The text comes in from the lads – "The wives are away, let’s meet up".
Mike and Craig are two great friends who are part of the church I belong to.
"What are we going to do?" I reply.
"Indian and a beer" is the answer.
We arrange to go to a restaurant near Mike, arrive and order the food. We’re chatting about Papa (God) and seeing him breakthrough in our work places, when I spot a young man about to enter the restaurant. Let’s call him Jon. He’s on crutches.
A holy setup
Suddenly I get this feeling that this night is a holy setup.
Jon’s finished his meal and is paying the bill. I move over to him and ask him what’s happened to his ankle. Jon begins to tell me he was out with friends, got drunk, fell over on his ankle, couldn’t stand it so drank some more, then tried to stand again. Again he fell over, so he repeated the drinking process and tried to stand again, now realising the pain can’t be blocked by drink, he goes to A&E to find he’s ripped the ligaments in his ankle and will now need to have an operation to repair it.
I pluck up the courage and ask if I could pray for his ankle. He looks at me and says “Is this a set up?” I say “nope” and he looks at my friends and says “Is this guy for real?” and they say “yes”.
Jon says “OK” and I pray for his ankle – just simple stuff like be healed. When we’ve finished I get up and leave to go to the toilet. I come out and Jon’s gone. I sit with the lads and say “what happened?” They said Jon just stood up, picked up his crutches and walked out. I’m just overjoyed, as are Mike and Craig.
The restaurant owner comes over and says “what just happened?” I then tell him Jesus just healed the guy. He goes to the back of the restaurant and begins to chat to his staff. He calls us back, then asks if we could pray for his staff – one with back issues and one with a broken elbow that’s not healed.
We swing into action and see Jesus heal them. We pay and leave with much jubilation and excitement from all parties – oh, and in the middle of all this Jon came back into the Indian and said “how can I come in, in pain and then leave fixed?”. We reply with a resounding chorus of “Jesus loves you mate”.
It may be easy to say “I can’t do that”. Well, let me encourage you, you can, you are the answer.
So the next day I arrive at work as normal, but instead of my usual joy I’m absolutely buzzing. I chat to one of my friends and tell him about the night before. One of the staff overhears this (let’s call him Joe for this story). He says “I have a football match tonight and I’ve ripped my groin, so can you fix me?”
At this point panic sets in.
I’m at work, and thankfully I’m there early so not technically on the clock.
I say “let’s give it a go”, I put my hand on him and pray, he shuts his eyes then I release heaven on him. He opens his eyes and says “I’ve just seen the brightest of lights, wow that was something else.” I say he should check the issue. He then tells me he’s fixed!
I go back to work, then Joe says another staff member has her wrist strapped up. He says “I’ve told her to come over”. She tells me how her wrist was broken three years ago and hasn’t healed properly. I hold her hand and again release heaven.
Boom, she’s healed.
Inside I’m cartwheeling. What is happening???
Joe then goes round seeking out those in pain, and another two members of staff get healed.
Now that was some day!
I'm no different to you
So the crux of this, am I any different to you reading this?
No, I’m the same as you – flesh and blood and in love with Jesus.
It may be easy to say “I can’t do that”. Well, let me encourage you, you can, you are the answer.
“He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, “Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment.” (Luke 9:1-5, The Message)
You are his prized possession, the one he sacrificed everything for. As in Romans 8, nothing can ever separate us from his love. He loves you with everything he is and just wants to encourage you to step out. I can’t heal people, but Jesus can, and we have all we need to see it happen. All it takes is faith and even just a small “yes” from you.
I still get nervous every time I step out of my comfort zone to take a risk, but remember this – you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
Will you just take that little step and see heaven unleashed everywhere, at your work, your home and when you’re out and about?
All it takes is a yes from you.
Wayne Davis, 45 is a husband and father of three children. He loves mountain bikes, motorbikes and food.
This article first appeared on greatcommission.co.uk - a new website from the Evangelical Alliance which aims to inspire and equip Christians and churches to talk about Jesus
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