I Promise I’m Not A Weirdo
By Jenny Sung, Executive Coordinator
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Each Monday morning, Heidi Lum and I meet at The Vine campus in Honolulu to pray. We always start with worship and then a period of silence. We listen. We listen for a long time. God puts different things on our hearts. Sometimes we walk around the neighborhood and pray for the businesses. Heidi keeps a record of our prayers and what God reveals.
One week, during prayer, I suddenly felt an impression that we needed to go outside and pray for someone with a bad left knee. When I shared this with Heidi, she said, “Let’s go!” Sometime ago Heidi had a vision from the Lord that people would go out two or three at a time to pray for healing in the streets. We grabbed a couple of garbage bags (since Heidi suggested we clean up the neighborhood while walking around) and started to circle the block. I was staring at peoples’ left knees, searching for someone with a limp, hoping I wasn’t creeping people out by staring at them.
I know you think I’m going to say I found someone with a bad left knee––I did NOT. But we did have an encounter with someone we would have never met if we didn’t go out to the streets that day.
As we were rounding the block and passing the courthouse, a young man sitting on the steps asked me, “Can I borrow your phone?” Part of me was hesitant to give a stranger my phone, and I confess I had an image in my mind of him running off with my phone once I handed it over. I asked if I could put it on speaker and dial the number for him. That was fine, and he called his friend to pick him up.
It was at that moment when I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit, so I asked him, “Do you happen to have a bad left knee?”
Nope. He stared back at me. Then mustering up any courage I had, I said, “My friend and I would like to pray for you. I promise I’m not a weirdo. Our church is just down the street, and I wonder if we can pray for you.” He paused, and then said yes. That “yes” allowed Heidi and me to gather around him in the middle of the sidewalk and pray. Just as we were getting ready to pray, he shared some intimate details of his life that brought tears to my eyes. I knew this was why God sent us to the streets that day.
The last week Jesus was on Earth with His disciples, He promised the Holy Spirit, the Helper, whom the Father would send, and that the Holy Spirit would teach us and guide us. It’s often in the times of prayer and listening to the Lord that we’ll sense a nudging, a leading of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the nudging feels subtle, but the more we practice and respond, the more we become familiar with His voice and leading. This Holy Week, as you reflect on the suffering of Christ, spend some time in prayer too asking the Holy Spirit to teach and guide you. Listen and see where God leads you in the world. Who knows, maybe you’ll heal some bad left knees! ☺
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit, our Helper, to teach and guide us. May our hearts and minds be open to Your leading. May we have the posture to listen and act upon Your will. Send us out into the world to bring Your light, Your love, and healing to all the broken areas. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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