As I sat with Jesus and talked with Him about reaching out to His lost treasures, I felt that He wanted to reassure me again that it is always His reputation on the line, not mine!  He doesn’t want me - or any of us - to shoulder the pressure of having to make things happen or “succeed” in encounters.  We get to make introductions and issue invitations on His behalf.  The heavy lifting of healing, salvation, prophetic revelation etc  is all His!  There is a lot of rest and relief in that. 

 On my way in to the city centre, I found myself singing an old song I haven’t sung or even thought of for years. I think I sang the words differently (no surprise there!)  but they were to the effect of:

“Father I place into your hands the things that I will see

Father I place into your hands the people I will meet,

Father I place into your hands the places I will go,

For I know, you always will love me”

Simple words though they were, they summed up my hopes and my trust in Him for what would happen during my time in town today, in the assurance that He loves me at all times. 

It was around lunch time and a number of groups of young people were out in the high street raising awareness of different local initiatives.  My path crossed with one of these groups and, after some initial conversation about their particular initiative, I explained about my initiative of encouraging and praying for people so they can see that God is good and longs for us to know Him.

Having offered to pray for anyone with physical pain, one of the young guys “Jeff” was willing to receive prayer for a lower back pain issue.  He is from a Muslim background.  His pain level wasn’t high (about 3/10) but it was persistent and he wanted it gone!  I explained how I would pray briefly and got one of his male friends to place a hand over the painful area of his back.  Several other group members were watching and listening, obviously intrigued by this event. I had Jeff check his pain level as we went and whilst his pain didn’t go instantly, it did go completely with a bit of persistence!  He was really happy with the result!  Here is his story of what took place for him:

The encounter provided an opportunity to share my testimony of coming to know Jesus without growing up in a Christian home and at a very difficult time in my life.  I encouraged each one of the youngsters to call out to Jesus for themselves in a quiet, private moment. To ask Him to show them more of who He is so they can know Him too.  

It was a special privilege to speak to those who still have much of their life journey ahead of them.  I pray they will walk that journey knowing Jesus as their Saviour and Friend.  

Later on, after exiting a shop, I saw two middle-aged chaps sitting on a long bench diagonally opposite and felt drawn to go and sit there and possibly talk with them.  As I scrolled down my phone, I could overhear snippets of their conversation.  They are both in the construction trade and were on their lunch break.  One seemed to be encouraging the other one to try certain remedies/therapies for some sort of physical pain he was struggling with.  It just felt like a Holy Spirit Healing set-up!!  

When their conversation lulled, I turned to the one nearest me who had the pain and just said “Oh hello, excuse me butting in but have you got some pain going on today, then?”  He said he had pain in his lower back from straining it that morning in the course of his work, though it often gave him problems generally. I introduced myself and found out that his name is “Joseph” and his friend is “Thomas”.  I explained about regularly praying for people and seeing their pain taken by Jesus.  When I offered Joseph to pray for his back pain to go, he said yes!  His pain level in that moment as he sat still was 4/10.  After a few short prayers of command addressing the pain and misalignment in his spine, he was commenting on how he felt relaxed, loose and “comfortable” with no more pain!  His whole countenance had changed – something his friend, Thomas, remarked on straight away.  “He actually looks happy!” he exclaimed with surprise!

Joseph does have some level of faith in Jesus but this healing was something entirely different for him (and for Thomas too) and he said he would never forget it.  He was really encouraged that Jesus would send someone over to help him today.  I sensed there were other things that Joseph is struggling with generally in life, but this healing was a sign to him that he could really trust the Father with all the different elements of his life.  Nothing is too complicated or longstanding for Jesus to heal. Nothing. And no-one!  Praise His wonderful Name!!!!