I think that one of my favourite times of prayer on the tour happened at the YWAM base in Ruurikkala, long after the meeting had ended. We'd already seen in the meeting God do some awesome things: first releasing the Finnish men in the room to worship in this strong movement/dance which truly felt strong and warlike to me, and then also bringing the men and women together again in worship in a beautiful prophetic dance. There was more He did in that meeting, and we prayed with a number of people afterwards, listening to God for them and sharing with them what we heard. After all this had happened, the girls on the team went to where they were sleeping, and the boys headed to the kitchen for a snack before bed. It was getting late and we were all pretty wiped after a few hours of travel and a meeting where the Holy Spirit was doing a lot of unexpected and powerful things. There were others from the base in the kitchen hanging out, talking about the Holy Spirit, spiritual warfare and spiritual gifts with a young Catholic girl, which seemed to me to be the kind of conversation I'd really enjoy being a part of. So somehow I managed to find a way of subtly joining in.
The rest of the BURN Tour boys went to bed, but I'd already figured out that God wanted me to pray with her to receive the Holy Spirit, so I stayed behind with the YWAMers in this massive kitchen full of stainless steel worktops until we had an opportunity to offer it. While we were praying, I felt the Spirit was saying He wanted to give her the gift of tongues. This both delighted me and freaked me out all at the same time - what if we shared that with her and she ended up disappointed? But at the same time, I was convinced it was the Holy Spirit and was aware of His genius at work. She had been asking us how could she really know the presence of the Holy Spirit was in her life, and we spent some time encouraging her and explaining how we can know Him. I know speaking in tongues is a sensitive subject for some, and He doesn't give that gift to everyone. However, for those that the Spirit has given that gift to, it can perhaps be a visible way in which we know His presence dwelling within us - we can't operate in any gift from the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit living in us. Anyway, I figured I needed to step out and trust what the Holy Spirit was telling me. When I shared it with the others praying, it turned out they heard the same thing from the Spirit too. Well, that clinched it.
We prayed for her to receive that gift, and then I encouraged her to try and copy me speaking in tongues. After a minute I stopped speaking and she carried on, in a completely different tongue to the one I'd been speaking in. She was so surprised and happy! She couldn't believe that God would want to bless her with a gift like that, one that she could be certain meant the Holy Spirit was living inside her, and yet that was exactly what He'd done. I was so glad I'd stuck around in that really functional looking kitchen with complete strangers to pray for this girl. I went to bed very late, but praising God!
Ben
The rest of the BURN Tour boys went to bed, but I'd already figured out that God wanted me to pray with her to receive the Holy Spirit, so I stayed behind with the YWAMers in this massive kitchen full of stainless steel worktops until we had an opportunity to offer it. While we were praying, I felt the Spirit was saying He wanted to give her the gift of tongues. This both delighted me and freaked me out all at the same time - what if we shared that with her and she ended up disappointed? But at the same time, I was convinced it was the Holy Spirit and was aware of His genius at work. She had been asking us how could she really know the presence of the Holy Spirit was in her life, and we spent some time encouraging her and explaining how we can know Him. I know speaking in tongues is a sensitive subject for some, and He doesn't give that gift to everyone. However, for those that the Spirit has given that gift to, it can perhaps be a visible way in which we know His presence dwelling within us - we can't operate in any gift from the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit living in us. Anyway, I figured I needed to step out and trust what the Holy Spirit was telling me. When I shared it with the others praying, it turned out they heard the same thing from the Spirit too. Well, that clinched it.
We prayed for her to receive that gift, and then I encouraged her to try and copy me speaking in tongues. After a minute I stopped speaking and she carried on, in a completely different tongue to the one I'd been speaking in. She was so surprised and happy! She couldn't believe that God would want to bless her with a gift like that, one that she could be certain meant the Holy Spirit was living inside her, and yet that was exactly what He'd done. I was so glad I'd stuck around in that really functional looking kitchen with complete strangers to pray for this girl. I went to bed very late, but praising God!
Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment