Jesus Speaks Life!
Healing and Prophecy Story
As Hannah and I were walking into church service on Sunday, a greeter we’d never met started chatting to us.
In the brief conversation she mentioned that she had a painful hip. Since we have a pre-set default response for such moments, we offered to pray for her for healing. 30 seconds later her hip was 85% better, and after another prayer she was stretching and praising Jesus for her healing after weeks of discomfort and hassle!
While we were praying for healing, I felt God give me a picture for this lady. I saw Jesus inviting her to have a series of beauty treatments – facial, nails, hair, and so on – like a woman might do before a big occasion. The feeling I had around the picture was so positive, with the Lord wanting to encourage her that this was a good thing for her to enjoy and spend money on.
To be honest I wasn’t sure about sharing what I’d sensed, as I didn’t want to come across as sexist (a man seeming to comment on a woman’s looks – urgh!) or demeaning (“Hey lady – ever thought about putting on some makeup?!”).
Yet while I pondered as we chatted after the healing, I felt a clear nudge from the Holy Spirit to speak. So I shared the picture with her (gently!) and immediately she said that this was so accurate! Over the past few weeks she’d been sensing Jesus speaking to her about looking after herself better and it being good for her to enjoy these specific things. As a result a few days before she had booked her first ever facial treatment, along with a much better haircut, but was still wrestling with spending money and time on such things.
So this prophetic word was deeply encouraging and affirming to her, since it was akin to someone reading her mail and speaking directly to her heart. While facials and haircuts might in some circumstance be fairly vacuous, in her case they were deeply meaningful responses to the Father’s words of love and value that He was speaking over her. God is good!
A couple of reflections:
Jesus is practical. Sometimes what He wants to say to us is not as abstract or super-spiritual as we might imagine!
Jesus is generous. He loves us very very much, so don’t be surprised if He just wants us to enjoy His goodness and kindness. While there are times of sacrifice and discipline, that does not preclude Him also inviting us to enjoy something that is primarily fun, in-the-moment, and renewing.
Jesus is willing. He wants to impact people in unexpected moments, and He wants to use you and me to do so. Will we be interruptible and obedient to Him when that happens?
