This section of the Christian Forum always bothers me. The reason is that as I check down the page I see prayer requests and a few praise reports, but a testimony is rare. Perhaps the praise reports are testimonies? Some certainly are. I saw one about how a girl friend got Baptized. That is awesome and could be either a testimony or a praise report., but praise might be where I would put it. Another had a song or poem and it was certainly a praise report, but I got the feeling there was more to the post. Perhaps some testimony was behind the praise?
I like the praise reports! And I think people should ask for prayer! But isn't God doing things, like answering the prayers? What is causing the praise? Shouldn't we get testimonies also? We never seem to, and I for one like to hear about what God is doing, and especially the incredible things.
The Lord asked me to take a class at my church. I don't like doing that. I should but I don't. The church was asking that everyone helping in healing ministries take the class. They used to not require a class. Then they required one class, and the Lord had me take that class, though I was already in a healing ministry. Then they added a second class, and again the Lord asked me to go. So there I was.
The class finished early, so the teacher asked if anyone needed healing, and a lady did ask for healing. So a number of other ladies gathered round the person needing prayer and prayed. I didn't. I'm not a lady. Yet the Lord started talking to me. 'Oh, no' I thought to myself. If He starts talking He has a plan, and somehow it is going to involve me. I don't need it, but I am probably going to do it. After all He is the Lord.
He had pointed out a certain lady and told me something about her and healing. Now He was asking me to go over and ask her to join the other ladies praying. 'I'm thinking, couldn't He just tell her,' but I went over and suggested she join the ladies praying and she did. Then the Lord started talking to me about giving advice to the ladies praying, like I have often done while leading prayer in the healing ministry. 'Leading prayer' does not mean you need to pray but rather that you lead people in their prayers. Many don't understand that. I used to be a retail manager and that didn't mean I ran the register. It meant I got people to run the register. That is what it means to lead.
So I went over close to the ladies praying. I wasn't running the class, so it seemed uncomfortable to me. Never-the-less, that was what I was hearing. The Lord always seems to have these ideas that take you out of your comfort zone. So the ladies finished praying and I knew from experience that we need to find out how the person being prayed for was. So I stepped in and ask on a scale of one to ten, how was hear pain, to which she answered that it had been a nine and was now a five.
I figured as much. Otherwise the Lord would have had me step in. So I told the ladies praying that the Lord is faithful to finish what He starts (the Scriptures explain this and the Lord had reminded me of all this many times in the healing ministry) So I told the ladies to ask the Lord if He would be willing to finish the healing now. After all, the pain improving is nice, but we want it to completely go away. More prayer was needed. And I had also heard the person being prayed for saying she felt she needed alignment. You find the Word of God in your heart and one your lips, so when praying for others you often get the instruction for how to pray off their lips. I explained this to the ladies praying and told them to pray into the alignment. And so off they went praying again, and God showed up greater and the lady reported being completely healed.
Now that was a nice testimony!!
Shouldn't we be seeing more of them? Should we be hearing about more of them? Shouldn't this section have at least as many testimonies as it has prayer requests?
I am the guy that tends to say, "Why me God?" When He asks me to do things. I am more like that son that first says, 'No, I am not going to do it,' then go ahead and does it. And yet I have hundreds of testimonies like the above. I show up here or there, like the Lord says. Then He starts talking and gets me to do things, and the next thing I know He has performed some great thing in someone's life.
It's awesome and certainly people should know about it. And, I guess I should understand. He had to tell me several times to just come and write on this. I should be even more excited, but why couldn't He have just told the others and let me stay home? Isn't that what we do when we see the great things the Lord does and not tell others about it? We just kind of stay home with our testimonies!
I like the praise reports! And I think people should ask for prayer! But isn't God doing things, like answering the prayers? What is causing the praise? Shouldn't we get testimonies also? We never seem to, and I for one like to hear about what God is doing, and especially the incredible things.
The Lord asked me to take a class at my church. I don't like doing that. I should but I don't. The church was asking that everyone helping in healing ministries take the class. They used to not require a class. Then they required one class, and the Lord had me take that class, though I was already in a healing ministry. Then they added a second class, and again the Lord asked me to go. So there I was.
The class finished early, so the teacher asked if anyone needed healing, and a lady did ask for healing. So a number of other ladies gathered round the person needing prayer and prayed. I didn't. I'm not a lady. Yet the Lord started talking to me. 'Oh, no' I thought to myself. If He starts talking He has a plan, and somehow it is going to involve me. I don't need it, but I am probably going to do it. After all He is the Lord.
He had pointed out a certain lady and told me something about her and healing. Now He was asking me to go over and ask her to join the other ladies praying. 'I'm thinking, couldn't He just tell her,' but I went over and suggested she join the ladies praying and she did. Then the Lord started talking to me about giving advice to the ladies praying, like I have often done while leading prayer in the healing ministry. 'Leading prayer' does not mean you need to pray but rather that you lead people in their prayers. Many don't understand that. I used to be a retail manager and that didn't mean I ran the register. It meant I got people to run the register. That is what it means to lead.
So I went over close to the ladies praying. I wasn't running the class, so it seemed uncomfortable to me. Never-the-less, that was what I was hearing. The Lord always seems to have these ideas that take you out of your comfort zone. So the ladies finished praying and I knew from experience that we need to find out how the person being prayed for was. So I stepped in and ask on a scale of one to ten, how was hear pain, to which she answered that it had been a nine and was now a five.
I figured as much. Otherwise the Lord would have had me step in. So I told the ladies praying that the Lord is faithful to finish what He starts (the Scriptures explain this and the Lord had reminded me of all this many times in the healing ministry) So I told the ladies to ask the Lord if He would be willing to finish the healing now. After all, the pain improving is nice, but we want it to completely go away. More prayer was needed. And I had also heard the person being prayed for saying she felt she needed alignment. You find the Word of God in your heart and one your lips, so when praying for others you often get the instruction for how to pray off their lips. I explained this to the ladies praying and told them to pray into the alignment. And so off they went praying again, and God showed up greater and the lady reported being completely healed.
Now that was a nice testimony!!
Shouldn't we be seeing more of them? Should we be hearing about more of them? Shouldn't this section have at least as many testimonies as it has prayer requests?
I am the guy that tends to say, "Why me God?" When He asks me to do things. I am more like that son that first says, 'No, I am not going to do it,' then go ahead and does it. And yet I have hundreds of testimonies like the above. I show up here or there, like the Lord says. Then He starts talking and gets me to do things, and the next thing I know He has performed some great thing in someone's life.
It's awesome and certainly people should know about it. And, I guess I should understand. He had to tell me several times to just come and write on this. I should be even more excited, but why couldn't He have just told the others and let me stay home? Isn't that what we do when we see the great things the Lord does and not tell others about it? We just kind of stay home with our testimonies!