Archive for May 2010

A guy I know told me he had – on his own – pushed a friend’s car to get it started the other day and did some damage to his shoulder. I offered to pray for healing and he was quite agreeable – he goes to a Pentecostal church so he is used to the practice.

I ministered twice on my own and once more with a lady who came and joined us. Each time it got a little better so we persevered. Praise Jesus for His healing power and great mercy towards us!!

On the streets today we went up to a 72 year old Scottish guy in an invalid buggy and offered healing. He had leg problems, but wasn’t inclined to accept the offer we made.

I talked about how Jesus went about healing people. He replied: “but his followers didn’t do it!” I replied that the Book of Acts told how his followers did just that. He hadn’t heard of that book, although he claimed to have a bible at home.

I then talked about sin and the good news of the Gospel, the judgment to come, and how he was like a blind man walking towards the edge of a cliff. He agreed it was a good thing to warn the man of the great danger he was in, but sadly didn’t seem to see how it applied to himself. I tried to explain how the pass mark for heaven was 100% and that only Jesus got the 100%, but that it was also ours for the taking by trusting in His goodness. A frustrating conversation, but perhaps a seed planted.

Had a long chat with a 22 year old woman today on the Gospel. It came about as follows.

She picked up the Evangecube lying on the table and was playing with it. I said “it tells a story. Do you want to hear it?” She said “yes” so I took her through the Gospel. I used some analogies to help her understand the things I was saying. I also shared some of my own testimony.

She asked a few questions, and seemed to accept the answers I gave. I asked if she had a Bible. She told me she had a Gideons New Testament with Psalms she got from school. I suggested she read it and decide for herself if what I had been telling here was true. She seemed inclined to give it a go. She said she had enjoyed RE in school.

The guy whose healing I prayed for last week didn’t return as he had planned to do.

A guy who came in for food yesterday had his right arm in a sling. I asked what the problem was and he said he had developed a severe infection in the elbow joint. To date the surgeons had done 6 operations on it and it still wasn’t right.

I offered to pray for it to be healed. I explained how Jesus had healed everyone who came to him. I talked about the need for “a mustard seed” of faith, pointing out that even Jesus couldn’t do any miracles in his home town. I shared a few stories of healing from my own experience to encourage his faith. I related how experiments on quite basic life forms found they responded to prayer, compared to another batch not prayed for. He said “yes, go ahead”.

I then laid hands on the arm and elbow, thanked and praised the Lord for his healing power, then spoke to the affected parts. He wasn’t suffering pain, so couldn’t verify any difference immediately after prayer. I offered to pray again. I said how certain factors influence healing. Exercising faith for healing is like putting up a lightning conductor to the elements. Persistence in prayer shows we mean business. He agreed to more prayer, so I then prayed again for him.

We agreed he would come back next week and let me know how his arm/elbow were. I told him something always happens when we pray, even if not immediately evident. Earlier I had also told him to thank Jesus for the healing, as part of his exercise of faith. At the end when I suggested he thank Jesus on his way home, he said “I’ve done that 3 times in my mind already.” That encouraged me!

As we witnessed to one guy his partner came along and started abusing him, disrupting the whole atmosphere engendered by our witnessing. I had shared the gospel with him a few weeks previously and he had seemed quite open to hear what I had to say. After the “domestic” incident, he admitted he found it difficult to control his temper. I told him that the Holy Spirit, given by God, enables us to do this. We ended by praying for him before we left.

We walked up to a couple of folk doing street stuff. One was a student from a local school doing a survey. I did the survey then challenged him on the gospel, giving him something to take away. The other guy was selling some kind of beauty treatment for women. I also gave him a tract.

Another guy we prayed for was suffering from epilepsy. He said the doctors told him it was due to his drinking since the age of 12. He’s now around 50. Two of the team discerned a spirit at work. We commanded it to go and as we did one of the team saw it – a snake with a large head.

We also prayed for a woman, a Big Issue seller, fleeing domestic violence. One of the team discerned a back problem with a spirit behind it. We spoke to it and commanded it to go in Jesus’ name.