Healing on the Streets 13th August 2011

I often pray as I drive (I don't close my eyes!) and as I drove over to Cheltenham on Saturday morning I was again struck by the beauty of the world that God has made when it could have all been grey and without variation. I got to a field of horses and one gave me a look ('slow down?') and I though about how, what is essentially a beast of burden, needn't come in different colours or sizes but could just be a big box with wheels (getting surreal). This, in turn, reminded me of the fact the we could all be identical, like automata, without any differentiation, and I praised God as this reality struck me again, but stronger than ever. Here we were, a team made up of such different individuals with one shared compulsion - to take Christ to the people through the offer of healing prayer; and I knew that we would meet people during the course of the day who God had made utterly different to each other and who, like the horses, could just be boxes on wheels, but God loves each of us so much that He make us all different with a tweak here or there. As we went out, this stayed with me. We met lots of people on Saturday morning, from different backgrounds, with different abilities & experiences, different theologies, different needs, and yet each of them has a need of Him and a space that only He can fill.

We were really busy, praise God. Eyes came up a few times, in different ways in different people, but otherwise it was very varied:

We prayed with a lady that she would get a job and the team had words that she needs confidence and that God loves her very much.

A team member had had retinal lasering that week & her eyes were still blurry and eyelids twitching. She was glad to receive prayer.

We prayed for a lady for refreshment and against exhaustion. We prayed against a cold & for strength. Someone had a picture for her & we prayed for strength for struggles.

We prayed for a couple – him against cancer and them for strength and thanks for their marriage. Someone had a picture for them.

A guy returned to look for us. Prayed against a problem with a relationship. He poured out a lot. We prayed for peace & freedom & a good relationship to be restored. He thanked us a lot.

We prayed for another team member's eyes. She saw the specialist this Monday, after the prayer, and was told that things were improving - praise God.

A lady came who was obviously seeking God but looking in the wrong places. We prayed for her strength & for her to learn God's truth.

We prayed for a good day trip to London for a dear soul who often visits us, and we ended up singing old hymns.

We prayed against pneumonia in a lady's friend and for God's Kingdom rule. The lady was concerned for her friend and we chatted about real faith vs religion.

We prayed in absentia before going out for a team member's sinuses. She came down to join us later as it was healed! Thank you Jesus!

In their absence, we prayed for a team member's husband's knees and for someone's neck. We also prayed for a friend with anorexia and another lady's skeletal problem. In the latter case, we also prayed for her to soften towards the Lord.

We saw a guy in a motorised wheelchair type thing with a massive cross round his neck. We offered to pray for him and his wife and they accepted though they didn't wait, saying God knew all about them – great faith.

We met an Austrian gentleman. Someone had had a word earlier about someone with pain in right side and this was him, with pain in his right leg, foot, arm & hand. During prayer the swelling reduce in his hand. Hoorah! We had a word for him. He prayed for us which was lovely.

A lady came who was bout to give birth. She had a swollen ankle, probably due to water retention.

We prayed for a mission partner in Bangladesh who has been very poorly with a tummy bug. We have since heard that she feels like she might be through the worst of it, praise God!

We prayed with a guy for his sister who was due to have and operation.

We prayed with a lady who'd been told she had cancer in many parts of her body. We spoke death to the cancer & life to everything good.

A guy came with various conditions so we prayed generally and specifically for his health.

A lady came with an inbalance in her stomach flora. She had found her specialist dismissive. We prayed for restoration of balance, peace, & forgiveness of the specialist. She was very anxious and scatching at her thumb, making a wound. She may have been when of the people we felt we should be looking out for, a 'treasure'.

There were lots of police about on Saturday morning, probably because there was a football match on in the afternoon. It was great to be able to pray with some of them.

We spoke to two ladies who were visiting a sick brother in hospital. They were very receptive.

We prayed with someone who had been at New Wine. She had an eye infection which was possibly cellulitis & was concerned the antibiotics weren't working due to diabetes. She expected to go to hospital on Monday if it wasn't better so we prayed for healing and peace. There was no obvious change in the eye after prayer, but she was more peaceful. During the course of the morning, we were also able to talk to two ladies who were living in Dubai. They told us about their church in Dubai, which they said was the biggest in the Middle East. They were really please to see us out ministering to people in Jesus' name. We also met a young lady who asked us about Trinity's provision for young adults, so we were very pleased to give her a few ideas. What an amazing day! God is good!