used the prayers of that day to intercede for my life…and I do mean intercede. More than just an attack from the enemy, it was as much my foolish actions of pushing myself like I had that put me in the position to be vulnerable in the first place, and it was the grace and mercy of the Lord, as well as the unified prayers of His people, that brought the power of God onto the scene to help me that day. This is part of what the pastor prayed as the rest of those present agreed:
We ask you, Lord, stretch forth your hand to heal… We ask you, Lord, to send forth your hand, your anointing into that…room. Manifest the healing from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Manifest a healing in every cell in his heart, every cell in his circulatory system, every nerve, every fiber, every muscle, every cell. We speak to his body and we command it to be well, in Jesus’ Name, and we thank you Lord. Thank you, in his room now, we trust you that the power of the Lord is present to heal, and he’s taking it, and he’s taking it. We rebuke that, we take authority over it. We curse that whole thing from the root and we command it to leave his body, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and we thank you for it dear Father, in Jesus Name. Hallelujah. And now we lift our hands and we thank you, Lord. We roll his condition over into the hand of the Lord and we speak healing and health to his body and we thank you in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, for ministering to him supernaturally. Peace into the room… Supernatural ability through the medical community, but the power of the Lord flowing through his body, in Jesus Name. Amen. Amen. Praise God.
Though originally prayed for a pastor in a hospital in Texas a week earlier, I believe with all my heart that the Lord used the same mighty power of that prayer to be effectual in my life, too. Was it scary when it was all happening? Yes. But there was no fear. And while I was alone in the house when it happened, I was very conscious of His peace and presence the whole time…just like the pastor had prayed. And the very words spoken through that prayer, into my ears and connecting with my spirit just prior to the things happening in my body like they did, I know were significant in my ultimately being well and able to write this testimony today.
I am still in the midst fully recovering and am still having some additional tests done on my heart, but as I continue to stand on His Word while choosing to make some purposeful and practical adjustments in the pace of my life, work and ministry, I am gaining more and more strength. I know the outcome of all of this will be a complete restoration to my physical body…even stronger than it was before.
So in the midst of my praising God, and am grateful to all those in the Body of Christ who joined together in prayer that morning. Each was a part of the supply that God used to minister life to my physical body at a time and in a way I never imagined I would have needed it. His Love is so very extravagant…
The day after I got back, I decided to take some time to exercise and pulled up the Monday morning session from the Prayer Conference on the archive to listen to while I was on the elliptical. Not long after, I started to feel very strange. I got off the elliptical, my head spinning, my heart racing and it was hard to breathe. I got down on my knees, only able to speak the Name of Jesus and pray bits and pieces in tongues, and was eventually flat on the floor and struggling to get up. I was home alone at the time and unable to get help.
I was in and out of consciousness and when trying to move about at different times, passed out completely at least twice, hitting my head both times, and ultimately getting a concussion as a result. But the whole time this was happening, I still had my ear buds in my ears, and every time I would regain consciousness, I would hear the pastor praying in the Spirit. It may seem like a small thing, but I can’t tell you how much that ministered life and strength to me at the time. When I was unable to be praying for myself, it was like God was using the pastor’s voice to fill the void.
I was ultimately able to get to the ER and later a doctor told me that what likely happened was due to blood clots in my legs. I had put myself at risk with the multiple long trips with little stopping and when I exercised, it likely moved those clots to my chest causing the episode that I’d had. He said that because of my age, my heart was able to overcome what was happening…but that usually when things like that happen to those who are older, their hearts just can’t handle it and they simply stop beating. Younger or not, though, I know that the main reason I was able to overcome was because of the Overcoming One…JESUS! But there’s more.
A week after it happened, I was in a church service and testifying about how the Lord had intervened, primarily focusing on how significant I knew it was that I had someone praying in my ears the whole time it was happening…whether I was conscious or not. I was still in awe that the power of prayer from a week earlier was part of what God used to sustain me when I needed it. As I sat down from testifying, though, the Lord began speaking to me about the fact that it was more than just the prayers in tongues that day, though that was certainly a part of it. He began to remind me of what I’d not only heard but had also hooked in to at the beginning of the recording, too.
I remembered that the pastor had taken time to have everyone pray for someone who was in the hospital. The Lord reminded me that I’d sensed a strong connection to what was being said as I listened to the recording. Why it stood out was that I’d thought it was strange that something that had been addressed in prayer for someone a week earlier…and even having heard later in the week that he had gone home from the hospital…would still be connecting with me right then. That was “old news” and “old prayer” right? I took note of it but continued on with my exercise.
Well after the church service when I’d testified, I went home to listen to that part of the archive again. I couldn’t remember what was specifically prayed about, but with the Lord bringing that back to my remembrance, I was pretty sure I knew what I was going to hear. Still, I began to cry as I listened and realized all the more how God had used the prayers of that day to intercede for my life…and I do mean intercede. More than just an attack from the enemy, it was as much my foolish actions of pushing myself like I had that put me in the position to be vulnerable in the first place, and it was the grace and mercy of the Lord, as well as the unified prayers of His people, that brought the power of God onto the scene to help me that day. This is part of what the pastor prayed as the rest of those present agreed:
We ask you, Lord, stretch forth your hand to heal… We ask you, Lord, to send forth your hand, your anointing into that…room. Manifest the healing from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Manifest a healing in every cell in his heart, every cell in his circulatory system, every nerve, every fiber, every muscle, every cell. We speak to his body and we command it to be well, in Jesus’ Name, and we thank you Lord. Thank you, in his room now, we trust you that the power of the Lord is present to heal, and he’s taking it, and he’s taking it. We rebuke that, we take authority over it. We curse that whole thing from the root and we command it to leave his body, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and we thank you for it dear Father, in Jesus Name. Hallelujah. And now we lift our hands and we thank you, Lord. We roll his condition over into the hand of the Lord and we speak healing and health to his body and we thank you in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, for ministering to him supernaturally. Peace into the room… Supernatural ability through the medical community, but the power of the Lord flowing through his body, in Jesus Name. Amen. Amen. Praise God.
Though originally prayed for a pastor in a hospital in Texas a week earlier, I believe with all my heart that the Lord used the same mighty power of that prayer to be effectual in my life, too. Was it scary when it was all happening? Yes. But there was no fear. And while I was alone in the house when it happened, I was very conscious of His peace and presence the whole time…just like the pastor had prayed. And the very words spoken through that prayer, into my ears and connecting with my spirit just prior to the things happening in my body like they did, I know were significant in my ultimately being well and able to write this testimony today.
I am still in the midst fully recovering and am still having some additional tests done on my heart, but as I continue to stand on His Word while choosing to make some purposeful and practical adjustments in the pace of my life, work and ministry, I am gaining more and more strength. I know the outcome of all of this will be a complete restoration to my physical body…even stronger than it was before.
So in the midst of my praising God, and am grateful to all those in the Body of Christ who joined together in prayer that morning. Each was a part of the supply that God used to minister life to my physical body at a time and in a way I never imagined I would have needed it. His Love is so very extravagant…
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