Home > About Us > Testify! > Testify! January 2006

Testify! January 2006 On Sunday, November 13, 2005, there was a prayer time during the worship service. I was going through some very hard circumstances with my family, and I was in service alone that day. Without going into great detail about my background, I was feeling far away from God. When Greg invited us to come for prayer, I just couldn't…even though deep down I knew that I needed to be touched by a fellow believer and for their prayers to uphold me. I was having a dialogue with God about it. I dug in my heals and told God, "No, I am not going forward. I am not sure that you hear me anyway." I asked God to come to me because I was just too weak to come to Him. And even as I asked God to come to me, I doubted that He would. I felt that, if I went for prayer, I would get emotional and make a fool of myself. So I just stood in my place. While I was carrying on with God in this way, I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I looked over, there was a woman standing next to me praying silently. She prayed for a minute and then leaned over to say, "That was from Jesus." I can't tell you the love and security I felt at that moment. I have treasured that in my heart and think on it often – especially when I start to doubt God's love or care for me. I want to thank that woman for being obedient and coming over to pray for me. We have been without a job for about a year (although we do have severance, it runs out in March). I have a couple possibilities, but nothing definite. This time has really challenged my view of God – His goodness and His love – and I have found numerous areas in my soul's view of God that do not match the truth of God we find in Jesus. I was sharing this with a dear sister, who shared the following by email: I am so encouraged by the sermon yesterday (I Kings 18). You may not see the RAIN CLOUDS now, but they are there. Keep looking – the servant had to look seven times before he saw a cloud only the size of a man’s hand. It wasn't long before a great rain came up. He heard it even before it arrived. Oh HALLELUJAH! Can't you hear the thunder and smell the RAIN (the necessities for your life and livelihood)? I am overjoyed for you now. THE DROUGHT IS OVER. I don't care what it looks like. GOD still cares, and He will provide for your every need in due time. God spoke to the deepest parts of our soul through this sister. She went on to encourage us to praise Him. I want to publicly give Him all the praise and glory for His goodness, love, provisions and blessings. All of Him is more than enough for us. -Kent I wanted to take a moment to celebrate with you a marvelous God-sized miracle that followed the sermon last Sunday (although it felt a little like playing “spiritual Xbox”). Each day had taken on a new level of anticipation as I watched for the Lord to show up anywhere and everywhere – and I listened for His voice. Upon hearing a stranger’s plight, I felt prompted to ask her if I could pray for her right then. This was out of my comfort zone. But since her eyes were so filled with fear over her recent onset of symptoms, the nudge to pray for her health and safety overwhelmed me. She mentioned that many others had been praying for her as well. Moments after praying, the strangest thought occurred to me. Discovering she lived in an old home, I asked if she had a carbon monoxide detector. “Funny you should ask,” she said, “for it fell out of the wall plug this morning.” I made her promise to go home and not close her eyes that night until she called Xcel Energy for a quick check. She indicated that it wasn’t beeping, but reluctantly said she would go ahead and do so. Two hours later, I received a phone call at work. She said, “Tammy, I had them come out…but it wasn’t carbon monoxide.” Feeling relieved (yet somewhat foolish for being so insistent) I began to tell her how happy I was that she had it checked out. When I began to apologize for being so insistent, she interrupted me by saying, “You don’t understand! It wasn’t carbon monoxide…it was a significant gas leak!” Right then, we celebrated a great God moment together. It seemed as if we had just touched the tails of His tuxedo! I cannot even begin to imagine how many other promptings I have missed in my lifetime – but I have never been more grateful for a sermon! Hallelujah! “Oh Come let us adore Him….” -Tammy Praise the Lord! I thought I reached the point of no return when everything seemed to be lost. I lost my husband and came over to the United States with my kids. As fate would have it, we ended up in a shelter because we were homeless. I kept my faith in God and continued to pray. I always received prayers at the front of the altar. The joy from heaven that knows no bounds has been pouring into our lives since our heavenly Father connected us to Pastor Greg and his wife. Since then, many families from Woodland Hills Church have rallied around us as brothers and sisters. Today the same kids that once lived at a shelter are now in college. Praise the Lord for the supernatural healing and deliverance we received when we started attending Woodland Hills – and the blessings that still pour into our lives ever since. In early December, I found out that I had a heart attack. Both Regions Hospital and Mayo Clinic said the artery that goes around the back of my heart was blocked, and they felt stints could be used to open it up. Many people were praying, and I also asked for prayer from Woodland Hills Church. On December 8, I went to Mayo Clinic. My cardiologist felt I had also suffered damage to the pumping action of my heart as a result of the heart attack, and he recommended doing a bypass surgery on December 9. He said he needed to know the results of a heart catheterization before he made a final decision – and he would let me know before I left the room. Indeed he did tell me the results – there was nothing wrong. I said, “What?!” He repeated that there was nothing wrong. Praise God for answering many prayers. I am so grateful. There certainly is power in prayer! During altar prayer on January 9, a gal named Julie came up to thank me and my prayer partner for our prayers and to praise the Lord! She also wanted to thank everyone for serving in the Altar Prayer Ministry. When we first prayed with Julie before Christmas, she told us she had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was meeting with the surgeon the next day. She was very scared! She had not been able to share this with anyone, including her fiancé. While she was talking to us, "something" told me that she did not have cancer. The "something" kept telling me that she did not have cancer – and that I had to tell her. My mind fought against this, especially since I knew that we were taught that, when doing altar ministry, we are to pray for what the person wants and not teach or do prophesy. But I heard over and over, each time more convinced, that she did not have cancer. I realized that I knew she did not have cancer, and I had to tell her now! This was all brand-new to me. Normally my prayer partner prays first, but I felt an urgency to tell Julie. I looked in her eyes and said, "You do not have cancer!" I repeated it four times. I said, "I have to tell you that!” Even as I was doubting what I was saying, I knew Julie did not have cancer. I then prayed for the doctor to find nothing wrong, and that all the lab tests would be accurate and be accurately interpreted. My partner prayed for healing, strength, peace and God's presence. We asked her to PLEASE come back and tell us how she was doing. After that, I thought about her every day and questioned what I said to her. The last thing I wanted was to be wrong in thinking I had heard from God. I certainly never wanted to cause her to lose faith in God, the power of prayer or the church. Never did I want to cause a separation between her and our Lord. But had I really heard from God…or was it only my wishes for her? Or had I heard the words from the devil? But I still knew that she did not have cancer and I had to tell her that day. Julie had been sick over the holidays, so she had not been able to come up to talk with us until January 9. On that day, she again came up, trembling and shaking, yet now exuding happiness. She told us that she did not have cancer! She does not need to see the doctor for six months. Oh how we praised the Lord! And I still am! We were all in tears of joy! She did end up having an ulcer (no wonder!) and was told to see another specialist about something on the lower right side of her abdomen. But she is at peace with these problems, knowing that she does not have cancer. God has confirmed that to her. All praise goes to God! We didn't do anything – we couldn't have done anything – except be willing to serve as vessels for God's work. What a blessing to see God and His grace in action! God is SO GOOD!! Just AWESOME! Praise and thank the Lord! -Jenny