August
30th
Tonight
there were three of us that went out to hand out blessing bags and
lunches to those in need. There
are times when the need is more apparent then others. This was one of those nights.
No
sooner did we get out of the car to get the backpacks out of the trunk,
when I saw a familiar face….a “friend”. We greeted one another then he
began to share how he was and how he and his girlfriend are doing. My heart broke as I listened to
their story. But the good
news is that Shannon is going to get custody of her 9-year-old son. As he started to leave, I asked
him if I could pray for him and his family. He not only agreed, but welcomed
it. As we gathered around
Todd to pray, his friend walked toward us wanting to join in. His name is John. We pray for their needs and for
the love of Jesus to flow over them……..how GREAT You are my King!
As
Jane, Rick and I walked up the street, we saw many people gathering
around. We wondered what
was going on. The closer we
got, we saw a police car. It
seems there was a fight, someone got stabbed. Nothing too serious, a minor
wound. (Thank You Lord that
You protect me, thank You for the Angels that walk with me, thank You
Jesus that You walk with me.) Then,
I heard someone call out my name. It
was my “friend” Scott. He came over to greet me, soon Ken and Steve
came over as well. They are
all my “friends” and I love them all.
We handed out lunches and backpacks to those who needed them. A girl named Crystal came over,
she was in need of a backpack. We
talked with them, listened to them and allowed the love of Jesus to flow
through us to them. Before we knew it, we were in a prayer circle (there were 7
of us!) praying for each one of their needs…….right there in the
middle of the day in the middle of the sidewalk, on NW 3rd
and Davis!!! How
amazing You are, how amazing You move, You are indeed the King of Kings!
Soon
I recognized another face, that of one I had just met last Saturday, his
name is Raymond. Raymond
was with a friend. We
started talking to Raymond’s friend, learning that he had just gone
through some cancer surgery in his kidney. He shared a bit more about
his life…….Lord, they are so in need of a friend, someone to listen
to them……we listened to his story.
Then I asked him if we could pray for his health, the cancer. He seemed glad that we asked. The three of us gathered around,
laid hands on him and prayed, coming against the demon of cancer and the
spirit of death, and prayed healing and wholeness to his body. I told him that the Lord was
going to visit him in the night with dreams and visions, that there was
a call on his life. Jane
prayed for him as well coming against any spirit of torment and fear of
death. Rick prayed for him
too, that God had a plan and purpose for his life. When we were finished, I looked
at him and asked him if he had ever asked Jesus into his heart, he said
yes. As a matter of fact.
He said he had walked very strongly in the Spirit at one time in his
life and he did have visions and dreams.
I told him that the Lord is calling him back to Himself, that He
wants to visit him once again. WOW,
it is so awesome to be a part of this most powerful ARMY OF GOD!!
We
walked up Burnside toward 6th.
There was a man kind of sitting stooped over. As we passed him, we said hello,
how are you? “I’m surviving, feeling kinda low right now.” We asked if we could pray for
him, he declined, “not now, not here” was his reply. Then Rick offered him a
backpack. The man’s eyes
perked up, you could see hope in his eyes. “Free he said, for real? Does it have like hygiene stuff
in it?” “yes it does I
said. It has all kinds of
blessings in it, that’s why it’s called a blessing bag, because
Jesus wants to bless you, He loves you so much.” I then began to explain to him
all that was in the bag, all he could do was smile and laugh, man, I
needed this!” “Jesus
loves you I said and he cares about you”. “Yes He does,” said the man
with an ear-to-ear grin and now instead of sadness in his eyes, I saw
joy and hope.
Finally
toward the end of our Outreach, we met Ricky. At first I think Ricky thought
we were just walking around, kinda hangin out. I had several checks from the
Holy Spirit concerning Ricky, so I was cautious. I didn’t allow him to hang
onto my hand as he grabbed at me; instead Jane and Rick came forward and
Ricky ended up grabbing onto theirs. (I love how the Holy Spirit warns me of unsafe situations) As it ended up, Ricky was a very
lonely hurting man. He
shared a little about his life, then I asked him if we could pray for
him. What do you want us to pray about, I asked. “OH, my life is such a
mess”, he said, with tears welling up in his eyes. So we began to pray and as I
prayed, I “knew” that there was a Father son issue with him. So I told Him how much the Lord
loved him and how He wanted him to know that He is his true Father and
that Ricky is his son, that he loves beyond measure. That God his Father wants to reveal more of Himself to him,
and how He wants him to know Him, because He wants to pour out all that
he has for him. As I was
praying, all Ricky could do was cry….the tears just kept on flowing
with every word I prayed. It
seemed the more I spoke of the true Father son relationship, the harder
he cried. Then I prayed for
the heart wounds and a healing of his heart. When we were finished, Ricky
shared with us how at one time in his life, he KNOWS he heard God talk
to him. “When he talked
to me, he sounded like my Dad” Ricky said.
We
talked some more about Ricky’s life.
As he shared, he would tear up all over again. Soon I felt led to ask him if he
had a drinking problem. And if he wanted prayer for it to go away. Ricky said and emphatic
“YES!” As I began to
pray for him, I felt led to ask Ricky if he had ever asked Jesus into his heart. Ricky said “yes”. I sensed it had been a long time
ago, so I asked him if he wanted to rededicate his heart and life to
Jesus. “yes!’ was his
reply. I prayed and he
repeated, crying the whole time. Then
I asked him if he had a drinking problem, “yes” he said. (I could smell the alcohol) I asked him, if he wanted to get
rid of it. “yes”, was
his reply….nodding in agreement with the tears flowing down his face. We prayed and commanded the
spirit of alcoholism to go, we took authority in the mighty name of
Jesus. We spoke health and
healing into Ricky’s body. WOW! What an amazing God we have!!
We left him with the gospel of John and an invitation to go to
church. Round them
up Lord!
After
our outreach ended, I am reminded of an interesting statement that was
made by one of the street people this night. He said, “I have been
out on the streets for a long time.
I see a lot of drug addicts, and criminals, but I don’t see
many preachers…..now why is that?”
His
words seemed to echo through my spirit…….. Why is that? Why is that? Why is that?
Many
are called, but few are chosen. What
does that mean? I believe
it means that God calls many, but many refuse to respond to the call,
they abort the call. So,
because of that, few are chosen. Oh
let our prayer be, here I am God, send me. Amen