Our son was selling an item through an online marketplace and an interested buyer was about to arrive at our home.  It was earlyish morning, I had not slept well so, after greeting the visitor, – a man in his fifties called “Mark” - I left them in the kitchen and made myself scarce.

Thinking the whole visit would take no more than a few minutes, I was surprised when, twenty minutes later, I found them still in there, chatting about Mark’s interests and travels!  They were happy for me to join in the chat.

The conversation took a different turn when Mark caught onto something my son said about going to a church.  Mark started to talk, not about religious things, but spiritual ones.  He admitted that he was open to there being “something out there” but not to religion, which he felt causes more harm than good, including in his own life.  

My own tiredness faded away as the Father’s compassion rose up in me for this man, who I sensed carried a lot of pain – including physical pain.   He went on to mention a serious car accident causing him many injuries some years ago and we listened to his experience.  When my son asked if he had any physical pain today, Mark spoke of having constant, chronic hip pain that worsens as the day goes on, especially getting in and out of the car.  

I then asked him “Mark, would you allow us the honour of praying for you now, for that pain to go completely?  Jesus can take that pain away in a single moment.”  He said “What?!  Really? No one has ever asked me anything like that before or ever offered to pray for me.  I am pretty stunned by all this, to be honest - but ok, yes, thank you.”   

I prayed a short prayer commanding all pain and trauma to go and complete realignment of his skeleton with full healing to come in their place.  Mark checked his hip out afterwards and kept saying –” Is this just placebo?  I can’t feel any pain there now at all.  Is my mind just imagining it?”  He kept stretching and lunging against the countertop but just couldn’t find the pain! 

I assured him “If it’s just placebo, the relief will only last for an hour or so.  By all means check it out later today but, Mark, – this isn’t placebo, this is Jesus!”   I then felt drawn to pray for him again, this time asking the Father to heal those places in Mark’s heart that had been deeply wounded.  As I prayed, Holy Spirit was highlighting specific things to me going right back into Mark’s early years. I briefly broke off the lies and burdens he had lived under through these childhood wounds, releasing the Father’s loving kindness to bring healing.

At the end, he was barely able to speak and just kept saying “I am going to need to process all this.  I just can’t believe how much care you have given me today, when I am a total stranger”.  It was so easy to speak about God’s passionate, all-knowing love for him and how this was a “Divine appointment” that God had specially set up for Mark today.

Our son had contact with Mark later that evening.  He was still stunned and still pain free – even when getting in and out of his car!!   

Please pray for this dear, precious man who came to collect an item but received heavenly hip and heart healing instead! 

May he find the father he has always yearned to know in the Heavenly Father, and the best friend He could ever hope for in Jesus.