I either read or heard Bill Johnson say something about our testimonies of God’s work in our lives actually attracts more miracles, signs and wonders in our lives… I am beginning to believe this more and more. I also find that my prayer life is improving as I pray more.
This all gets me to think that just as when you develop a pattern of physical exercise you also can push yourself more and continue to lift more, run farther, and swim more efficiently, all with proper training. So as we develop a pattern of spiritual exercise we can push ourselves to pray, fast, persevere, prophecy, heal, and see miracles more and more, all with proper training.
So, here is space for us to share stories of miracles, signs, and wonders…. So please share your testimony seeds that will germinate and plant future testimonies of a larger harvest.
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In 2004, I woke up one Saturday and headed out to the laundry room at my apartment complex. As I passed the parking lot, I realized my car was missing from my stall. AHHH!
I checked to see if by odd chance the resident manager had accidentally towed my car. I called the police and filed a stolen car report. Since it was Saturday, I knew there would not be much more I could do other than cancel my car insurance to protect myself a bit more and AIG handled it all.
It was an older model car so my insurance was the bare minimum so if the car was not recovered I’d simply have to take the bus until I find another cheap car to buy…money was tight, very tight and I was worried about how to do my job.
After dealing with the police and the insurance company, I called two strong Christian friends and simply asked that they pray for me and that I was struggling against a panic attack so I was going to put on some worship music and pray… and pray I did. I asked for God to cover me in His peace and every other thing I could quote from Scripture and such. I knew that I had other things to get done that day, including a house blessing and party that evening for a friend. So I did my best to hand it all over to God and get on with the other stuff I needed to get done….and still do my laundry.
I got a ride to my friend’s home and enjoyed the blessing ceremony and party. Then caught another ride home and then tried not to worry, and instead pray and go to sleep. I knew I still had to stay on track and get to church on time as I had some responsibilities there in setting up. I told one of the other leaders there I was going to be a little late because my car was stolen. He said he’d pray for me and not to worry about helping. He said he’d like to talk more with me but there was a couple standing next to him as we were talking that obviously needed his attention, so we hung up. I remember telling him, not to worry, God would take care of me and that I need to get there and do my “job” and maintain my responsibilities…just a few minutes later than normal, and so I got a ride from another friend to church.
When I got to church, the leader I called had a very odd look on his face and he acted oddly, as he turned from me coming through the door to this couple that was walking towards me, crying. The wife gave me a huge hug and was crying as she said she just heard I had my car stolen.
I did the Christianese thing and said, “Don’t worry, God will take care of me.”
She replied, “I know He takes care of you, here are the keys and title to your truck.”
I was shocked and speechless.
They had bought a new truck over the weekend and they were praying as to what the Lord would want them to do with their old work truck. They felt the Lord wanted them to drive the truck to church, bringing the title and keys with them and to give it away to someone who needs a car.
They were the same couple waiting to talk to my friend, as I was telling him that my car was stolen. He was tripping out as you can imagine…turning to tell this couple that I would be late and why… then watching the couple trip-out as they showed him the keys and title to the work truck. Knowing that God was planning for someone in need to drive away in their old truck!
This is a great miracle of God, demonstrating His provision!
God ROCKS!
So, please share your stories too… let’s build some E-stone monuments—testifying of God’s grace, glory, power, and provision!
If by chance you don’t have any stories to share, tell us how you might/will release some miracle opportunities and faith opportunities for God to do His awesome stuff.
Remember, God is in a very good mood!
6 comments:
Nothing is lost with God
My husband and I had only been married a couple of months. My wedding ring was still new and sparkly.... it was a small diamond but it meant the world to me as it was a symbol of the awesome work God had done in my life. He gave me a husband...and not just a husband, but a man that knew God and he loved me!!! I was so stoked!!!
Anyway one day I looked down at my finger and I realized my diamond was gone. It had somehow fallen out of the setting. I was crushed and devastated I searched my house high and low. I tried to retrace every step I had taken in the past twenty four hours. I had no idea how long it had been missing.... I called a friend sobbing so badly she thought someone had died. After I explained, there was a long pause and she said "Stefanie NOTHING is lost with God." I gave her a list of " yeah buts" Yeah but it is so small and the world is so big, yeah but if it fell in the street it would be hard to see, yeah but if God really, really loved me I never would have lost it and maybe it means my husband doesn't really love me or it is a sign that our marriage is doomed...( I was a bit of a drama queen when I was 26.) every stupid fear came over me in wave after wave. Finally when I let my friend get a word in, she just said "Stefanie, NOTHING is lost with God." I was irritated so I called another friend that confirmed all my fear...it was next to impossible that I would find the ring...I better see about replacing it...did we have insurance??? My husband just had this very Ross like reassurance that we would find it, he didn't know where or how but he told me to stop looking for it. So I did.
About a week or so later I was shopping at the market and I was paying cash, which I don't normally do. I knew I had some change in this little side pocket of my purse, I opened it up and there inside was my diamond!!! Thank you God!! I felt like I had just won the lottery!!! I knew at that moment more than ever that God loved me, my diamond did fall out of the setting, but He caught it and put it in my purse until I found it... It was so awesome.
Thanks for letting me share. I could bore you to death with the awesome things our God has done for me... :)
Blessings,
Stef
Many years ago, whilst living like the Prodigal Son, I came to a very dark time in my life where I decided it was time to stop living.
I was into "martial arts/Asian culture" and thought getting drunk and killing myself by overdose or anything like that was not a noble way to go, and it would be wussy of me to do it that way. So, I decided to thrust a large knife into my guts like the Samurai short sword technique. I wasn't planning to go through lateral disembowelment but rather thrust the knife into my pancreas and abdominal aorta...a cleaner/faster death.
I was really skinny at the time and the large knife was about as long as my abdominal profile so I knew if I went to the hilt it would work.
I thrust the knife in, all the way to the hilt and pulled it out, with the evidence of blood along the whole blade. I could feel internal bleeding and just as this was happening, one of my roommates came in and could not believe what he saw. He later told me he didn't understand why he had felt he had to go in to see me right then (thank you Lord).
After some convincing on his part, we drove to the hospital ER.
Long story-short... The Dr. said I should be dead. Somehow I was right on target yet, I nicked my pancreas yet it did not rupture, and there was a good nick/slice on the surface of my abdominal aorta, yet it too did not rupture, and my liver was sliced open and it is one organ that can heal/mend well.
The Dr. said it was a miracle and he didn't believe in God....
So years later, I am still around and love God's miracles.
WOW.
It was a blistery winter day in Ithaca (upstate) NY. It was one of those days that you really shouldn't be driving on the roads, especially on steep hills with curvy roads. But they don't close roads in winter in the north, and they don't close down the businesses either. And of course my college was on the top of one of these hills, and the store where i worked was at the bottom!
Understand - I grew up driving in winter conditions. I was fine driving in all kinds of snow and such, but the conditions this day were so bad I had even called to see if I could avoid coming in to work that day. Everyone else had beat me to it to the point where not only did I have to come in, I was the one closing up.
So I cautiously started down the long steep hill in my car-so-light-a-slight-wind-could-blow-it -into-the-next-county car, complete with heavy cement blocks in the trunk to try to weigh it down to get some traction on the slick roads. I made it past the first couple of curves OK, but then I hit it. A thin, veiled layer of the dreaded black ice.
My car immediately spun out of control. You know all those things you learn about driving in slick conditions about stay in a low gear for better traction, and which way to turn the wheel when you start to skid depending on if you're front or rear-wheel drive? Yeah - those don't apply if your car is heading down a curvy steep downhill road. I know. I tried.
The car ping-ponged between the curbs on both sides of the street, spinning wildly out of control. I let go of the wheel and literally saw my life flash slowly before my eyes! I laughed, and remember thinking I had no regrets. Finally, the car came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, facing uphill in the opposite lane, with all power to the engine completely cut off.
Understand - this was a main road, well-traveled, with cars commonly parked all up and down the street. I hit nothing and nobody other than the curbs on both sides of the street. I got out to assess the damage - only ONE tire and wheel were shot. the car had spun so much that somehow the same back corner hit both sides of the street the entire way down. this left me with 3 good tires and wheels - enough to get it to the nearest auto body shop - conveniently located just down the road at the base of the hill! I looked up the street and saw that there were plenty of cars parked along the sides - how had I missed them?? It wasn't until I had stood there for a couple of minutes that another car started driving down the same section of road. I was fine, my car (save one tire and wheel) was fine (even the axle!), and all the cars parked along the road were fine. My dad later assessed the road and determined that if the curb had been any shorter or I hit in certain places I would have gone over and into a tree. If it was taller the car could have flipped.
All I could think of was I am alive for a reason. I should be dead. But I'm not. God isn't finished with me yet!
I had problems deciding between my last story and this one. decided to post both! :)
This story involves the same car as the previous story, but takes place in high school, just after I got it. Keep in mind, this was before cell phones boomed!
I had just gotten both my drivers license and my car. I was thrilled to finally be able to drive myself out to a friend's birthday party located a ways outside town in the boonies. I had been there before, but only ever as a passenger. But armed with directions, I felt I couldn't fail!
The directions went a little something like this: "go past the volkswagon dealership a little ways until you get to the wagon wheel on your left. make that turn..." and the directions continued to get to her house.
Well.
It was night. It was raining. And that darned wagon wheel didn't have lights to illuminate it (i swear!). I spent maybe a half hour driving back and forth between the dealership and the next town (which I knew was too far), looking for this elusive landmark. On one trip out past the dealership, suddenly all power to my car stopped, and the car started coasting to a stop. I managed to steer it onto the shoulder (with some difficulty) before it completely died. I had just filled up with gas before driving out there, so I knew it wasn't that. the engine wouldn't even turn over. it was like the key wasn't even there. and i knew NOTHING about cars! I found out the hazards worked, as did the reading light, but nothing else. so I turned those on and stuck a cloth out the window. Cars went by, but none stopped. It started raining harder. I was surrounded by woods. I tried honking at cars to get them to stop. none did. I started bawling my eyes out because by this point I was certain a serial killer was going to wander out of the woods and rape, kill, and eat me. (I was 16 and in theatre. my imagination lacked little!)
After I accepted the fact that I wasn't going to die unless I did something stupid like just sit there until I did, I started looking around for any semblance of civilization. Now, I swear there were no lights on at all in the area when I had first pulled over, but in looking down the road there seemed to be a light set far enough off the road not to be a random street light. So I left my car with the hazards on and walked toward the light. It was far enough away that I lost sight of my car's hazard lights (which seemed odd since I could see the other light from the car), but kept going toward it anyways. The light belonged to the front door of a run down old trailer. Fear started to kick in until I saw a broken tricycle in the front yard with some other toys and decided it was worth the risk. I knocked on the door and was greeted by 3 scrappy looking kids who quickly ran to get their parents. They let me use their phone to call my panicking parents and friends (who were glad to hear I wasn't dead, but kept asking WHERE was I??). When I described my plight to them, the mom said her husband was an auto mechanic and could walk down and take a look at the car with me? So we walked down and he immediately diagnosed that the alternator belt had snapped and that the car would not run until that was replaced. But not to fear! Their car was in the shop so he had just happened to drive the company tow truck home that night - he offered to tow the car wherever I needed! My home was way on the other side of town, but this angel towed my car all the way there, and refused to accept any payment from my dad when we arrived.
I say angel for a reason. The next day I wanted to bring homemade cookies and a thank you card out to these strangers who had helped me. My mom was curious to see where I had been, especially because, as she said to my surprise, "but there aren't any houses or anything along that whole stretch?"
We drove out the exact route I had taken. Easy to do as there is only one road that goes by the volkswagon dealer! We passed the elusive wagon wheel (embarrassingly easy to see in the daylight) and continued out until we hit the same stoplight I had been turning around at. We drove that stretch about 8 times. My mom was right. There were no houses, trailers, lights, or anything between the dealership and the next town without taking dirt roads back into the woods a ways away. No broken toys sitting out somewhere. Not even a clearing where the trailer could have been. Only woods.
Yup. The LORD used grungy trailer trash angels to let me call my parents, diagnose my car trouble, and tow my car about 10 miles in the rain at night.
The God of losers and underdogs ROCKS! :)
Hey brother,
I have held this one for a couple of years..
A friend from church works as a respiratory therapist at Kaiser. He
called a group of us together to pray for a girl that he had worked on
the night before. Apparently she came home from school was doing her
homework or something, I forget, and started yelling " My head! My
head!!!" and collapsed. The doctors thought she wouldn't make it
through the night. I believe my friends prayer and quick hands got her
through that night. She had suffered a brain aneurism and was not
expected to live.
A group of us went to pray for the girl. I must admit I was afraid to
go. I didn't know the family and I didn't know how they would feel
about us coming to pray. When we got to the ICU the mother was there
looking like she was trying to wake up from a bad dream. It was heart
breaking. The girl, you could tell ,was BEAUTIFUL just as still and
peaceful as could be. My friend called her Spirit to wake up, he
prophesied that she would live and that she would wake up. He said the
spirit man never sleeps and that she could hear us.
I left that night wondering.
Several times the Lord prompted me to go and visit this girl. Many,
many people were praying for her. When I went I always did the same
thing. I massaged her feet and legs first, then her hands arms and
head. I prayed and I talked with her like she could hear me.
One day I went and she looked horrible, she was as skinny as a
skeleton. Her father was feeding her through a tube in her stomach. He
said the Doctors told him that day that she would forever be a
vegetable and that he needed to build a wheel chair ramp to their home
in order to get her in the house. They said in order for her to stay
alive they would need to feed her through a tube in her stomach from
now on.
I was freaked out totally!
The girls room was right next to the nurses station. There was a
bathroom with a supply closet in it. I went in there and cried out to
God. "Don't let me believe what is being said about this girl!! Don't
let me see this material picture! I don't believe it. God help me!!
Help Makanna! I refuse to believe that she will always be like this.."
I was literally crying my eyes out , begging for her life, and not
just for her to stay alive but to walk and have a normal life! I cried
out as quietly as I could in that closet. Finally I wiped my eyes and
went out. The Dad was finished feeding her and was sitting in the
nurses station with the Mom. I started to do what I had always done
before. I started to massage Makanna's feet. As I did I felt her foot
twitch. I asked her if I had tickled her, her foot twitched again. Then
I asked her to move her foot, she moved her foot.... Something
incredible was happening. I went up and grabbed her hand Makanna if you
can hear me squeeze my hand. She squeezed my hand!
You have to understand how crazy this was, The material picture of this
girl was not pretty. Her mouth hung crookedly on her face, her body was
a bag of bones, her color was ash her eyes were closed and yet I knew
she could hear me! I asked her parents how long she had been able to
hear and respond. They just looked at me like I was crazy. I told them
about the foot twitch and they said it was only a reflex. I asked them
to come around and see what was happening. I told them to give her a
command about her feet or hands and that she would respond. We had her
moving her arms up and down, flexing her feet, raising her leg off the
bed and most powerfully squeezing her Mom's hand, It was a miracle and
the start of something amazing. Of course when the doctors came in
much later in the day they said it was just her "reflexes". But we knew
that on command she was moving what she could. Makanna was trapped in
her body but she was responding.
The next day she seemed worse then ever. She got very, very, ill from
the feeding tube. They had to do a number of surgery's. The family was
catholic and their church came in to pray. I felt my work was done. I
knew Makanna was in there and she was going to make it.
A number of months later I was having dinner at Bravo's in Pearl City.
As I was leaving to go to my car a car pulled up to the curb right in
front of me, this Lady looks up at me and I realize it was Makanna's
Mom. She gave me a giant hug. I asked her how Makanna was doing and she
said, "She is right here, we are just dropping her off in the front of
the restaurant so she doesn't have to walk too far..."
There in the back seat was the precious girl I had prayed for for
months, the one they said wouldn't make it... Her Mom opened the door
and I got to witness what I had prayed for that day in the closet.
Makanna WALKING unassisted into the restaurant to celebrate her 13th
Birthday! Glory to God Hallelujah!
Pretty cool timing God had for that divine meeting... I am a witness
that God heals.
Stef
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