Luke 14:1-6
1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things.
~ Jesus responded
When we really expect the Holy Spirit to show up, there is great joy and expectation. Our Lead Pastor was a graduate law school student & his priest invited the congregation to come for a Wednesday Prayer Service, the Priest said he'd been praying about the service and felt the Holy Spirit nudge him to have the Wednesday Prayer Service. The Priest said he hoped some people would attend. Clark, our Pastor, law student at the time, felt nudged himself & he showed up. When Clark arrived, he'd expected a small service and 500 attended. Everyone was surprised.
Clark said everyone felt very excited and people were literally looking around. The Priest prayed for people for different needs and everyone could tell prayers were being answered. It was exciting and low key. 500 people in prayer, the one person being prayed for stepped into the main aisle and everyone prayed for that one person, one at a time.
Several Wednesdays went by and still 500 people came for a Wednesday Prayer Service. About the third Wednesday service, a 2 year old boy was presented for prayer. One leg was significantly shorter than the other leg, by 4 or 5 inches, the boy had been born that way. The Priest prayed for the boy and carried him up and down the aisle for all the praying congregation to be able to see the toddler boy. He explained the leg was so different the boy wasn't learning to walk well and boy's mother feared for the baby's future life. The mother stood at the aisle and wept.
The congregation was pleased to pray for the toddler boy. It was the first Wednesday the congregation felt their prayer had not been answered. People were disappointed and left pretty quietly.
The next Wednesday, Clark guessed wouldn't be so crowded. But it was. Several new people, several new prayers, the air of expectancy for the Holy Spirit to be in the church was high. Prayers were joyfully given and received. The boy's mother presented her son for his leg to be healed. The Priest walked him up and down the aisle and showed the congregation and beseechingly asked the Lord to heal the baby boy. It was fervent prayer. An answer was not seen.
Several more Wednesday passed; still about 500 people and expectation for the Lord God Almighty to reach out to all of them in love. They had experienced His presence, received a blessing and all of them wanted the toddler boy to have normal legs. The whole congregation wanted so much for Father God to let this innocent baby experience a normal life, it was one desire.
That Wednesday, Clark Lowenfield and 500 others saw a miracle. The toddler's leg grew inches in front of all of them. The love and power of God healed. Both legs were the same. A significant change took place, all at once, after several weeks of prayer. Another change took place, too, Clark decided, and knew, the only thing to do was to quit law school and serve God. Any other effort was wasting time.
Today, let's remember we have a Living God filled with mercy.
1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things.
~ Jesus responded
When we really expect the Holy Spirit to show up, there is great joy and expectation. Our Lead Pastor was a graduate law school student & his priest invited the congregation to come for a Wednesday Prayer Service, the Priest said he'd been praying about the service and felt the Holy Spirit nudge him to have the Wednesday Prayer Service. The Priest said he hoped some people would attend. Clark, our Pastor, law student at the time, felt nudged himself & he showed up. When Clark arrived, he'd expected a small service and 500 attended. Everyone was surprised.
Clark said everyone felt very excited and people were literally looking around. The Priest prayed for people for different needs and everyone could tell prayers were being answered. It was exciting and low key. 500 people in prayer, the one person being prayed for stepped into the main aisle and everyone prayed for that one person, one at a time.
Several Wednesdays went by and still 500 people came for a Wednesday Prayer Service. About the third Wednesday service, a 2 year old boy was presented for prayer. One leg was significantly shorter than the other leg, by 4 or 5 inches, the boy had been born that way. The Priest prayed for the boy and carried him up and down the aisle for all the praying congregation to be able to see the toddler boy. He explained the leg was so different the boy wasn't learning to walk well and boy's mother feared for the baby's future life. The mother stood at the aisle and wept.
The congregation was pleased to pray for the toddler boy. It was the first Wednesday the congregation felt their prayer had not been answered. People were disappointed and left pretty quietly.
The next Wednesday, Clark guessed wouldn't be so crowded. But it was. Several new people, several new prayers, the air of expectancy for the Holy Spirit to be in the church was high. Prayers were joyfully given and received. The boy's mother presented her son for his leg to be healed. The Priest walked him up and down the aisle and showed the congregation and beseechingly asked the Lord to heal the baby boy. It was fervent prayer. An answer was not seen.
Several more Wednesday passed; still about 500 people and expectation for the Lord God Almighty to reach out to all of them in love. They had experienced His presence, received a blessing and all of them wanted the toddler boy to have normal legs. The whole congregation wanted so much for Father God to let this innocent baby experience a normal life, it was one desire.
That Wednesday, Clark Lowenfield and 500 others saw a miracle. The toddler's leg grew inches in front of all of them. The love and power of God healed. Both legs were the same. A significant change took place, all at once, after several weeks of prayer. Another change took place, too, Clark decided, and knew, the only thing to do was to quit law school and serve God. Any other effort was wasting time.
Today, let's remember we have a Living God filled with mercy.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16Rejoice evermore.
17Pray without ceasing.
18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
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