Supernatural Shopping

I had been praying in the morning before my weekly trip to town, about doing more for God and what was it all about etc, you know the type of thing! I think I even said the words 'Please use me!', a scary prayer to pray but I felt the urge so went with it.  I didn't think too much about it once I had left the house and went on my merry way.

I was darting around doing bits and bobs, and was just going into Wilkinson's when I saw an elderly lady I knew.  I had heard that she had broken her shoulder recently so I stopped to have a chat with her.  She was telling me about how she was in terrible pain and couldn't lift her arm up, so everyday tasks were a real problem.  She told me all about how the NHS weren't moving very quick to get her sorted and the Physio had done more harm than good, and then I heard the Holy Spirit say to pray for her.  Now I don't like praying for people in shops as it seems strange to me, don't know why, and we were right by the door so probably in lots of peoples way, but when she drew breathe I asked her if I could pray for her and she said 'Oh yes please',  So I put my hand on her shoulder and began to speak to her muscle that had been torn to repair, for the pain to go and any tendons or ligaments to be as they should be.  She said thank you and was about to go, but I asked her to check it out and she looked very surprised as her arm went up higher than it had before.  So I offered to pray again,which she accepted.  This time I put my hand on her shoulder and it was boiling!! So I did the same again and thanked Father God for what he had already done, and then got her to check it again and she, again, could lift it higher and the pain was a lot less.  I prayed once more because the heat was still there and I wanted her to be completely healed, and again there was an increase in movement and a decrease in pain.  She was thrilled and gave me a big hug and we thanked Father for what he had done, and she went on her way home.  I was so excited!! But then things got a little surreal.

I headed out onto the High Street and I saw a man in white robes, standing outside the bank I was going into, with a 6ft high wooden crucifix!! I was a little taken aback, but he was chatting to someone so I went in the bank and thought if he is still there when I come out I would have a chat!  He was, so I did!  I said to him 'You look very interesting!', he laughed, thankfully! When I looked at the Cross there were names of cities and dates all over it, so I asked him what he was doing.  He began to tell me that he had been in the C of E as Clergy for 30 years and had retired a few years ago, and for the last couple of years he had been praying and asking God what he wanted him to do and he said that he didn't hear anything for quite a while and then God started to speak to him about taking a message to every Cathedral city and to deliver the message to the head of the Cathedral (sorry, I cant remember the title).  He said he was quite reticent to begin with and thought that he couldn't possible do it, but God kept asking him, so in the end he decided to do it.  For the last couple of years he has visited every Cathedral  city in the UK and did a Walk of Witness around the city, in his white robes and with the cross and taken the message that God had given him to every Cathedral and left it for the Head of the church to read.  He said that he really didn't know what good he was doing, but we began to talk about praying for blessings on people as he went and how just bringing God and the Holy Spirit into a situation can change the atmosphere of a place and that he may never really know what effect he is having but he would most definitely be having an effect.  He said that he prayed for people as he passed them and that he would make a note of people that he had stopped to talk to and then when he got home, he would journal about his day and pray specifically for those people.  I thought he was amazing!! That was some obedience and so brave of him.  Funnily, he said at the beginning that despite having been in the Clergy for 30 years he had never really spoken to people about his faith!! He was definitely making up for it now!

So I watched as Brother Cuthbert picked up his cross and walked up the high street, stopping briefly to write in his note book; my name I suspect.  As I am writing this, I have just noticed the similarities in our stories.  Only that morning I had been praying about what to do and for Father to use me, and there was Brother Cuthbert who had prayed the same thing and was on this amazing adventure.  I am sort of glad that my obedience didn't entail me dressing in white robes and carrying a cross, but that is the joy of being loved by a Father who knows you intimately and individually and has a path set before you to walk in.   We aren't all called to do the same things, we are all different and when the Father asks us to do something, it is individually suited to us, that's not to say that you wont be taken out of your comfort zone, but it is something that, with Gods help, you can do.  As when the Father asks you to do something, you aren't alone, he is doing it with you and through you.

I thank Father God for using me to help my elderly friend and I also thank him for Brother Cuthbert and I pray that he will be an amazing blessing where ever he goes and that God uses him greatly.

Healing via Facebook Chat!

On Saturday evening my friend contacted me on Facebook chat.  We were meant to be seeing each other that day but due to the snow she wasn't able to make it.  She said she was disappointed as she wanted me to pray for her knee, she had fallen over on some ice a few days before and her knee had frozen up and was really painful.  I remembered stories of people being healed by text so I thought I would offer to pray for her over Facebook!  It seemed a bit mad but I felt it was the right thing to do.  I typed a prayer and there didnt seem to be any improvement,  I then told her to put her hand on her poorly knee and say what I had written.  I didn't hear any more from her that evening (I don't know where she went - I will have to ask her!).  But I just spoke to her (again on Facebook chat) and she told me that on the Saturday evening there hadn't seemed to have been any improvement, but when she got up on the Sunday morning, her knee was a lot freer and it was at lunch time that she realised that she hadn't needed to take any pain killers all day and up until that point she had been taking lots of them.  She went out for a long walk in the snow today and had a little residual pain but hardly anything at all!  She is thrilled and I am so excited!  Who would have thought that God likes Facebook too!! He really can use anything! Thank you Father!

3 People healed!!

I have been Treasure Hunting twice in the last 5 days and have seen 3 people receive healing! They have been such exciting experiences and so encouraging. I went out on Friday with a fellow Treasure Hunter and we found lots of treasure. I had a clue of Red Coat, well I think God was having a bit of a laugh as I have never seen so many red coats! So we tried to be selective in who we approached, else we could have been there all day! We also had Red Scarf which proved to about as popular as the red coat! We stopped one lady who had on a Red Coat outside of Burtons. We explained what we were doing and asked if she would look at our maps, there weren't many clues which matched up with her, but I had a clue of arm pain. I thought it was lower arm but it turned out to be upper arm! She said that she was just on her way to the Doctors as she had a lot of pain in her upper arms and restricted movement but she had no idea what it was, hence going to the Docs! So we offered to pray and she said yes. We prayed and when we had finished she went to go and thanked us, but I encouraged her to test out her arms and to see what God had done. The expectation in people for God to heal is so low, a lot of the time they just think you are praying to be kind but God loves to heal and my expectation is very high so we didn't let her leave to quickly. She was a little surprised but put her shopping down and began to move her arm. The look on her face was one of complete surprise, as she was able to move her arm right back which she hadn't been able to do before we had prayed! She was so thrilled, we chatted to her for a while but then she had to go.

Another Treasure on this day that really encouraged me was a lady we stopped in a bright red coat and who's friend had a red scarf on. As soon as I began speaking I knew that they didn't speak English, or at least the friend didn't - the blank look somewhat gave it away. One of the things I had always wondered about was how can you get foreign names as clues if you aren't even aware of what the names could be. I know God could definitely tell you them, but it is hard to hear a word that you don't even know exists! On my map was the name Simone, so we had explained to these two ladies what we were doing and the lady in the red coat was translating for her friend. They then looked at our maps and began looking at the names and none of them meant anything until I said Simone and the lady said that she was called Simoy! I know they aren't the same name but they sound pretty close to me, especially considering the name was Turkish. We then found that Simoy had a problem with her Knee, so we offered to pray. It was only afterwards we found out that they were Muslim, and the lady who didn't speak English was asking questions through her friend about what we were doing. It was a great experience.

I went out today with another fellow Hunter and we had an amazing time as well. I felt really excited about going out and what God was going to do. The first person we spoke to was a lady in a Pink coat, in the Cathedral Area. We began going through the maps and nothing seemed to match up with the lady in the coat but when we went through the ailments the lady who was with her said that ankle pain was her. Well it really turned out to be her Knee/Hamstring, but she has said it was her ankle to begin with. She had fallen over a while ago but was still undergoing treatment for the injured Hamstring. So we offered to pray and she was very enthusiastic about us doing so. Once we had prayed we asked her to check it out and she did and the look on her face was one of amazement! She told us that the aching had gone and she was thrilled! She had a bit of a walk around and she confirmed that the pain and aching had gone! She had to go off and do something so we didn't get much chance to speak to her, she was definitely touched by God though and who knows what will come off that.

The other Treasure which stands out from the morning was a lady who was wearing a Pink Coat, outside the Apple Store with a walking stick. She was a lovely lady and was very willing to stand and chat, we showed her the maps and Louise was her Grand Daughter, but nothing else matched up. So I asked her why she had the walking stick and she told us that she had a new knee and the operation had been three weeks ago - today was her first trip out since the Op! So I offered to pray for a speedy recovery from the operation and she jumped at the chance. She then told us that on Sunday she had begun to experience a new pain in that knee which she was a bit worried about. So we prayed and as I took my hand away I asked her how it felt she said that something was happening. She grabbed my hand and put it back on her knee and told me to do it again! So I did and after the second time of praying she tested her knee and she had much more freedom in her knee joint and a lot more movement which she hadn't had before! It was amazing! She was so excited and gave us big kisses and went on her way! It was only as I was walking home I felt a bit bad that she had kissed us, as the praise and glory was God's, so I apologised to God and felt very relieved that with our Father we have a billion chances - and he knows my heart as well.

Jesus Culture

Wow what an evening! Steve and I travelled up to Bath to see Jesus Culture at Bath City Church. I wasn't too sure how Jesus Culture were going to ensure it wasn't a gig that they were doing, but an actual worship event. But they did - they are amazing musicians and it was so loud that we could actually feel the sound of the bass move our clothes! The light show was so bright that I was pretty convinced that Jesus had come back at one point! But the presence of God was amazing and being with all those hungry people just crying out to God and worshipping him was wonderful.

After the worship Banning Liebscher began to tell stories of amazing healings that have been happening in their meetings, stories of mass healings of Asthma, lots of knees healed, an allergy to nuts completely gone and tested, one lady with serious knee problems and had had loads of operations on her knee, which resulted in many metal pins holding her knee together. She was prayed for and the pain went and she felt her knee and was unable to feel the metal pins any more. She went to the hospital and they x-rayed her knee and the Doctor couldn't believe it as all the metal pins had disappeared and there was brand new bone where the pins had been! That's just incredible, God is soooooo great!

After lots of stories he asked for people with asthma to put their hands up and he then asked them to go outside for a run because he believed that they were already healed without someone praying for them, so loads people went outside - I didn't really realise so many people were effected by Asthma! After 5 mins they started to come back into the building and they began heading for the stage as they had been completely healed!!! People with Asthma for 30 years, healed in an instant and without actual prayer - just being in the presence of God. One girl was healed and she had Asthma since she had come to this country about 10 years ago and it was so bad that she wasn't able to walk 5 steps without getting out of breath and wheezing, she was on a Nebuliser every night and she had just ran around the building and other than being out of breath she was fine - not one wheeze! Completely amazing! There were so many testimonies of healings it was incredible. We were praying with a lady who had Genetic Arthritis and she said she could definitely feel God doing something in her body and her joints were much easier to move and the swelling in the knuckle which we were focusing our prayer on was markedly less swollen and I could feel it moving whilst we were praying. Oh yes another story I heard out of the corner of my ear as we were praying, was a girl who two days before had been hit in the face with a hockey stick and it had broken her cheek bone and she was all swollen and bruised. After prayer the swelling went away and she was able to poke her cheek and there was absolutely no pain where as before she could hardly even touch it! So good.

God is moving in signs and wonders in such a new way, it is gathering speed and we need to jump on board and be praying for everybody with anything wrong with them as this is the season of healing - if this is what God is doing, then I want to be doing it to! More Father!!

Leg Warmers and a Spotty Umbrella

It was quite a different experience Treasure Hunting this week as we were being lead to very different sorts of people and I was being pushed out of my comfort zones.  I think up until now we have been lowered in gently and only really approached older people or respectable looking men and women but yesterday wasn't like that. 

The first person we approached was a young guy who was sat on the Cathedral Green with his three mates.  He had the hugest amount of curly brown hair we had ever seen, so after much deliberation my fellow Treasure Hunter and I went to talk to him.  I have to say, they weren't too forth coming at all and not many of the other clues match up with them, but for me it was more about the going up to them than anything else and it was good to do it.  As we turned around to go to our first location I saw a man in a red top and seeing as he was on the Cathedral Green as well we thought we would approach him.  When we got closer I was really excited to see that he was a Postman which was one of my 'unusual' clues.  He was much more friendly and we chatted for a while and we found out that he suffered with back pain but didn't want prayer for it.  But we said that we really felt he was God's Treasure and he said that we had made his day. 

One of the other more prominent Treasures we found was a lady who was outside a shop which had Leg Warmers by the door and the shop next door which had a display of Spotty Umbrellas, she was also wearing a light green jacket. I was very pleased to see that she had a Fish symbol on a necklace so I felt we were on more familiar ground. She was lovely and we showed her the maps and Bob was her Husband and she had back pain due to curvature of the spine. We offered to pray and she accepted, I had a real sense that she was going to be healed.  But during the middle of us praying her phone rang and she left us quickly to speak to her daughter.  I felt quite disappointed but we don't know what happened in that short time we were praying for her or in the time afterwards.

The last person we approached was a man on a mobility scooter, this was out of my comfort zone as well but he had a red top on so we thought we would go and chat to him. He looked quite dubious about us but after a little chat he told us he had Parkinsons and accepted prayer.  We prayed, but it was only as I opened my mouth to pray that I realised that I didnt really know what Parkinsons was so it was hard to come against it.  After we had prayer we spoke to him and he explained that Parkinsons is to do with insufficient Dolpamine in the brain so I offered to pray specifically for that but he refused but he said a heart felt thank you for praying previously.

I think I learnt a lot today, I learnt that teenagers and young men aren't that scary, and can be quite open, I also learnt that you need to read the situation you are in and the person you are talking too well, and not to push to much, however well meaning it is. I also learnt the importance of finding out specifics about an illness before praying and but last but in no means least, I learnt that mobile phones really do go off at the most inopportune moments!

Four healings in Church this morning!

What an exciting morning!! We heard a couple of amazing stories during church about healings that have happened recently and at the end of the meeting me and a few other people prayed for those who needed healing.  The first one was a man who had hurt his back that morning and it was quite painful, we prayed and the Holy Spirit really met with him and he was completely healed! The next one was a man who had a pain in his neck which was linked to muscle spasms in his lower back, we prayed once and it was a bit better.  We offered to pray again and he accepted and this time the pain was better again, we prayed for a third time and that time it was a lot better.  Whilst we were praying I saw the muscles moving into place, I told the man this and encouraged him that I felt that there would be complete healing as the day went on.  The third person we prayed for had hardening tendons in his left hand as a result of diabetes, we prayed for him 4 times (we were feeling determined!), and each time the pain got less and less, after the fourth time he said that it had almost gone.  He later told us that before he left church that morning the pain had gone completely! The last person we prayed for was a lady who had painful knees and  black cloud/floaters which would float across her right eye.  We prayed for her knees first, I put my hand on her knees and as we prayed I felt something in her knee move! She tested it afterwards and she said the pain had completely gone!  We then prayed for her eye and when she opened her eye she could no longer see anything floating across her eye!  WOW!  What an amazing morning!  Thank you Father!

Knee healed!

Treasure Hunting is a funny thing, the amount of times we start out and we seem to get nothing and people don't want to know or we cant even find the clues! This week this was not our experience - we got out on the High Street and I think nearly everybody who passed matched our Appearance clues and it was really busy! It nearly blew my mind, but I felt God say to me that all people are his treasure and we could stop any one of these people and they could encounter him, so this felt like an encouraging start to the morning.

We stopped and talked to lots of people this morning but I will tell you about just a few of them.

One of the significant Treasures from the morning was a lady with a walking stick and a Primark Bag, we also noticed when we stopped her that she had a loose gold chain round her neck. We chatted for a while and found out that she was a Christadelphian so we asked her what that was and we chatted about the similarities to Christianity and things (I still dont really know what it is, but I am going to look into it), we then offered to pray for her and she said that we could pray for her back as she had broken in 10 years ago and then had a car crash a couple of years later so was in alot of pain and on pain killers. She looked a bit shocked when I asked her if we could pray for her there and then, but she accepted. When we had prayed she had a bit of a move around and said that it was definately easier but not gone, we offered to pray again but she wasnt too keen but thanked us and left. I really believe that if we had prayed again, her pain would have gone, but we can only offer.


We then headed up the High Street and one of our more random appearance clues was purple, my Treasure Hunting friend didn't know if it was a top or bag or what it was, until we realised it was all of those and more! As we looked up the street we saw a lady dressed head to toe in purple, she had purple trousers on, a purple top, and a purple cardigan! There was no doubt in any of our minds that she was God's Treasure, so we approached her. The names Sylvia, Lizzie and Tom meant something to her and she had a painful knee due to Arthritis. So we offered to pray her and she accepted. She sat on a bench and I knelt down and put my hand on her knee and prayed. Once I had prayed I asked her to stand up and test it out and she did, she was amazed to find that the pain had gone. She said that she would need to walk a bit as that was when it hurt the most, so she did and she was thrilled to tell us that it didnt hurt. She was really excited as she was going on holiday in September and to have no pain would be excellent! She went for a bit of a longer walk to the end of the bench turned round with a beaming smile on her face and said 'Thanks so much, the pain has gone' and then waved goodbye! I wanted to call her back to chat some more but she was gone. We were so excited! Next time healed and saved!!!

A healed Finger and Blue Shoes!

We were joined today by a brand new Treasure Hunter and she was very excited and up for the challenge; I on the other hand, was lacking in faith and feeling like nothing much was going to happen today. I had to have a word with myself and stop listening to lies and then began to pray that we would find the clues that God had given us. We were heading to the Costa Coffee Shop in Princesshay and we saw a lady sitting outside with a yellow bag, we were going to approach her but somebody she knew turned up and they started chatting so we thought it would be rude to interrupt, as we turned round there was a lady Street Cleaner coming along and the bag which she put her rubbish in was bright yellow, seeing as she was also outside Costa we decided to chat to her. She looked at the clues on all 3 maps but nothing else applied to her, so we just asked if there was anything that she would like prayer for and she showed us her fingers. On of them was swollen slightly crooked, she said she had fallen over a couple of weeks ago and fractured two of her fingers, one was much better but the one which was swollen was still painful. I asked if we could pray for her and she agreed. She put her hand on mine and then I put my other hand on top, I began to pray for healing of the finger and I felt her finger move. When I had finished I asked her how it was and she was about to just fob us off with an 'oh its fine' but then she clenched her fist and said 'Wow it is alot better!' It was amazing, sadly she had to get off to work so literally left straight after being healed, so we couldnt talk to her about what had just happened. But maybe we will see her again!


We then moved down the road to the Post Office and stood outside was a man with blue shoes on! They weren't just nominal blue shoes, they were sky blue trainers - seriously in your face shoes! So there was no denying we had to talk to him. We approached him and he was very friendly and open to help us with our other clues. It turned out that he had an Aunty Betty, and an Uncle Frank and he had recently had an operation on his knee and his wife had problems with her ears! That was a lot of clues which applied to him. We asked him what his beliefs were and he said he was an Atheist, so I asked him what he thought about the clues and finding him today. He said he thought it was just random! I was quite surprised really as so many of the clues fitted him. So we chatted to him for a while longer and then he went to leave and he said that we had made his day! We have no idea what that man will consider about what happened to him today, but I do know that we made an invisible God, very visible to him, and maybe it is a step toward him actually being able to see God for himself one day.

Healing on a Bench

Shortly after my experience of praying for the old man who sat next to me on a bench and him being healed of Chest Pains, my fellow Treasure Hunter had an amazing experience.  She was walking to work and saw a man sitting on a bench holding crutches, she felt that God wanted her to pray for him.  She immediately went into the shop he was sat outside and hoped he might be gone by the time she came out, but he wasnt!  She came out and very bravely approached him and explained who she was and that she really felt that God wanted her to pray for him.  She asked why he had the crutches and he said that he had recently had a Hip Replacement operation and was in alot of pain.  So she offered to pray for that and he gladly accepted.  After praying, she asked how his hip was feeling and he said that the pain was alot better but not gone completely, so she offered to pray again.  He was a bit bemused but accepted and after praying for the second time the pain was completely gone! Wow!!  Thank you Father!

Stepping out is the hard bit but it is so fantastic that God does the rest - watch this space for me 'Bench' encounters!

Three of God's Treasures

Whilst Treasure Hunting this week we found 3 lovely Treasures.  The first one we met as soon as we started Hunting, I spotted the Blue Leather Bag from across the High Street so we went over to speak to her.  She stopped and looked at our maps and four names meant something to her, Amy was her best friend, Mary was her Aunty, Luke was her Uncle and Anthony was her Cousin, that was pretty good confirmation that she was our Treasure.  She looked at the ailments and she pointed to Tonsils, she explained to us that she gets reoccurring Tonsillitis and has it about once every two months and pretty much lives on Antibiotics.  We asked if we could pray for her and she said yes - it still amazes me when people say yes despite not being Christians and when they don't really know what is going to happen, but it is fantastic when they do! We weren't able to tell if any healing had taken place as she wasn't suffering from Tonsillitis at the time, but we did chat to her for a bit .  One of the things I need to work on is opening the conversation up and being more on the offensive (for want of a better word) for God and his supernatural power.

The next Treasure we found was a lovely old guy who was walking past the Open Air Cafe in Princesshay. He was walking his dog  (all three of us had dog on our maps so we knew he would be significant) He told us how he had lost his wife of 48 years only a few months ago in March, we had Widow as a clue.  He was so sad and said if it hadnt been for his dog he would have thrown himself under a bus!  My heart went out to him, and I knew that God wanted to show him how much he loved him.  We asked him if he had any belief and he scoffed and said he hardly believed in himself!  We offered to pray for him, and he accepted.  We spent a bit of time just ministering to him and asking God to show his love to him, he was visibly moved when we finished. He then asked us about Church  so I invited him to come along, I shall keep an eye out for him, I really hope he comes.

Our last Treasure came from determination on my fellow Treasure Hunters.  I had the clue Pink Belt and Lizzie was determined to find it, so we headed to St James area of town (I had St James as a clue but I didn't know if it was a location, or something else - we later found out!) In front of us was a lady and I just caught a glimpse of a pink belt so we got ahead of her, so as not to pounce on her from behind. When I looked again it wasn't strictly a pink belt, but a pink band on her trousers. We decided that was close enough and went and spoke to her.  She turned out to be a Christian so was really open, I asked her where she went to church and she said St James!  So the clue was actually two fold as we followed it as a location but also it was significant to this ladies life as well.  We asked if there was anything we could pray for her about and she was worried about work so we were able to pray for that and she was really grateful.

In some ways these three Treasures seem quite small and insignificant, but God spoke to me about not belittling the small things and thanking him for them and then they will increase.  I also think that we do not know what impact we have on a persons life, take the man who had been recently widowed, we were able to show him the Fathers love and spend time with him.  It didn't really cost us a lot but could have been worth everything to him.  

Chest Pain Healed!

The adventures on the Blue Hair day didn't stop there! Nick and I went our separate ways as we had officially finished Treasure Hunting for the day. I bought myself a sandwich and went and sat in Princesshay. Before long an old man came and sat next to me and the first thing he said to me was that he had to sit down as he was having chest pains! I have to say a million thoughts went through my head, but the main one was 'Uh oh I am going to have to pray for this man', I did also contemplate the fact that he could keel over and I may be having to put my 'Practicalities of Raising the Dead seminar' into practice sooner than I hoped! But I ignored that thought. He said that he had had chest pains since 2.00am but it was too sunny a day to go to hospital. There was something odd about this encounter and I was beginning to contemplate that this man was an angel as it felt very strange, but in a good way! So I thought I would chat to him for a bit, knowing that I should offer to pray for him but was too scared. I was having a two way conversation by this time, one with the man about the Budget and one with God where I was saying I can't I can't I can't! I knew I would regret it if I walked away and didn't pray for him so I asked God for courage, at that moment the man turned his head away and on the back of his baseball cap it said 'I'm loving it!' and I really felt that God was saying that to me so I thought, if God is loving it, then so am I! So I offered to pray for him and he accepted happily. I then asked him his name and he said Chris, I was blown away for the second time that morning as Chris was on my Treasure Map and I had known I was going to find a Chris and there he was! So I prayed, I came against the pain and declared health over him and then asked him how the pain was and he said that it was a lot better but not completely gone. So I offered to pray again and he agreed, after praying for the second time he announced the pain was gone! Me of great faith said 'What! Really!' but it was obvious in his face that it had gone. He then really looked at me and asked me where I went to church, so I told him and he said that he would come and bring his profoundly deaf son with him to be prayed for!

The lesson I learnt from this encounter is that Treasure Hunting is never really over and that you aren't 'off duty' so to speak, - that is the essence of living a supernatural life naturally.