Slough last week of February 2019

A stunning early Spring day – almost 20 degrees!  Felt really good to be out and about in the high street without a coat and watching people just sit and relax on the benches outside. 

Having said that, the treasures I encountered were all indoors today!  First was a young man called Ashley collecting for a charity. He was with another lady who remembered me from a previous time she had been in Slough with a different colleague.  I then realised this lady hadn’t wanted me to talk with her about Jesus or pray with her that time!  Today, though, she was surprisingly friendly and even said to Ashley that I had “done a spiritual reading” for her colleague and maybe he should get one from me today! She moved aside for me to talk with Ashley.  

 As I started to talk, I felt to ask him If he was in the process of organising a holiday with some friends right now?  “Yes” he said , I actually am doing that”.  The word was about God inviting him to push his boundaries and try new things - starting with this holiday.  He said in wouldn’t be in terms of the holiday destination itself, which was my first suggestion- they are pretty fixed on the venue. But he became animated with the rest of the word about going to different places and doing things outside his comfort zone to stretch his horizons and expand his life. This holiday would be a catalyst for that kind of stretching.  He seemed to know exactly what this meant, it was touching something already in his heart.  He said – It’s really strange you saying all this because normally I never read books but I got myself this book by a sports psychologist called the “Chimp Paradox” (which weirdly I had read!) It’s all about not allowing your inner voice to stop you stretching yourself and reaching your potential .  “That’s actually pretty amazing” he said.

 Then I asked him if he had a brother. “Yes”.  Younger?  “No, older”. “Okay, well I feel like God is just saying “Ashley you don’t need to compare yourself with your brother, you don’t need to be like him, just be like you. I made you amazing.  You are more than enough.  Just be like you!” He started welling up and said “I really needed to hear that.  It’s true that I compare myself to him.  Thank you so much for saying that.  It means a lot to me” – and he just couldn’t stop himself from giving me a hug!  It was precious.  And so easy after that to talk to him about Jesus who loves him so much that He would send someone to tell him things they couldn’t know about him but that Jesus knows in full. I shared a little of my testimony.  He said he would normally have dismissed “these kind of things” before but he was taking notice now!  I encouraged him to call out to Jesus who will always respond to a sincere invitation to make himself known.  May the ripples of that encounter touch his colleague “L” too and others in Ashley’s circle of influence, Holy Spirit, including his colleague “L”. .

I went into a shop to buy a Birthday card. There were two young cashiers at the till.  A guy and a girl.  The shop was empty apart from us three.  We chatted about the weather and then I asked them if either of them had any physical pain, because I pray in Jesus name and He takes even high level pain away, often instantly.  “What? Really? !”  they asked. “Sure…I’ve seen Him do it so many times” I said..  The young man was fine but he said of his colleague “Oh, her back is always in pain!”. The girl – Shannon – confirmed that she had pain in her back constantly, right down her spine and had been like this for about three years, though didn’t know why.  She was happy for me to come round behind the till area and pray for her while her colleague, “Karl” watched the whole thing.

Here is an audio recording of what happened to this lovely young lady when Jesus got involved!

“Karl” ( Romanian background) was pretty stunned by all that had happened.. Because he didn’t have any physical pain, I invited him to hold out his hand so he could feel the tangible Presence of Jesus on his body. After I placed my hand over his and prayed i asked him what he was feeling. “It’s tingling” he said “and warm inside my arm” (I hadn’t mentioned anything about warmth or tingling being possible). I then had an easy entry point to talk about the Presence of Jesus touching them both and asked them “What does all that make you think of Jesus now?!” When they said “It’s much easier to believe in Him now” I underlined how real and powerful He is, how living life with Him is the best possible life, how to call on His name so they can know Him for themselves. It was so neat!  Just glorious!  

Finally on my way back, I came across a couple of guys at a stand who were Vietnamese and had limited English but enough to have a conversation.  One of them told me some quite personal heartaches that he was going through and the impact it was having on his mind. He said he hadn’t confided in anyone else about them except an aunt back in Vietnam and now myself.  It was an honour to listen to his story and to be able to pray for him.  He did receive some relief when I cut off the oppression that was gripping his mind and told him how to call on the name of Jesus for Himself.  I will see him another time hopefully but for now I pray for Him to find Jesus as His very own Prince of Peace.  

PS I’d love to hear from you – please feel free to make a comment or ask a question on any of the posts. You can use the comments box (comment as guest and all you need to input is a name and your comment)

Alternatively, email me at Gillyroyal555@gmail.com.