Layer by Layer

I wanted to share with all of you the ongoing story of God's work in the lady that we prayed for before. I was sitting at the desk by the door, and when she came in I went over and gave her a big hug and I asked her how she was doing. She said "I'm not doing very well at all," and she just broke down and started to cry. I got her to sit down and I put my arm around her and asked her to tell me what was wrong. She explained (with Absalom's help) that she had gone to a chiropractor about her back, and that he had told her that she was going to have to spend 2 - 6 months in bed. She kept saying "There's no way that I can do that!"

There happened to be another couple from the church who were there at the time, and we all gathered around her and started to pray. I was leaning against the wall behind her and when I put my hand on her back, I felt like an electrical current was going right through my arm. I was glad that I had a wall to lean against! I kept praying and asking God to show me the source for all of her sicknesses, and again, just as from the beginning, I felt that somehow a door was opened into her life through idolatry or withcraft of some sort. I really prayed against those things in her life. She cried the whole time that we prayed, and then she sat very still for a long time. Finally she said that she felt much better, that she was at peace.

You know, it's funny, but even while all of this is going on, sometimes you have these thoughts going through your head like "is this really going to work?", "God, are you really going to heal her?" It's hard, but you just do what you feel God is telling you to do, and you have to leave the rest up to Him, there's no other choice.

I went back in my journal last night and read the entry for July 23rd and it was about the struggle that I was having over going to Puerto Vallarta, and how God showed me that it was about much more than just not wanting to go there. One of the things that He said to me was "What if I have someone in Zacatecas that I want you to pray for, and you are in Puerto Vallarta?" I think she may have been one of those people. What if I had missed it?


Maria came back again today! This time she had a big smile on her face and said she is feeling much better, that she is able to go out and walk now, which she hasn't been able to do very much of lately. She said she talked to her doctor and told him that her back feels better because she had us pray for her. She said he wants to talk to us!

She asked me to pray for her again, so I took her into the other room and got a chair for her. I went to see if Absalom was busy (he was on the phone) and when I came back in the room, she had her hands raised in the air and she was already praying. Now that's expectancy! Again, I think my arm got a little longer today! Sometimes I feel like I am going to push them right over. I really took my time praying for her today, and I believe that God completed something. (I was reminded of what Mahesh Chavda in his book, 'The Hiden Power of Prayer & Fasting,' said when he prayed for this woman over several days and wondered why she could not receive complete healing until the last day, and God showed him that there was this creature over her that had tentacles, and each time he prayed one of them dropped off, until the final day when the last one dropped off.)

She kept touching my hands and saying that she could feel such heat coming from them, and she touched my forehead and said "you are hot all over!" She said that she knew that God had given me wisdom in how to pray. She explained that she would love to come to church on Sundays, but that her husband is not able to walk and she does not want to leave him alone. She wants to try and help in some way with the feeding programs that they do here from the church. Something tells me that we will be seeing her again! You know, the Lord told me this morning that today was going to be really special, and I know that He was right.

What do you do with all of these blessings that He keeps pouring out? God told me a couple of weeks ago that I have to learn how to use what I have been given, and doubt is definitely one thing that I deal with. Is it going to work? Is it real? Am I doing something wrong that will hinder what God wants to do? I think He's showing me that it IS real, and it DOES work.

Wow, I've gotta catch my breath now!