Just an update on what's been happening for us.
I believe, by far the biggest influence upon us on a regular basis is through our involvement in the Healing Rooms. It seems like each week we gain a different perspective and then grow in some area relating to healing ministry. God also seems to be activating us more in these areas, which is quite exciting.
At the end of each Healing Rooms session, there is a testimony time from the prayer servants and it's during this time that we often hear of some of the amazing miracles that God is doing during the Healing Rooms session.
For instance, we regularly hear testimony of tumors decreasing in size during the time of prayer and totally disappearing in a lot of cases. We also hear regular testimony of people having one leg shorter than then the other and the legs growing out to an equal length. Without fail, every week there are people who come in with pain levels high on the scale and more often than not those pain levels decrease to either very low levels or to zero.
From a personal point of view, last week at the healing rooms, due to the fact that there were not enough 'green dot' leaders available, they asked some of the yellow dots to act as team leaders for the day. I was fortunate enough to be given that honour and as a result I led a team of three prayer servants . This was quite daunting for me and not something that I would've chosen to do (mainly because I feel like I am here to learn and I want to gain as much experience under other people who are far more experienced in this area than me), despite that, we prayed together as a team for a few people and although we didn't see any demonstrable healing take place, it felt that we operated well as a team and God did pour His love upon people such that, even though they did not go away with their desired healing, they certainly left having experienced a touch from a loving Father and experiencing His love through prayer ministry. If nothing else, this has got to be a significant factor when praying for people. If they don't experience the love of God, then we become like a 'clanging bell or noisy cymbal '.
Yesterday at healing rooms, Carole and I were asked to team up with another leader, Jared Balke. He taught in the 'Encountering the Father's Presence' class which is a teaching session that people are taken through prior to going into the main encounter room. The purpose of this teaching is to remove any lies that people are believing and to give them a concept of God's truth as it pertains to divine healing.
Carole and I simply moved around the room and just prayed blessing upon people and toward the end we were asked if anyone of the team had any words of knowledge.
Carole received a sense of pain in her ankle , and so spoke that out. There was someone in the room who had problems with her ankles and so Carole and team leader Jared prayed for her. They first tested her leg length and found one was slightly longer than the other or shorter depending on how you want to view it and they then prayed and the lady's leg returned to an even length . The girl experienced considerable heat in her ankles during the prayer and although she couldn't fully test it out, because of the fact that it was mostly aggravated during a training session in the gym, she did believe that healing had taken place.
Later, we went with Jared to another class where he talked on 'how to maintain your healing '. The essence of this teaching is about how to steward your healing and maintain it particularly by recognising that the enemy will often strive to put the sickness back on us and we need to stand against him and declare God's healing touch upon us. I personally remember the truth of this when some 30 years ago I was healed of fibrositis and on three occasions after receiving my healing, it returned but on each occasion when I stood against it and declared the fact that I have been healed, the sickness left. After the third occasion, the ailment never returned again and it is now been some 30 years later and I am still free of that.
During the class, where we were again released to wander around the room and pray for people, toward the end we were again asked if the Lord was giving anyone a word of knowledge relating to a sickness or ailment. As I began to pray, I undertook an inventory of my body to see if there was any sense of pain in any parts of my body that may suggest that someone in room could have been struggling with a problem in that part of the body. Although I had no pain anywhere, I did detect a faint itch on the right side of my cheek and if I was not tuning in to the gentle voice of the Spirit, I could so easily have missed it. Also, I could very easily have interpreted that itch to be something that was familiar to my own body function. In other words it could of been just as simple body itch that I had myself. Instead I took a step of faith and risk by speaking it out.
When I spoke I said 'has anyone here got an itch on the right hand side of their face which could possibly be something like eczema?' A girl stood up and said that she had eczema on her face and other parts of the body including her throat. I laid a hand on her face and prayed and immediately the itch disappeared from her face but she indicated that it was still on her neck and so we prayed for her neck and the other parts of the body. She gained total healing with no sign of eczema on her face or her neck.
This, for me personally, was an amazing experience not only because she got healed and that God could use me as an instrument of His glory, but the experience of having received a word of knowledge which was, in and of itself not something of great clarity but was 'like a still small voice', so much so that it reminded me of the time when Elijah was hiding in a cave and the voice of God was not in the huge wind, it was not in the thunderous storm but it was in that still quiet voice that came afterward. Similarly the word of knowledge that I received was so faint and almost indiscriminate that I could have easily missed it and as a result of this, the girl would likely have missed out on her healing. What an incredible learning experience this is for me on so many levels.
It is for these types of reasons that I firmly believe that we're in the right place even though the sacrifice and the cost to us is great. Nevertheless we are in a place where God is teaching us and preparing us for what He has in store for the rest of our lives on this earth.
We're so hungry to receive more understanding and impartation and feel privileged to be in this environment, being made ready for our future as Carole and I minister together.
We have also been fortunate enough to be invited to be on a team to pray for people at the end of the Christmas service, which Bethel are holding this Sunday 9 December. We will be part of the team that are given the opportunity to pray for people for healing. These people presumably will be not only 'normal' churchgoers, but also people that would maybe not normally come to a church service, but may come to a Christmas event. This will be an opportunity to see God move powerfully. Again we feel very honoured to be invited to this.
I do hope that this does not sound like I am trying to elevate our status. I am simply saying that we have been given an opportunity, like many others, to pray on a team specifically for this event. It is not a reflection on our 'super ability', but I only share it with you to indicate that we're in a time of great favour in our lives and learning so much about the love of the Father. Our desire is to learn as much as we can so that we can pass it on.