She is at Peace Now

I am part of a four-person prayer team. My pastor is one of the members as well. This has been a wonderful, powerful prayer experience and I have truly been blessed to be among the other prayer warriors. Any of us can add a person to the prayer list as we feel called by God to pray for people. Our team meets weekly, where we pray together, and then we each pray at home daily for all of the people on our confidential list. 


I had spoken with Tom who had shared a story with me about a woman of great faith: 104 years old and diagnosed with lung cancer. Although she was 104 years old, I felt called to pray for her. Who knows? Maybe God will touch her with his healing touch and give her 20 more years?! I had understood Tom to say that this woman was the grandmother of Nancy, his girlfriend.


Our team prayed diligently for this woman for about a month. We prayed together and individually. Then I spoke to Nancy at church.


" Hey Nancy! How is your grandmother?"


Nancy shot me a quick glance before looking at Tom with a longer, more deliberate look. She continued to look at him without blinking, while she spoke to me. "She is fine," she answered as she continued to look at Tom as if to say, " What have you been saying now?"


Tom glanced at me, and then Nancy and back to me. I frowned.


At this point, most people would have changed the subject. But not me! "I thought your grandmother had lung cancer..."


Nancy looked like she had been hit in the face with cold water. She quickly raised her eyebrows, as her whole body jerked to attention. (Note to self: Ask Nancy if she has ever been in the military. But save that question for another day.) She glanced at Tom again; as did I. Tom looked as if he were really confused.


Again, I continued..." Isn't she 104 years old?"


With a wrinkled brow, Nancy said, "My grandmother is in her eighties and she is fine."


"Oh, Ok. That is great to know! Apparently, I got something really confused." (What in the world am I going to tell the prayer team? Who had we been praying for?!)


Thankfully, Nancy walked away as Tom and I were left to talk. I slowly turned my head to Tom and said, " Uh, Tom, didn't you tell me a story about a woman who was Nancy's grandmother and was a woman of great faith, who was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 104?"


"Uh, Yes I did, but Kathy, remember, that was not Nancy's grandmother. That was the grandmother of a friend of mine that I used to work with. But that was a long time ago. She has been dead for about 10 years."


I almost fainted. How do you break the news to your prayer team that you have had them praying for healing for a woman who has been dead for ten years? How would I tell my pastor? Is that grounds for being kicked out of a church?! Glad the pastor is out of town!


"Oh, sorry Tom. I got that all confused. I thought you had said that it was Nancy's grandmother! Sorry about the mix up!" (No need to tell him about the prayer list.)


"No problem, Kathy!"


The following day, I was at the prayer team meeting reviewing the list with my prayer partners. We got to the name of our 104 year old dead woman. Well, actually, I guess she would be 114 now. "I have an update about this lady. We can quit praying for her now. I really owe ya'll an apology. Apparently, I got a story confused that someone told me and this lady has actually been dead for ten years. I am sooooo sorry"


"You mean to tell me that you have had me praying every day for a dead woman for the whole last month?!" exclaimed Prayer partner #1.


"I am afraid so." I dropped my head.


Then the snickering started. Then the laughter. I said, " Surely this is not the first time that this ever happened in the history of the world. What does God do when this happens?" I asked. " I mean, the whole time we were praying, he knew that this woman was dead!"


Prayer partner #2 said, "I think he just probably looks down on us and laughs like we do. I really believe that we have a God that can laugh with us."


Prayer partner #1 agreed with her. "Yes, I truly believe that he can. We will just remove her from our list and if the pastor asks what happened with her, we will simply say, 'She is at peace now' and just leave it at that"


We all laughed together.


Prayer partner #1 did tell me that they would never let me live this down and anytime in the future that I wanted to add someone to the prayer list, they would ask me specifically if I knew this person personally or if this was from something I had heard about somewhere. 


I have enjoyed laughing about this story, although I have been terribly embarrassed at the same time. I once knew a lady who used to say, " The only people who don't make mistakes are people who don't try!"  I think I can comfortably modify this saying to: "The only people who don't make mistakes with prayer are people who don't pray!"


Amen.

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Thanksgiving Challenge and Joy Dare--


Today, I am Thankful for:


147. Trusty shoes.
148. Hoop earrings
149. My prayer warrior friends.
150. Heat-Might as well be, because that is what we have in Texas right now.
151. Texas.






copyright 2012 by Kathy Robbins

The Body of Christ Broken for You

Three weeks ago, I was asked at my new church if I wanted to help to serve communion on Sunday morning. We have communion every Sunday. We have three stations. Two stations have people to go through the line and receive communion. The third station includes prayer with the communion offering.


Not many people like to serve at the station where they are called upon to pray with people. Many people are intimidated about praying with and for others in a setting in which they are called upon to pray out loud. I am not one of those people. It isn’t because I am particularly good at it; it is just that I have a desire to become good at it and I know how powerful prayer can be. I think that the only way to become good at something is to try. For more information about what I am not good at, I suggest that you read my post entitled “Foo-foo.” Ahem, I digress.


I agreed to help in the role of prayerful communion and two weeks later, they had me on the schedule. I attended church that morning not knowing quite what to expect. Whenever we think that we know what to expect, that is when we are frequently surprised by the unexpected. Sometimes it is a pleasant surprise, and sometimes, not so much.


I lined up with the other communion servers at the appointed time in the service, next to the gentleman with whom I would be partnered, used the hand cleaner, received communion from the pastor, and then was sent to our station.

We actually had customers. Without violating confidentiality, I have to say that I don’t know whether or not I blessed anyone, but I received a blessing. We had several people lined up for prayer. Several had a long list of areas that they wanted prayer in their lives. I was a little nervous about insuring that I remembered every request. As we prayed, I could sense relief for the individuals for their struggle. The relief was faith-driven. For the people asking for the prayer believed that the prayers were effective. I could see that in their countenance after we prayed together. I could see that the furrowed brows smoothed out as I offered the body of Christ to them. Seeing the calmness come over them was a blessing for me.

Feeling like I had handed them tangible hope with my words that were led by the Spirit of God was a mighty, powerful blessing for me.

I was reminded again that whenever we step forward with the sincere intent to bless others and to be the vessel through which the spirit of God operates, there is always a blessing awaiting us.

I left that service feeling quite uplifted. It is my hope that the people I prayed with did too.

Amen.

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Thankfulness Challenge and Joy Dare:
 Today, I am thankful for:


71. Texting
72. Blogs
73. Easy recipes

Linking up today with Laura

copyright 2012 by Kathy Robbins

Extraordinary Ministry in Ordinary Places-Part 1

“When you touched my hand, and told me that you would be praying for me, I felt something. I think that when you touched me, I was healed. I think that you are a prophet.” These are the words uttered to me by a customer as she held my hand. I kind of jumped back at that comment. I assured her that I am not a prophet. Hearing that actually almost scared me.

These are the words uttered to me by a returning customer. I worked as an Assistant Manager at the second busiest Walgreen’s in the capital city of the second largest state in the United States.

This store was always hopping. One day, I was called to do a refund of a box of hair color for an elderly lady. The first part of the transaction involved finding out the reason that a customer needs a refund. This usually led to some interesting stories.

I asked the lady why she needed a refund. She explained to me that she had shopped at the store recently and had hurriedly grabbed the wrong color. She seemed to be distracted by something as she spoke. I smiled as I told her that I would be happy to complete the refund for her. So I began scanning the product as I entered the proper codes into the cash register. While I did this, she continued to talk.

She explained that she had been in a hurry because she was unusually stressed. She had been experiencing some health problems. Tomorrow, she would be having a biopsy. The deep lines in her forehead and brow revealed her anxiety as she conveyed her concern. I could hear announcements coming over the store speakers as we talked.

I completed the refund by counting out her money to her and asking her to sign the refund receipt. After she signed, I gently took her by the hand and told her that I would pray for her and I would lift her name up in prayer at our Wednesday night church service. The lines in her face seemed to smooth out at the promise of prayer. I thought that I saw a gleam of hope in her eye. I thanked her for her business and she thanked me for my concern as she began to exit the store.

I took her concern home and prayed for her as I did many of our customers who confided their concerns to me. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence. I found that sometimes all I had to do was to ask someone how they were doing, and if they had a worry or a concern, frequently they would share this concern. Sometimes, talking about a problem helps people to cope with something that may seem insurmountable. And for some people, sharing this information with a stranger is easier than sharing with a family member or friend. And then, some people are lonely and don’t have anyone to share concerns with.

I also lifted her name up in prayer at our Wednesday night service. I continued to pray for her along with others for several days.

The next week, I was at work and had to run a register because the store was very busy. I looked up to see my next customer and saw the same lady in my checkout lane. She had a smile on her face this time as I rang up her few sundries. She asked me if I remembered her and I said, “ Yes, of course I do! I did a refund for you last week!”

She said, “Well, do you remember that I told you that I was having a biopsy?”

I answered, “Yes I do.”

She talked hurriedly, energetically as she said, “It came out clear. There was no cancer! I am so relieved! You know, when you touched my hand, and told me that you would be praying for me, I felt something. I think that when you touched me, I was healed. I think that you are a prophet.”

I kind of jumped back at that last comment. I assured her that I am not a prophet. Hearing that actually almost scared me. All I did was to listen, touch and promise. Then I followed up my promise with prayer. I requested prayer for her at church. It was as simple as that.

I assured her that I was not a prophet, but that I had prayed for her. Sometimes a listening ear, a touch, a kind word and a prayer are all it takes to re-establish hope in the lives of others.


copyright 2011 by Kathy Robbins

A Spiritual Conversation With a Ten Year Old

Whenever we think that we have this God thing all figured out, we need to sit down with a ten year old for a spiritual discussion. That will put a pin into our puffiness and cause us to crash down to earth without a parachute.

Such was the case last night when I was trying to comfort my son Rusty by explaining to him that our only hope in this life is God. Then came the questions. I have to admit, the answers seem to make sense when I am talking to someone with a well-developed spiritual foundation..

But when discussing these things with a ten year old, I am working with a almost completely clean slate. Easy, right? No way! He started asking the difficult, obvious questions like, “Why can’t I see God?” “Why doesn’t he just come down and talk to us like I am talking to you?”

I steer the conversation to prayer. And he says, “God doesn’t answer my prayers, Mom.” And I look at him with a concerned look. After all, wasn’t this the exact thing that I said to a friend just two weeks ago--that I didn’t feel like God was answering my prayers? Don’t we all feel this way at some point in our lives? Even Mother Teresa had said something along those lines in a letter to a friend.

I become a little uncomfortable. I talk for a minute about the will of God; how he knows what is best and we don’t always know. We don’t always know for what we should pray. I ask him if he wants to share his prayers and concerns with me. He told me that he had prayed for God to keep  his brother Levi safe. But later he spoke with Levi and found out that he had tripped that morning. I pointed out that although he tripped, he is still OK. He said, “Yeah, but he hit his head when he fell.” And I pointed out that still, he is OK. Boy, this can get a little tough. I realize how little I know.

Rusty went to pre-teen camp this summer. He shared with me that at pre-teen camp, they would sit in a circle in a small group and pass a candle around and pray out loud. He said that he never prayed out loud because he was embarrassed about his prayers. He said that he didn’t feel comfortable; he was afraid that someone would laugh at his prayer. How many adults feel this way? He said that he decided to just wait until he was alone in his bed to pray so that he could do it silently so that no one would laugh at him. I told him that was OK, because the prayers were for God anyway.

Sometimes, at this preteen camp, they would have the kids to write out their prayers. This isn’t a bad discipline.

At the end of our conversation, Rusty spontaneously wrote out the following prayer: Dear God, I hope that someday I can see that you’re really answering my prayers.

I think that Rusty is better at praying than he knows. I am less of a theologian than I thought. I am thankful for this conversation.

Amen.


copyright 2011 by Kathy Robbins