Six of us met today and prayed for a period of time before leaving the house for the market place. The Lord rested on us in power as we continued to pray. We prayed into our goal, reaching the lost with the gospel, over one another, anointing, power, authority.
We also sat quietly and waited on the Lord for clues which would lead us to the people He intended for us to meet. Each of us wrote our clues on our own papers, later we shared the clues with each other. Then we loaded into the van, off to the Walmart, our first target since two had received that same destination clue.
Just out of the van, we came upon a mom, dad, and 18 month old who was wearing a polka dot blouse which matched one of the clues. We asked if we could pray to bless little E., the parents said they are Mormon, what did we plan to pray? Blessing, we answered, they agreed, we carefully prayed blessing, all that God had for her to be released into her life, in Jesus name.
A few more steps, one team member asked if he could pray for a woman with crutches, a leg injury, she agreed, we prayed. She identified herself as agnostic, her husband Catholic. The older woman with them said she is Christian and takes them to church on occasion. How cool that strangers would come up and offer to pray for the injured young woman, the older woman was in agreement, probably an answer to her prayers for this younger couple.
One team member approached a woman standing nearby selling candy for a fund raiser. She was within ear shot of our praying over the injured woman mentioned above. Still need to hear the story, she was spoken to by one of our team member though.
We finally made inside the door of Walmart and we already spoke with several people!
R. went into the vision center to talk with the folks there since there was a clue pointing to eyeware on one team members paper. In talking with two ladies behind the counter, he received a word of knowledge about back pain. One of the ladies said indeed she had back pain, but the other one shut down the opportunity to pray, asked the group to leave the vision center. This happens, bless and leave gracefully.
C. found a lady matching her clue, red shirt, blond hair by the candles, which matched another clue, the lady was shy about receiving prayer, even though C. showed her the written clues matching her description. She excused herself to find her husband.
D. passed an isle at the end cap just in time to see a box of crackers fly out of a woman's hand, S., who was sitting in a motorized scooter. D. picked up the box, handed it to the woman and asked about her physical condition. The lady allowed for D and R. to pray for her. R. spoke a word of knowledge over her, blessed her, off we went. Later we realized that the encounter happened near the Ritz crackers which was one of our clues! Confirmation.
C. and A. found T. who matched two clues, unfortunately he refused prayer. However, he did listen long enough for them to explain that they approached him because his name and color shirt matched their written clues. C. and A. did share God's love with him, sometimes that is all one has the opportunity to say, it is indeed a seed planted!
R. M. and B. found a family to pray for whose son was wearing camouflage pants, which matched one of the clues. After ministering to the family, R. noticed this occurred next to Superman videos, you guessed it, another clue! Confirmation that indeed this family was the intended treasure.
D. found an employee whose husband was not doing well, has prayed for this family on other occasions, the circumstances are very tough. The husband just home from another hospital stay, was not doing well, so the timing of this encounter was truly God appointed.
B. found a man matching one of his clues who was with his wife buying fabric. B. approached the two while the rest stood at a distance and interceded. Eventually, B. invited D. C. and A. over to pray for M and M. Blessing and prophetic words of knowledge were prayed over both. The husband received but was a bit unsure, the wife smiled and thanked us warmly.
C. and D. walked as a team through the store looking for more who fit our clues, eventually we saw A. who was wearing a large bandage across the lower portion of her neck. A's daughter A. explained that the mother was dealing with cancer. She received prayer and the Lord's presence, it was clear the Lord was all over her as she received prayer. The rest of the team stood off at a distance in interceded. The encounter occurred next to the baby section which was pointed to by one of the clues, her condition matched another descriptive clue received. Way cool. No doubt, she was meant to receive prayer.
The six of us came back together, as we walked a main isle, a shopper coming towards us turned out to be a fellow church member. V. was glad to greet those she knew. It was explained what we were up to, she asked us to pray for her. Oh my, the Lord came powerfully on V! We spoke several words over her, she cried. B. had a word of knowledge for her which was right on the mark. V. explained that one of her sons was a prodigal. Interesting to note: before leaving, we spent time in intercession, one of the prayers led by the Spirit was for prodigals. And here we were through a word of knowledge, calling a prodigal son back into the Kingdom with a mom who has sown many hours praying for her son in tears. God is so good. The Lord came on V. so much, she had to lean on the shelves behind her. She thanked us, giving each a big hug. Oh, the love that God loves to pour out, mm mm, never get tired of seeing it.
On our way out of Walmart, we saw a man that simply stood out to a few of us. After consulting with one another, M. approached him. First three guys prayed for him then nearly the whole group a second and third time. C. is a believer who attends a Catholic church and is not familiar wtih this type of ministry. He was intrigued by the things the team prayed which hit targets in his life. It was fun to watch him, as he watched the person speaking to him. His wheels were turning as he stood listening. I long for the day when this type of ministry is the norm in OC!
We made our way to Babies R Us, where we found E. who matched a clue we'd already found. Why not twice? C and D talked with E and R who both received prayer, we shared the good news with E who said she did not believe in anything, she eventually accepted prayer and later a bible. R who is 8 months pregnant received prayer, words of knowledge, she was visibly touched, began to feel emotional as the Spirit of God rested on her, we prayed some more. You could see her open up to receive more of God's love, encouragement the second time we prayed. C and A shared the gospel now that both were more open to receive. E. received the offer of C's bible, both women were smiling, obviously moved by the encounter!
Next stop, Home Depot. D. felt a leading to the garden dept. on the way to the store. R. got an unction to stop and talk to Ch. who incidentaly worked in the garden dept. M, B and R talked and prayed for Ch. while the others stayed off to the side and interceded. After Ch. received prayer, the group walked all through Home Depot. R got a leading to go to the garden dept., as we approached the doorway, who comes walking up from anther direction? Ch! We greeted him again. We walked the garden dept. No one else matched any clues. We left the garden dept. just in time to see Ch. again. Then a fourth time! Ch. is the only person we ministered to at the Home Depot, and it was obvius that God made sure we met up with him four times to make a point! You cannot plan this stuff, only God can make it happen like this!
There were a few others who were approached, nothing much happened. This is normal. When someone is not interested, gracefully bless them and move on. It's important to respect peoples space and time. I think this is a valauble witness of God's love when no offense is taken by their refusal to receive from us.
The goal is to spread God's love, the good news, draw people towards God, not give them another reason to distance themselves from Him!
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