Okay, so the first time I prayed over JJ was quite the experience, especially for me being a first-timer. Well, it wasn't my very first time speaking in tongues because I spoke in tongues soon after I got saved in my early 20's (1980's). But when I met my ex-husband he told me I couldn't speak in tongues because it was from the devil. I only wanted to follow God's path for my life (I don't know why I thought my ex knew what God's path for my life was) so I left my church and my friends and I refrained from ever speaking in tongues again - for about 25 years. Although, occasionally the desire to speak in tongues would come upon me and a word or two would slip out of my mouth but I would always force myself to stop.
I know now that repressing a spiritual gift is a horrible thing to do to oneself because God's purpose for our lives is to use our talents, skills and spiritual gifts for Him. (see my Blog on "Our God-Given Purpose" at http://gpurpose.blogspot.com). When we refuse to live our lives according to the way God created us to be then we get in all kinds of trouble!
So, here I am now on the path to spiritual health and healing and what is the by-product of that...? Other people's lives are being transformed for the better as well. What a wonderful God we have!! And what a privilege to be a part of His plan!
One last thing I'd like to mention in this post is I want to thank all of the people who have poured their lives, talents, skills and spiritual gifts into my life. I never could have come this far without the Body of Christ - and you know who you are :)
Loads of love and learning still!
Rebecca
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Journey to Gifting
I guess you could say I was an ordinary American kid. At least that is pretty much what people thought about me, even though underneath it all I had a very hard time growing up. Mainly, because I am tenderhearted and on the sensitive side, so being brought up without much praise or kindness really affected me. My psyche couldn't handle the abuse - the kind that tears out your soul. As a result I developed fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, severe headaches, neck and lower back pain that traveled down my right leg into my foot, etc. So, I thought that my God-Given purpose on this earth was to take-on other people's wrath and pain because I was doing them a big favor by letting them scream and degrade me. I eventually desired to know more about God, which led me to a school of evangelism. There I decided that if Jesus Christ loved me SO much AND He was willing to die for me with all of my sins upon Himself then I wanted Christ in my life. I wanted forgiveness and to be free from the burden of carrying my own sins! I wanted to find out what my Creator thinks about me and I wanted a relationship with this kind of wonderful God! Unfortunately, in 1984 I married into abuse and for the next 23 years my spiritual life was put on hold. I've been told that people often marry into what is familiar to them and how your family treated you is familiar even if it hurts. Life was SO hard and after having four children and seeing no light at the end of the tunnel of abuse I decided to give up. But God never gave up on me! He led me to an OA meeting where people got to know me well enough that in 2004, when I was nearly killed by my now ex-husband, one of my OA friends knew enough to call 911 which saved my life. Right after that my 15-yr-old son, Michael, got his three siblings, myself and our animals to safety - Michael is my hero second to Jesus!
BAM! There I was a single mother of four wonderful children (their ages 15, 14, 8 and 6). Fortunately, God led us to a fabulous church that is not perfect but it is truly wonderful. People came around my kids and me and I began to learn what God's love really looks and feels like. These perfect strangers loved me with an everlasting love and I began to grow out of my victim-hood and into a woman who is now strong and courageous in God's strength. All of my four children are doing great even though our 5 year transition from abuse to safety took a huge toll on my daughter more than any of her three brothers. Yes, there have been many a heartache on our journey to freedom but nothing as bad as remaining in the abuse would have been.
Like I wrote about in the heading of this Blog in order to keep my children safe I had to go through Superior Court for a month and a half pretty much on my own with no training in law or the court system. It was very difficult but I am amazed at what God did for me and how He got me through! During my Superior Court Trial in 2007 I had at least three or four churches praying for me including my own church and I was praying like never before and all of a sudden, while I was sitting in the court room praying, a funny sound came out of my mouth (quietly of course) and I remember asking God, "God, is that from You?" and I know I heard Him say to me, "I'll show you." Wow! I had never had such an interesting experience like that before! Oh, don't get me wrong I have had my share of cool experiences but to hear the Creator speak to me so clearly was quite a trip. Periodically, through the rest of my trial I would again be praying fervently and sure enough that language like sound would flow out of my mouth and I'd ask God the same question, "Is that from You, God?" and I'd always hear the same reply, "I'll show you."
November 2007, after my Trial and all of the Hearings were over and I was finally divorced I heard about a good friend, JJ, who was very sick and I felt absolutely compelled to go and pray for him. One of JJ's neighbors was a woman, SM, who had been extremely supportive of me throughout my trial and since SM lived near JJ I figured she knew him, so I decided to go get SM first so we could go together to pray over JJ.
We knocked on JJ's door but he was SO sick he could not respond so we opened the door and saw him sitting slouched on the couch. I told him we were there to help and I wanted to pray for him. JJ was fine with that so I stood behind his couch and placed my hands over his head and prayed over him. SM sat in front of him and prayed quietly. When I was done I came and sat in front of JJ and we all talked and tried to figure out what was going on with him.
All of a sudden I felt like God was impressing upon me that He wanted me to pray over JJ again but this time with that other language He gave me during my Trial. I questioned God in my mind and told Him, 'I don't even know if JJ believes in tongues - we all go to a Baptist church - this could be bad!' I felt God was telling me to go ahead, so I asked for God to make a way if it was truly Him telling me to do this. I looked at JJ and told him that I really felt like God was telling me to pray over him again. JJ nodded in agreement and then I asked him, "What do you think about tongues?" JJ said, "Well, it's in the Bible." So, I took that as a "go". I got up, went behind the couch and began praying over JJ first in English and then all of a sudden a different language came out of my mouth. I continued to pray over him and amazing things began to happen.
So, this is what this Blog is all about - what happens when I pray over people. And hopefully I will be able to get testimonials from each of the over 20 people I have already had the privilege of praying over.
Now, SM and I can't wait for the next person to come along and ask us to pray over them because each time we do God does something amazing and it is such a privilege to be a part of what God is doing in another person's life. Watching someone be transformed before your very eyes is an out-of-this-world experience!
Looking forward to sharing these awesome experiences with you!
Rebecca
BAM! There I was a single mother of four wonderful children (their ages 15, 14, 8 and 6). Fortunately, God led us to a fabulous church that is not perfect but it is truly wonderful. People came around my kids and me and I began to learn what God's love really looks and feels like. These perfect strangers loved me with an everlasting love and I began to grow out of my victim-hood and into a woman who is now strong and courageous in God's strength. All of my four children are doing great even though our 5 year transition from abuse to safety took a huge toll on my daughter more than any of her three brothers. Yes, there have been many a heartache on our journey to freedom but nothing as bad as remaining in the abuse would have been.
Like I wrote about in the heading of this Blog in order to keep my children safe I had to go through Superior Court for a month and a half pretty much on my own with no training in law or the court system. It was very difficult but I am amazed at what God did for me and how He got me through! During my Superior Court Trial in 2007 I had at least three or four churches praying for me including my own church and I was praying like never before and all of a sudden, while I was sitting in the court room praying, a funny sound came out of my mouth (quietly of course) and I remember asking God, "God, is that from You?" and I know I heard Him say to me, "I'll show you." Wow! I had never had such an interesting experience like that before! Oh, don't get me wrong I have had my share of cool experiences but to hear the Creator speak to me so clearly was quite a trip. Periodically, through the rest of my trial I would again be praying fervently and sure enough that language like sound would flow out of my mouth and I'd ask God the same question, "Is that from You, God?" and I'd always hear the same reply, "I'll show you."
November 2007, after my Trial and all of the Hearings were over and I was finally divorced I heard about a good friend, JJ, who was very sick and I felt absolutely compelled to go and pray for him. One of JJ's neighbors was a woman, SM, who had been extremely supportive of me throughout my trial and since SM lived near JJ I figured she knew him, so I decided to go get SM first so we could go together to pray over JJ.
We knocked on JJ's door but he was SO sick he could not respond so we opened the door and saw him sitting slouched on the couch. I told him we were there to help and I wanted to pray for him. JJ was fine with that so I stood behind his couch and placed my hands over his head and prayed over him. SM sat in front of him and prayed quietly. When I was done I came and sat in front of JJ and we all talked and tried to figure out what was going on with him.
All of a sudden I felt like God was impressing upon me that He wanted me to pray over JJ again but this time with that other language He gave me during my Trial. I questioned God in my mind and told Him, 'I don't even know if JJ believes in tongues - we all go to a Baptist church - this could be bad!' I felt God was telling me to go ahead, so I asked for God to make a way if it was truly Him telling me to do this. I looked at JJ and told him that I really felt like God was telling me to pray over him again. JJ nodded in agreement and then I asked him, "What do you think about tongues?" JJ said, "Well, it's in the Bible." So, I took that as a "go". I got up, went behind the couch and began praying over JJ first in English and then all of a sudden a different language came out of my mouth. I continued to pray over him and amazing things began to happen.
So, this is what this Blog is all about - what happens when I pray over people. And hopefully I will be able to get testimonials from each of the over 20 people I have already had the privilege of praying over.
Now, SM and I can't wait for the next person to come along and ask us to pray over them because each time we do God does something amazing and it is such a privilege to be a part of what God is doing in another person's life. Watching someone be transformed before your very eyes is an out-of-this-world experience!
Looking forward to sharing these awesome experiences with you!
Rebecca
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