Prayer Room

12 January 2013

We all slept well last night once the street sweeper finished his job cleaning the parking lot.  It was quiet and secure with other campers around us.  What a treat that is – to have a place in nearly every city in America to call home for the night.  My friend Tracy told me that many Walmarts have stopped allowing the overnighting because so many homeless people have now moved into RVs and they were just camping out full time in their parking lots.  She gave a strong warning about people breaking into RVs too, as she says, “desperate times call for desperate measures” and she’s never seen people so desperate in California before.

We were up early and drove to the satellite campus of Bethel Church in Redding before 8am.  Normally their prayer meetings are held at their main campus but some other big event was going on there so it was held north of town a bit and we were some of the first ones there.  Good thing, too, because we wouldn’t have found parking if we’d been any later.  That place was packed.

While Kory and Kaleb were eating breakfast in the RV, I went inside the church and asked how things are set up for the day.  The place was crawling with volunteers, at least a hundred of them strong, and I could hear the worship music going on in the large room behind the doors.

The guy at the info desk told me once they get set up, I fill out a form and wait for my group number to be called.  Groups get taken into a side room where a volunteer explains what happens in the main room – and then we all go into the main room and people on the prayer team come around and pray for people individually.  Afterwards there is another short class on how to continue to “walk in the healing.”

I hadn’t told this guy a darn thing about myself or why we were there, and we really did come mostly for Kory’s heart arteries to be healed, but he assumed I came for my own healing so he then told me, “But you don’t have to wait to be prayed for.  Many people get healed just walking in the doors, as the anointing of God is so strong in this place.  Check yourself out and see if you feel differently.” 

I thought that was so odd he said that, and I wasn’t even thinking of having myself be prayed for, but since he did say that, I thought about my hand.  I’m pretty sure I broke it last June trying to catch myself in a fall down some stairs.  The pain in it has been unbearable if it gets touched in the right spot.  I can’t hold hands with Kaleb or Kory for fear they will hit the nerve that must be damaged.  When I made a fist and straightened out my fingers, the little finger on my left hand just stayed curled up and removed from the other fingers.  It wouldn’t straighten out or cooperate with the motions I wanted it to do.

So when the guy told me to check myself out, I thought that would be a pretty easy test to see if what he said was true.  I made a fist and opened up my fingers, and I was shocked to see my little finger fully cooperating!  And the pain in my hand was gone – there was just a little bruised feeling.  I ran back to the RV to show Kory and Kaleb and right away Kaleb insisted on pulling that finger because he knew how much I’ve been guarding it when he’s around… so he pulled on it and bent it back and forth and I didn’t even flinch!  Hallelujah.  I was healed, no questions asked. 

That was an exciting start to our day.  It sure got the boys up and going so they hurried up with the breakfast and came into the church.  I told the info counter guy about my finger and he asked me to share that with everyone else in the lobby – which I did.

After our initial group meeting, we all just sat in the large room where the band was playing original music, artists were sitting around painting holy spirit inspired art (some of it was incredible), some women were dancing and some were waving large scarves around.  There were a few people lying on the floor covered in blankets but most of the prayer team was moving throughout the space in groups of 3 looking for people to pray for. 

The chairs were set up in clusters, not rows, so it made getting around pretty easy.  Each form people had filled out had a spot for 3 areas that needed prayer.  Kory could have used 10 forms, but we focused on just his heart, his bladder and his arthritis today.  Kaleb even wrote down prayer for his own allergies and his eyesight – as he’d like to not wear glasses.  I got prayed for first and since my hand was already healed I asked for prayer for my knees that seem to go weak from time to time, and for my sugar addiction, which I’d love to be delivered from.  Also, I wouldn’t mind not wearing glasses, so I figured it didn’t hurt to ask God to improve my eyesight, too.

I didn’t feel anything special while they were praying but I did feel by the time I left that place that my knees were stronger and in less pain when I did a deep knee bend, so hallelujah for that. 

The guys that prayed for Kory prayed he’d enjoy the food he eats and that he’d be able to eat the foods he enjoys… so I’m not thinking we’re stopping the vegan life, even if he gets healed, as I like it too much now.  I’m sure Kory heard that prayer as “steaks and potatoes with gravy” but it sounded to me like they were praying for him to adapt to the vegan lifestyle better.

Kory got several visions and words from God while he was praying by himself, and he felt very energized by the experience.  His arthritic hands don’t show any improvement, but if he’s able to do all the volunteer work we have lined up without any ill effects, I’m saying that’s miraculous.  He went running later and still got angina, but I know God did something in him because He is faithful when we ask.

Kaleb really felt a heat going through his sinuses and forehead as the women prayed for him.  He has only sneezed once since they prayed.  He’s been going through about a box of Kleenex a day with all the sneezing and nose blowing he does at times, but I do believe God touched him in that area.  He also felt his eye sight improved somewhat but he’s still wearing his glasses.

It was an interesting and inspiring time to be there and to hear the miracles that were happening around us.  One woman had a fused neck with nearly no mobility, but after she was prayed for she looked like an owl – the way she could move her head around. 

I don’t know why some people get fully healed, some show improvement and some have apparently nothing that happens to them, but I know God is in the healing business, so it’s His call.  We are just obedient to ask and have faith to believe and then praise him no matter what.  I’m so thankful Kaleb got to experience a little bit of the power of God and to see and hear what he saw today, so that alone was worth the journey.

We then had a six-hour drive south from Redding to make it to my friend, Dani’s house.  Her husband Chris took my dinner “order” a few days ago so they made everything according to my specifications, sweet folks that they are.  I did say salmon was OK for one night, as Kory hasn’t had any since the day after Christmas and he’s done quite a bit of exercising in all that time – so it was a treat for sure. - especially with all the driving he’s done to get here.  (Actually, I drove for several hours today and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.)

It feels like coming home when I’m at Dani’s house as this has always been my place of respite.  Whenever I need time away, I come here.  She’s my rock - a dear, dear friend - and it always feels good just to be in her presence. She’s empty nesting now with her two boys gone so she’s happy to have Kaleb here.  I’ve not seen Kaleb warm up to anyone the way he does to Dani, except to my friend Nannette, who died over six years ago.  It amazes me the way Dani engages Kaleb and gets him laughing and talking and carrying on.  I don’t even see that side of him, so I’m sure he appreciates being here, too.  Besides, they have a dog.

Chris, Dani’s husband, is a retired police chief.  We weren’t in his driveway more than an hour before he noticed the tabs on our motorhome were expired!  I don’t even know how that happened as I assumed we would have gotten something in the mail to tell us, but we didn’t.  So right away I looked on line to see if I could pay for them over the internet, and I was a bit surprised that I actually could.  So, technically we are now legal, as I paid them, but we still need the tabs as proof.  I’m hoping they arrive in the mail next week as we are stationary for a while.  I’d hate to drive across country now with that kind of stress on us.

The rising sun this morning turned the horizon a soft pink.  Mount Shasta (top photo) looked like strawberry ice cream as we drove north to Redding.  Then this evening, the setting sun made the horizon a brilliant orange/red.  The sky was blue all day.  I just love God’s color palate/art work and we feel more than blessed to see so much of it each and every day.  It was a good day, too.