In the past month, God has been doing some exciting things at my church. It started back on August 12th when two people in our youth group were physically healed while the teenagers prayed for them—one had a neck pain, and the other had a severe ear infection!
We shared the testimonies with our young adults group the following night, and three more people were healed when the young adults got together and prayed. One person was scheduled to have surgery on her shoulder the following week because her shoulder muscle had been torn away from her chest. God re-formed the muscle, and she had full use of her arm within an hour.
Second that night was our young adult group’s pastor, who had a severe neck problem for years due to bone spurs. A couple times he had blacked out while riding roller coasters, and the doctors said that if he ever rode roller coasters again (or was in a car wreck, etc.), he could likely die.
As you may have guessed, after the young adults prayed for him, all the pain left. That weekend, we went to a theme park here in Michigan and rode roller coasters and water slides all day!
The third healing was a toothache that I had. A few days later, I went to my scheduled dentist appointment, and my dentist confirmed that it was a genuine healing. Praise God!
So that Sunday, we shared these testimonies with the rest of our congregation, and during the next week we received reports of several more people being healed—chest pain, back problems, intestinal issues, knee problems, nerve damage in the foot, etc. The Sunday after that, one gentleman walked down our church’s big set of stairs (about 20 steps) without his cane or holding the railing—the first time he had done so in three years! God even set his mind free from an evil spirit and has started bringing restoration in his family!
Two Sundays ago, we learned of a young woman in our church who had been in a motorcycle accident who God healed and took all the pain away.
That next Wednesday, there were two more healings in our youth group—one student had a pain in his arm, and the other had injured his wrist.
In this past month alone, we’ve lost count of the miracles. But this move of God isn't limited to the physical. We’ve had at least 12 salvations (that I’m aware of) as people are becoming aware of God’s grace and love. At least 8 of those salvations were the result of our youth group holding an evangelistic outreach (that 50 students attended), and it was a group of high schoolers who presented the message!
Likewise, last night our young adults experienced a rather unique move of God in which He set our entire group free to experience His joy, peace, and love in ways we never had before. Our meeting ran long, but it wasn’t because of the message. Actually, our pastor decided to skip the message, and I led worship for the rest of the night while young people prayed for each other, knelt on the floor, cried, and danced before the Lord with genuine hearts. Another young woman was healed after the meeting, and we pastors purposefully stood back during the prayer so no one could pin the healing on our “position.” We wanted God to get the glory, and He did! No pastor prayed, but the woman walked away without any pain in her heel!
The thing that excites me most about this move of God is that it can’t be pinned to any one person. It seems to have sprung up all of a sudden! Sure, there are many people who have been praying for revival in our church for years; and I would also grant some of the credit to those who have been willing to step out and make opportunities for the Holy Spirit to move through them (praying for healing, etc.). But I love the fact that the only “face” there is to this revival is Christ Himself.
The greatest challenge has been sharing the testimonies of what God is doing while still contending for humility. I’m convinced that a key to sustaining this move of God is going to be our own purposeful application of humility before Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God!” We boast in the Lord, but we refuse to glory in ourselves. If you’ve noticed, I’m even being careful not to mention the name of my church because my purpose in this article isn’t to get people to come to my church as much as it is to encourage you that the same God can do the same thing in your church!
…or in your neighborhood…
…or in your home!
I would love to hear about the Holy Spirit moving in your church just like He has been in mine! Please feel free to share your thoughts in a comment on this post.
God bless! –Art
