We actually had a good conference in the old home town last week. This is a really big deal because speakers don't come here and a whole team came. We have 700 people in our town, maybe... That's probably pushing it. So to have these people come was pretty amazing. It's like they were the missionaries and we were the remote tribal village. I didn't really know what to expect, and I had to work, so I only went to the evening sessions. Mom was free for the whole deal though and got a lot out of it.
So Mark preached some on revival and called some people up front for healing and made them pray for each other. Everybody got healed. Then the rest of the audience that needed prayer for healing came up and got prayed for. I just had a little cold and didn't feel I should go up for that. Then he said anybody who wants the fire, get up here and so I made a beeline. Mark explained a little bit about how they had just spent 7 weeks at the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival and I have been live-streaming it now and then and know that they are focused on spreading this all over and Mark and Kathy had gotten impartation for that and impartation from many others including Smith Wigglesworth. So Mark put a hand on my head, and Kathy put a hand on my stomach and they made sure I got it. "She's not getting it, breathe in honey. You got to take a deep breath. There it goes." And yeah, I felt it. Very cool. So then I was dragging chairs out of the way because people were falling and bonking their heads, some of the catchers were a little unprepared. And I went and sat down on the stage and just took it all in. Everybody was every which way on the floor. I have never been slain in the Spirit and am wondering what it's like. My friend Debbie came to and crawled over and sat down by me. "Isn't this fun?" So that was Day One.
Day Two, I had to work again, but they got taught a little on going out in the community to minister to people, they broke up into groups and asked God where they were to go, and who they were supposed to find. They would then go and pray for the person for whatever they needed prayer for. For the evening meeting, which I went to, all the groups went up front and told us what happened out there. They had 7 groups, with 3-4 people in each group so 20-some empowered Christians converged on the area. The stories were awesome! People got healed of arthritis in the grocery store, chronic pain, spider bites, people got their finances prayed over and people were in tears just knowing that God saw their situation and cared enough to send them someone. And all these people that went out realized how God can work through them. The best story of all was two girls that were scared to go and almost chickened out. They may have made the most impact of anyone.
It's such a small town that nobody was supposed to name names, but they all gave enough clues that I knew who they wound up ministering to and if I didn't, the person sitting next to me filled me in, and I knew people who had been praying and concerned about those people. These were definitely divine appointments. The groups weren't real sure they were hearing God right and were stepping out on a limb, but I can tell you, I know these people, they needed ministry and the groups did awesome.
You see, revival is in us. We're all praying for revival, but it's not like we have to convince God that it's a good idea. We have gotten denominational revivalists in the area before, but they aren't very effectual because they don't empower anyone, they preach a little and they leave and nothing really changes. Mark and Kathy are about empowering the average Christian because they know they aren't going to stay and make things happen. That's our job. I think too many people have the idea to pitch a tent, hold a meeting and say "Come ye" when Jesus actually told us to "Go ye." God's people have to step up. And these people made time to go out and made a point of finding those people that God wanted them to find, but you can work this in the context of your daily life. Just ask God to set you up, and then be watchful for your opportunity. He knows what your skills, gifts, personality is and He won't put you into a situation that you aren't equipped for. See the Ice Cream, Divine Appointments and Debt Forgiveness post for more on this.
After the stories, Mark called everybody up front that needed healing. Those that didn't need it were supposed to go pray for them. Nobody went to this one guy so I went over and asked him what he needed and he just had pain so I thought I really lucked out. I like praying for pain, it's instant gratification, there's no "well, go back to the dr and take the tests and find out in a couple weeks." You know right away. The man however, did not feel like he lucked out with me. He was looking around for someone better and another guy came over to help and he was more talkative to him although I was the one praying. So I was going to town praying and suddenly there was a hand on me and I turned to see another lady from the ministry team joining in and I lost my train of thought so she stepped in and actually laid hands on his leg, where I was sure he'd be uncomfortable, so I'd had my hand on his shoulder. I prayed again and she said when I prayed she could feel stuff going on in there. So he got pretty well healed. I think there was a small amount of residual pain and I was all set to pray again but the other guy said "No, you're healed, this is a healing not a miracle and over the next couple days you'll be fine blah blah blah." The guy getting prayed over seemed satisfied with that but then I said "Yeah, but sometimes you gotta pray 2-3 times to get the miracle." Oh well. Then the lady helping me out said "You were so cute over there!" Yeah, I'm cute, that's why I never get taken seriously.
So Mark preached some on revival and called some people up front for healing and made them pray for each other. Everybody got healed. Then the rest of the audience that needed prayer for healing came up and got prayed for. I just had a little cold and didn't feel I should go up for that. Then he said anybody who wants the fire, get up here and so I made a beeline. Mark explained a little bit about how they had just spent 7 weeks at the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival and I have been live-streaming it now and then and know that they are focused on spreading this all over and Mark and Kathy had gotten impartation for that and impartation from many others including Smith Wigglesworth. So Mark put a hand on my head, and Kathy put a hand on my stomach and they made sure I got it. "She's not getting it, breathe in honey. You got to take a deep breath. There it goes." And yeah, I felt it. Very cool. So then I was dragging chairs out of the way because people were falling and bonking their heads, some of the catchers were a little unprepared. And I went and sat down on the stage and just took it all in. Everybody was every which way on the floor. I have never been slain in the Spirit and am wondering what it's like. My friend Debbie came to and crawled over and sat down by me. "Isn't this fun?" So that was Day One.
Day Two, I had to work again, but they got taught a little on going out in the community to minister to people, they broke up into groups and asked God where they were to go, and who they were supposed to find. They would then go and pray for the person for whatever they needed prayer for. For the evening meeting, which I went to, all the groups went up front and told us what happened out there. They had 7 groups, with 3-4 people in each group so 20-some empowered Christians converged on the area. The stories were awesome! People got healed of arthritis in the grocery store, chronic pain, spider bites, people got their finances prayed over and people were in tears just knowing that God saw their situation and cared enough to send them someone. And all these people that went out realized how God can work through them. The best story of all was two girls that were scared to go and almost chickened out. They may have made the most impact of anyone.
It's such a small town that nobody was supposed to name names, but they all gave enough clues that I knew who they wound up ministering to and if I didn't, the person sitting next to me filled me in, and I knew people who had been praying and concerned about those people. These were definitely divine appointments. The groups weren't real sure they were hearing God right and were stepping out on a limb, but I can tell you, I know these people, they needed ministry and the groups did awesome.
You see, revival is in us. We're all praying for revival, but it's not like we have to convince God that it's a good idea. We have gotten denominational revivalists in the area before, but they aren't very effectual because they don't empower anyone, they preach a little and they leave and nothing really changes. Mark and Kathy are about empowering the average Christian because they know they aren't going to stay and make things happen. That's our job. I think too many people have the idea to pitch a tent, hold a meeting and say "Come ye" when Jesus actually told us to "Go ye." God's people have to step up. And these people made time to go out and made a point of finding those people that God wanted them to find, but you can work this in the context of your daily life. Just ask God to set you up, and then be watchful for your opportunity. He knows what your skills, gifts, personality is and He won't put you into a situation that you aren't equipped for. See the Ice Cream, Divine Appointments and Debt Forgiveness post for more on this.
After the stories, Mark called everybody up front that needed healing. Those that didn't need it were supposed to go pray for them. Nobody went to this one guy so I went over and asked him what he needed and he just had pain so I thought I really lucked out. I like praying for pain, it's instant gratification, there's no "well, go back to the dr and take the tests and find out in a couple weeks." You know right away. The man however, did not feel like he lucked out with me. He was looking around for someone better and another guy came over to help and he was more talkative to him although I was the one praying. So I was going to town praying and suddenly there was a hand on me and I turned to see another lady from the ministry team joining in and I lost my train of thought so she stepped in and actually laid hands on his leg, where I was sure he'd be uncomfortable, so I'd had my hand on his shoulder. I prayed again and she said when I prayed she could feel stuff going on in there. So he got pretty well healed. I think there was a small amount of residual pain and I was all set to pray again but the other guy said "No, you're healed, this is a healing not a miracle and over the next couple days you'll be fine blah blah blah." The guy getting prayed over seemed satisfied with that but then I said "Yeah, but sometimes you gotta pray 2-3 times to get the miracle." Oh well. Then the lady helping me out said "You were so cute over there!" Yeah, I'm cute, that's why I never get taken seriously.
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