Deborah tossed and turned. She tried counting sheep, praying, and reciting scripture. Nothing worked. Her mind wouldn’t shut off and let her sleep.
A nightmare had jolted her awake. Her friend’s face was fresh in her mind. Why did Lisa haunt her dreams?
Pray.
Deborah bolted upright. Was that the Holy Spirit calling her?
She threw the covers off and kneeled by her bed. If she had learned anything in the past few years, it was when you were prompted by the Holy Spirit, you obeyed.
Deborah lifted her friend Lisa up to the Lord. When she finished, she glanced at the clock. 2:30 a.m. She crawled back into bed and slept.
The shrill of the phone woke her again a few hours later. She fumbled until she found the receiver. “Hello?”
“Morning, it’s Lisa. Sorry to wake you.”
Deborah sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Lisa? What’s wrong?”
“How did you know?”
“I dreamt about you last night and then God wouldn’t let me sleep until I prayed for you.”
Lisa sobbed on the other end of the line. After a few minutes, she composed herself. “We had to take our youngest to Emerg in the middle of the night. His fever spiked. Meningitis. The doctors said we caught it just in time. He could have died.”
“What time was that?”
“Around 2:30.”
Deborah gasped.
Has something like the above story ever happened to you? You thought of someone at a particular time, prayed, and then found out later they were going through some type of crisis at that exact time?
Or, you couldn’t get someone off your mind, so you sent them a note of encouragement? Then they called to tell you how much your note helped them.
I’ve heard from different readers how a particular blog was what they needed to hear. On the exact day. One friend emailed me to say, “How did you know I needed that?” My response? “I didn’t, but God did.”
I love that! That’s the Holy Spirit.
Recently, our church received what I like to call a “Holy Rush.” We had a planned baptism, but our pastor did something we’ve never done before. He opened it up to anyone else who felt led. Right here, right now.
“We have lots of towels and shirts,” Pastor Don said. “Just leave your seats and go around to the side room. We even have hair dryers.”
Well, let me tell you, nine more people listened to the Holy Spirit and obeyed. Praise Him!
I believe there are times we don’t listen when we should. I know that has happened to me. We miss out on amazing blessings. We need our lives to be organized, our ducks lined up in a row (ask my family, they will tell you I’m like that!), and we don’t like to be spontaneous when the Holy Spirit calls. We ignore Him. After all, what would happen if, heaven forbid, we throw caution to the wind and throw out a carefully planned schedule?
Amazing things, that’s what!
What would happen if we let the Holy Spirit loose and really listened? I believe we would have more Holy Rushes!
Have you ever been prompted by the Holy Spirit? I’d love to hear your stories. Comment on my blog and tell me how He has moved in your life.
Share your Holy Rush!
Listen today.
Sue & Dar getting baptised in the Jordan River
Acts 4:31 (NIV)
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Great piece Dar, my story would be like the story you wrote. I have had many times with the Lord woke me up and prompted me to pray for individuals and sometimes I don’t know who I am praying for but I have found out later and what a blessing it is to know we Christians are connected by the Holy Spirit to pray for each other in time of need. Love ya Sue
It’s so interesting how the Holy Spirit works, isn’t it? Thanks for sharing sissy. Love you! xo
Once I had a dream about a woman I’d never met, shown her life, then Jesus appeared in my dream and said, “Tell her I love her. Tell her not to lay down.” I met the woman a few days later…during an interview, when I worked for a newspaper, recognized her from the dream. I told her about my dream and what the Lord said, and she wept, saying she needed to hear those words so much. She had an incredible story of despair she didn’t share with me until I told her about my dream. I’ll never forget that.
Wow…Holly that is amazing! I can see why you would never forget something like that. So cool. Thanks for sharing!