Mid-week, nearly mid-June 2019 SLOUGH
I took the opportunity of a dry day in between some seriously wet ones to venture into town and see what Holy Spirit was up to ! I thanked Him on the way in for the wonderful privilege of getting to bring the Kingdom to Father’s lost children. There was a thrill in my heart at the prospect of what today could bring. An excited sense of entering the best playground of all, where encountering others with Jesus’ love and power is a thing of childlike joy, not a hard, serious burden.
The first person I encountered - “Howard” was collecting for a childrens’ charity. He is a lovely spirit-filled brother who was using his time not only to collect and raise awareness of the charity but also to pray for Slough. He was really encouraged to meet me as he had been specifically praying for those who would “go out into the harvest” up and down the street! It was great to be an answer to his prayer but also to know he would be praying for me today. Howard happily accepted healing prayer for an elbow/arm issue though it wasn’t affecting him at that particular moment. It was a pleasure to spend some moments with him and a happy start to my time in town.
The next person who “came across my path” was a young Muslim lady “Maya” who was working for a large company. She was with another female colleague and after some general chat with them I introduced myself and offered to pray for any physical issue they might have. They were both fine but I pressed on and asked if there was anything at all I could pray for their families. I had a sense that Maya had something difficult going on in her family, so when the other colleague excused herself and went to talk to a customer, I began speaking some words over Maya that I felt were Holy Spirit downloads about a long standing issue in her family . She stayed and llistened and I knew the words were “landing”. She then said “ So this is the situation…..” and continued to tell me about a very difficult, longstanding issue affecting her immediate family. I was able to pray with her about it and in Jesus’ name break off the limitations she was living with so they would not continue to blight her future. It was a brief but precious time and I trust that the seed of Life planted in that encounter will be protected and nourished by Holy Spirit until it bears beautiful Kingdom fruit.
Things were a bit slow after that, even though there were more folk coming into the High Street for lunchbreak. I prayed as I walked that Holy Spirit would give me His strategy for encounters to open up. I went into one of the indoor shopping spaces and came upon a young sales lady in a showroom area. Her name is Megan and she was with two other colleagues. We had a general chat about the items for sale and about the shopping centre in general. I explained to her what I was in town for and she was pleasantly surprised when I said “street pastor”! She is a new Christian. I felt I heard two words for her – one about the significance of her role with her younger brother ( thankfully she confirmed she does have one!) The other word was about the importance of books and reading - that she is an “unlikely book worm” ! who wouldn’t call herself a great reader but she is going to receive important, timely messages for her life through books that God would guide her to read. She knew exactly what this meant and was grateful for these words.
When I asked Megan if she had issues around her back or neck she was really surprised and said that she actually did. Her neck was bothering her at that moment and she was very happy for me to pray for her. She had clearly never seen or experienced anything like this before (!!) and it was great to be able to show her the “normal Christian life” while she is still a young believer. Here is a clip of what happened after Megan was prayed for: ,
Her two other male colleagues were watching and listening. When I offered to pray for any physical issues, one was fit and well but the other one – “Clio” explained he had a hamstring injury which prevented him from playing football. He had already had it several months and the pain/tightness was bothering him quite significantly at the time I met him. I explained about how I pray and he was happy to let me pray. Here is a clip of his experience . It was really cool! What was also great is that Clio comes from a family where his Mum is a believer but he and his Dad are not, even though he used to go to church when he was younger. A familiar story among the prodigals I meet! Bless that beautiful praying Mumma – I feel you, Mamma Bear! Here’s the clip:
What the clips don’t record are the conversations I was able to have with both these treasures about the goodness, power and love of God and the kind of relationship He wants to have with us outside the walls of self-effort and religion. And to encourage them that all believers can do what I do and see the sick healed just like Jesus did. Both these dear young people were so stunned by what took place in their bodies that the Gospel preached itself really! But what a privilege to boast further about the goodness of our God to those who have just tasted and seen.
Bless every word that carried your Life and Truth today, Jesus. And remind these dear ones day by day of the good things they have seen and received as sign posts of your love. You are so amazing Jesus.
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