On Monday night, we had our customary Healing Service at Good Shepherd.
And as usual, our team of pray-ers gathered 30 minutes ahead of time in the Good Shepherd Prayer Room (a lovely spot adjacent to our Worship Center) to pray up and pair up — we spend time praising God and then asking him to pour out healing power and we assign the volunteers into prayer teams of two.
But at that pre-service gathering, one of our regular prayer volunteers named Doug said to me, “For some reason I felt that God told me this afternoon to stay in the Prayer Room tonight and not join a prayer team in the Worship Center. So if it’s OK with you, let me stay here in the Prayer Room.”
The request — though a little odd and completely unprecedented — struck me as reasonable. We even incorporated it into our group prayer: “Father, we pray that you would direct someone who really needs Doug’s ministry of prayer to wander into the Prayer Room tonight. Please send the right person to that spot.” Now note: this thing we prayed for never happens. At our Monday Healing Services, people get prayed for in the Worship Center. It’s not a rule . . . it just never occurred to us before Monday night to do it any other way.
Well, you can probably guess what happened. And even though I prayed for it to occur, I’m still taken aback by how specific God was in answering. We know he was, because here’s what a woman from our church posted on Facebook on Tuesday:
I cannot begin to describe how thankful I am for the Healing Service last night. It was my first time attending and to be honest, it was not in my plan to go. God’s plans were different and I am so happy that I listened to him. The atmosphere was so serene, peaceful, and inviting. I was able to pray on my own and then be prayed for. Afterwards, I went in the prayer room where I met Doug. He prayed for me and we ended up having the best conversation. I was so filled when I left. I woke up this morning feeling so renewed and in less pain. Good Shepherd Church…thank you for following God’s word. Be Blessed and we will see you Sunday.
James 4:2 says this: You do not have because you do not ask God.
And now we know why. The more specific the prayer, the more spectacular the answer.