Bask in God's Love at Every Opportunity

My pastor said, "We need to have a healing service". A week later she said, again, "We need to have a healing service". Why I didn't embrace that invitation the first time I don't know. This past Thursday we had the service. I put the notice on our church sign on Monday and Thursday evening we had 6 people come, along with their spouses and other supporters. God brought us 2 with cancer, one with fibromyalgia and depression, one with heart problems and diverticulitis, one with demonic possession, and one who just wanted to be covered with love and compassion. The presence of the Holy Spirit was experienced.

What made this service so awesome is that we made it a formal service with holy communion. The presence of Christ at that time, through the confession, pardon, and the experience of dining with Him via the sacrament of holy communion was humbling and invigorating at the same time. I felt like God had set the stage to use our prayer team in a deeper, more loving way than in the past. And He did.

Each person prayed for had a joy and peace come over them that they expressed with thanks and gratitude to Our Father. How healing comes to each is unique. One felt an overwhelming of the Holy Spirit while being prayed for, another jerked with a sudden indwelling, another went limp and cried tears of joy, while the others simply smiled and felt peace for the first time in a long time. How awesome is the God we serve!

Friday I got a call from my pastor sharing how one of the attendees came to see her to testify how well he was feeling. I know nothing of the others as they aren't part of our community and haven't had any feedback as of yet. I do know this: Each of us experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in a deep, personal, yet corporate way. It was as if the church building itself was aglow and everyone inside was filled with joy and peace following the prayer time.

Prior to the service God put it in my heart to meditate on the courage that it takes for someone to come ask for healing prayer. I was moved to tears by it. My only prayer was that we would all come to understand that God's love is more than we can comprehend. It is more than we could ever give. All we have to do is be open to it, accept it, and trust in it. Experiencing that love washes away the things that ail us. We experienced that love Thursday evening.

Having to be asked twice embarrasses me. Why would anyone not want to jump at the opportunity to bask in God's love whenever the invitation is given? I'll not have to be asked twice again.