We drove over 1200 miles to minister in deep southwest Kansas in a small town almost to New Mexico, called Hugoton, KS, and a surprise storm came with rain, turning to ice and snow – On Sunday morning I drove 15 miles on sheer ice – very slowly and it took me an hour – semi trucks were passing me which was unbelievable – we prayed a lot – and due to the storm and a few other reasons, our average attendance was 9 for all three services – but we had a great time and I preached like there was 900 there.
I had someone ask me why I would drive 1200 miles to minister to nine people – well because we believed God was in it, and some of these folks are our friends, and while others that I know have to have a minimum number of people to attend and a minimum love offering, for me, it has never been about numbers, but relationships and value in people in an area where very few others would even consider driving that far to minister to such a small group.
And the reality is that we have tried to move out of the book of Numbers and into the book of Acts. We actually had some really cool prayer ministry with several people really experiencing a special touch from God. The Holy Spirit can move in small churches too.
John 5:19 also applies where Jesus said he only did what he saw the father doing and we believed God wanted us there. We actually prayed for a friend who is blind in one eye and having some problems with the other eye and believing that improvement will soon come to him. I have seen a lot of people get well lately who had healing manifest several days to several weeks later – last summer we prayed for a man deaf in one ear since birth and nothing happened when we prayed, but three days later his ear completely opened up – so like the one Leper who returned to thank Jesus, we also rejoice and thank the Lord for every healing and every opportunity to pray for others –
Speaking of prayer, here are a couple of examples of public prayer times on the way home too.
At the hotel in Salina, Kansas, as I went out to get a few more things from the car, there was an African American man standing near the door, so I struck up a conversation with him and turned out he is a greyhound bus driver. We talked about a variety of things and I steered the conversation towards God, which then resulted in my asking if I could pray for him – he said yes, and after I prayed for his job and his family and his finances, he vigorously shook my hand thanking me and saying how much it meant that I was praying for him, and in fact stated repeatedly that the prayer was exactly what he needed at that moment. His name is Andrew and was from Kansas City. There was a tear on his face as we shook hands.
I later met a man who is a regional rep for Braums Ice cream as there is a shop right next door to the hotel. this man is Craig and personal friends with the owner of Braums. We ended up talking about all sorts of things, and ultimately the Kingdom of God, including his church in Arkansas, and his beliefs in God, including all of the gifts of the Spirit for today –
I ended up praying for him and his business, and later offered him a copy of my book – “Downloads from Heaven”, and when I told him the title he said that his pastor in Arkansas quoted from that book last Sunday – I don’t know how that is possible, because my book is not available on Amazon or in bookstores yet, but when I took the book to his room, I found out his daughter at home was going into pre-mature delivery of her baby so I once again prayed for him too – I am so glad things worked out for us to stay there in Salina – he then met my wife and I for breakfast today too – that was cool.
Jason and I will be going back to this church in a couple of weeks and they have a new man there who plays drums, so with Jason on the keyboard, we will provide good worship, teaching and prayer ministry. We are also suppose to be having a 30 minute meeting with the Governor of Kansas on the way home.
Reminder:
Kingdom Encounter Friday night at 7:15 p.m. – we will continue our Prophecy theme – hope you can make it if you are local in the area. In April I will be in Texas, Michigan, Central Nebraska – ministering there at the State Aglow Conference, and in May I am anticipating being in California and also Minnesota to minister, so if you are anywhere near and want to drop in, I hope you will. There are a number of local invitations as well, and some open dates too.
God Bless you and thanks for reading this today –
Why don’t you list your top 3 prayer requests and we will pray over them over the next few days. God loves you and wants to help you and gives us the opportunity to approach him any time, day or night to find help in a time of need. It says in Psalm 46 that God is a very present help in a time of need. We would be delighted to pray for you and agree with you in prayer for those special needs in your life too.
Anointed2Go MdM 