I have been attending Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry now for a month and in just a short amount of time, God has rocked my world, changed my thinking and pruned so many things that needed to be gone. Last week I listened to Chris Overstreet (if you don't know who he is you need to look him up, he releases God's tangible love everytime I listen to him). God loves me so much that I actually found myself in his class, Supernatural Evangelism.
Last week was the first class, and it was phenomenal. He shared about doing ministry in Africa and how he heard God ask him, "Chris, are you going out tonight to get another testimony, or because you love these people?" God, of course, went straight to the matter of his heart. Likewise, this question hit me in the heart. I knew that I had been so desperate to see miracles that I had forgotten that miracles are about love encounters, not power encounters. Many times when I stopped to pray for in an effort to see a miracle, I never even asked the person their name! That week Gabriel, an intern in my group shared a similar testimony about performing to feel loved by God.
On Wednesday, I drove to the airport to pick up my mom and sister who were coming to visit me. I was listening to worship music and like Mary, pondering these things in my heart. I confessed to God that I was guilty of the same attitude but I felt unsure of how to change it. I asked Him to show me what it looked like to see a miracle happen out of loving someone instead of trying to feel loved by seeking a miracle. I worshiped the rest of the way, and when I arrived I thought, "I'm going to carry this worship with me into the airport. I am going to keep my heart in a position of worship, and ask that God would let His presence impact the atmosphere around me.
So I parked the car and walked toward the terminal. I found myself in the crosswalk with a woman whose walk was kind of labored, and I thought, "that woman has a hip problem." I think it's important to note that at this point my bladder was about to quite literally explode since I had been holding it for an hour after guzzling a large soda. I told Jesus that if the word was right and he wanted to love on this woman He'd let me run into her again as I shuffled quickly to the bathroom.
I came out walking a little lighter but with the woman no where in sight. I thought, "well, it's not the first time I was wrong about a word." I found the board with the flights so I could figure out where to meet them and began to head toward the escalator when I see the woman heading my direction. Before I have the chance to talk myself out of it, I made a beeline towards her and said, "this is going to sound really weird, but do you have a hip problem by chance?" She said, "actually, I do. But my knees actually bother me more than my hips." Then I heard myself asking, "Is one of your legs shorter than the other?" Her eyes widened and she said, "yes, how did you know?" I asked her if I could pray for her and she wrapped me in a big hug. "Oh honey, of course you can!" I got the impression that she thought I meant on my own time, so I asked her if we could pray right then and there.
I led her over to a seat thinking, I just called out that one of her legs is shorter than the other. That means I'm going to have to ask it to grow. What was I thinking? The only person I'd ever seen do that was Todd White. If you don't know who that is, look him up on youtube and you'll understand why I felt a little intimidated. So I look at her and tell her with confidence that I am simply going to command her leg to grow in Jesus' name. The look on the woman's face sitting next to her was priceless. I held her ankles and pushed on her heels to see the difference. Sure enough, the left leg was about an inch shorter than the right. "Left leg," I said, "I command you to grow in Jesus' name." I don't see anything happen, but I look up at her and say, "this is gonna' be good." I look back at her feet and it seems like the gap is a little smaller. I stare at it for awhile and sure enough the gap totally closes and her legs are the same length without either of us moving!
I am totally shocked and I think, "My God that actually worked!" I look up at her and ask, "Is anything happening to you right now?" Her eyes are brimming with tears and she nods, "Oh honey, something happened." I tell her to stand up and check it out. She stands up and bends over, moving her back and legs and tells me that all the pain is gone! We both cry and hug each other. We get each other's names (her name is Debbie) and she began to tell me that she was scheduled to get knee surgery the next week. I said, "Wait. Did your knee get healed?" She replied, "Well, the pain is gone, but both knees still feel swollen."
So I told her to sit down and we'd get it all taken care of, because of course now my faith is a lot bigger. I began to pray over her knees commanding metal to dissolve in one, the swelling to leave in both, and ligaments and tendons to right themselves. As I'm praying, I find myself thinking about Debbie's car. Although I just witnessed her leg grow, I don't want to spoil such a great healing with a word that is wrong. I stop myself there and think I am already in this thing. Why back off now? So I asked her if she was having car problems. "Listen to this girl!" She shouted. "How did you know about my car problems?" She began to explain that her husband had left her and emptied her bank accounts and that her car was having problems but they didn't know what was wrong with it and she didn't know if she'd be able to afford it. I told her that God was taking care of it and she did not need to worry. I then began to speak love and encouragement to her. God told me to tell her that she is a good mother, and she began to cry again.
A guy sitting two seats down from us who had been on the phone leaned over and smiled. "I just want you to know that I was prayin' with you ladies the whole time. I've got my pastor on the phone and I have been telling him the whole story." At that point we realize that she hadn't tested out her knees so I asked her to stand up and she said she could feel a real difference. I asked her to do something she couldn't do before. She raised up her leg and shouted, "That! I CAN'T DO THAT!!" As she was doing that very thing.
For the next hour she began to tell me her story and all about her family. I got to pray with her and release blessing into her family. After my family showed up and I introduced them, we hugged and she said that she would never forget that experience. That night I marveled at a God who answers prayers, and who showed me just what it looks like to love a person and not an experience.
