This week I am ministering at the conference here in Monrovia, teaching a session each morning (except for today) and preaching at the open session in the evening. As has become my habit, I have been giving an altar call for salvation at each of the evening meetings, and so far there have been five responses, four on Tuesday and one on Wednesday.
I have commented earlier in this blog that I used to rarely give a call for salvation, as I am normally ministering in Christian gatherings, and preaching a message for believers, but I have come to realize that I have probably missed a lot of possible salvations through this. As a meme I saw recently on social media says, “People who go fishing catch more fish than people who don’t go fishing.” So I have determined that wherever there is opportunity I will “go fishing” when I minister.
During the week I was thinking about healing, and specifically the fact that the Lord had promised me healings for this trip, and so far I had not been aware of any healings happening. The Holy Spirit gave me a nudge and reminded me that, just as I didn’t see salvations until I started inviting people to be saved, so I can’t expect to see healings unless I pray for people to be healed. (I have prayed for healing a bit while I have been here in Africa, but not consistently.)
I thought about that and wondered how I could do it at the present conference. The Bishop who is leading the conference is insistent that the evening sessions must end by 8pm, which does not really leave time for laying hands on a bunch of people after the preaching.
Then the Lord reminded me that He had promised that on this trip I would begin to see people being healed while I preach. So before I started last night I asked those who needed physical healing to raise their hands. Quite a few did, and then I told them of the Lord’s promise and asked them to believe for Him to touch their bodies while I was ministering.
After I finished preaching (not on healing) I asked those who had raised their hands earlier to indicate if they had received a touch in their bodies. Four or five put their hands up, and two ladies came out to testify – one had an eye problem that had cleared, and the other tummy pain that had gone.
I am so excited! God has used me for healing in the past – in some cases quite remarkable healings – but this is the first time ever He has done it without me laying hands on people. His promises are “yes and amen”, and I can’t wait to see what He is going to do next.