Lately, I’ve been praying for courage and boldness to go out there and take more risks for God’s glory, and asking Him for opportunities to pray for people. On Friday morning, as I was worshipping and praying for boldness, a co-worker of mine popped into my mind like a flash. This co-worker had injured her back about a week ago, and had been limping around the office all week complaining about the pain she was in.

Funny enough, (later that very morning) as soon as I walked into the building and headed up the stairs to our department on the 2^nd floor, I heard her voice as she was walking out of the building’s café. She was coming out of the café and walking up the stairs at the same time I was. Here I was, staring risk dead in the face, knowing that God was giving me the opportunity that I had prayed for earlier, with the very person He had revealed to me. Unfortunately, I got nervous, thought about it too long and before I knew it we were already on the office floor and that opportunity was gone.

What broke my heart the most was the fact that even though I knew God would heal her, I was so focused on how to bring it up, where to start, and what to say, that I lost sight of the impact it would ultimately have on her life once she experienced God’s healing power.

One of the first thoughts that came to mind is that I had failed. I felt like I had robbed her of a chance to experience God in that moment. A second later, God reminded me that He doesn’t see it as failure, but rather, a lesson for me to learn and grow from for the next opportunity. This experience taught me 2 things:

1. Taking the risk in that moment is not about us, it’s about the other person’s healing, and more importantly, how that encounter with God’s healing power will plant a seed and draw them closer to the Father
2. There’s no time to hesitate. Because we may only have a small window to act, it’s important we’re obedient immediately.

She gets breakfast in the café every morning and I’d never bumped into her on her way back up to the office before. So it was no coincidence that on the very morning that I asked God for an opportunity to pray for her healing, I happened to be in the stair well at the exact moment she was walking back up.

I know first-hand how life-changing a personal encounter with God is. And as I learn more about His awesome unchanging character and experience his goodness in my own life, my heart yearns for others to experience it too.

As an usher at my home church, I’m blessed with the opportunity to see the Holy Spirit touching people’s lives in various ways. There’s just something so amazing about knowing that a person will never be the same afterwards… it brings joy to my heart and tears to my eyes. Even though it’s happening to someone else, it’s building my faith at the same time because it reinforces the truth of how good God is, and how the Holy Spirit ALWAYS wants to move.

When I think about the greater purpose of miracles, I think about how the miracles that Jesus performed brought people closer to God. The miracles drew the masses to Jesus, and Jesus pointed them towards God by giving His Father the glory. As people experienced and witnessed miracles of healing and deliverance, it caused them to believe. In some cases, those who saw couldn’t help but tell others, thereby spreading the good news. There are so many instances in the Bible where people heard Truth, encountered God themselves (through deliverance, healing etc), or witnessed God’s mighty power working in the life of someone else. The result? People heard, saw and came to Christ.

From Jesus, to his disciples, to Paul – the latter two of these examples show how God has worked through regular people to touch people’s lives and spread the good news. Like my Pastor once said, there’s nothing particularly extraordinary about the people in the Bible that God used, because He desires to use you and me too if we’ll let Him! The only qualification is a yielded heart.

When the opportunity comes up to pray for someone or tell them about Jesus, we should always take it. Sometimes it can seem scary, awkward or uncomfortable, but it’s always worth it. You may not know what to say, but the moment you take that first step of faith by approaching the person, the Holy Spirit will give you the words and do the rest.

An encounter with God has the power to activate their faith, and plant the seed that will bring them closer to God. We just need to be obedient in the moment – for their sake.

In the book of Acts, we’re reminded that the Holy Spirit will empower those who are willing vessels, and God can use anyone to save souls.

Acts 1:8 “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.

Acts 4:31 “When they had prayed, the place where they assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness.”

Acts 4:13 “When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

In Acts 2 (and beyond), we start to see the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. Peter, Paul, and other believers boldly shared the gospel and were used to perform healings & deliverances wherever they went.

Acts 2:41 “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day, 3000 people were added to them.”

Acts 2:47 “…And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved”

Acts 4:4 “Many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5000”

Acts 5:12 – 14 “Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles… Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers – crowds of both men and women.”

Acts 9:34 – 35 “Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed,” and immediately he got up. So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.”

The book of Acts gives us a glimpse into the growth of the early church, a growth that was made possible by believers’ willingness to travel far and wide telling people about Jesus (after being empowered by the Holy Spirit). Miracles, healings, deliverances and other wonders served a purpose – to show God’s power and lead people to Him. The same is true today. I believe that once we’ve experienced God’s touch, we can’t just keep it to ourselves – we have a duty to share it with others.

Indulge in Him.

Lots of love.

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