I have a few stories that I need to catch up on:

1) Remember the lady from the YMCA and the Jesus event, from our Dec 19th blog post? Well, I got to know her a bit better as we chatted after Y classes and also caught up for a play date with our daughters at the playground. I discovered that her husband was not yet filled with the Holy Spirit and that he, in fact, had quite a strong aversion to speaking in tongues. So, I offered that we should go on a double date together one night so that he could meet me and my husband, and so we could share our experiences with helping people to be born again. I declared to her that one of the biggest reasons God had brought us all together was so that they could return (to their home state later this year) united in their spiritual walk, both born again of water and of the Holy Spirit.

Well, praise God, we did go on that double date, and the husband was very attentive to everything we shared from the Word. Being an engineer/scientist, he had lots of great questions, too. Despite his hesitation in the flesh, he was willing to give God the opportunity to prove that what we were preaching is Truth, so at the end of the evening, we all went to the local outdoor courtyard to pray. As we laid hands on him, praying, he was filled with the Holy Spirit very quickly, speaking in tongues so clearly and fluently. He was shaking and very moved by the Lord. Afterward, he shared that he felt power like he never had before, and he told us he was seeing visions and glorious things as he prayed in the Holy Spirit (in tongues) for the very first time.

We had some more prayer together before we parted (as we try to do with every newly born again believer), to help him get even more comfortable with praying in tongues. His wife also prayed in the Holy Spirit with us both times, and it was such a joy to see them finally spiritually united. The husband even apologized to his wife with sincere repentance for overtly mocking tongues for many years (which had been a serious discouragement to her to pray regularly and freely in the Holy Spirit). It was such a testament to one of the biggest goals and works of the Holy Spirit — to convict people of sin and bring them to repentance, forgiveness, overcoming, and victory!

2) I received the following text the other day. We so very much love to hear how God is mightily using those that God has connected us with in the past — those He has sent us to preach to, pray over, bring a message to, encourage, etc. It’s so wonderful to see them go on to “lay hold” and carry on the work that Jesus started with the apostles in the Book of Acts. My dear sister in the Lord back in GA recently wrote:

“Hi Sis! I hope you are having a good day. Zorina and I just prayed for this lady to receive the Holy Spirit, and she DID. Hallelujah!!! She said she would be interested in joining the prayer group… She was the wife of a co-worker of Zorina’s. Zorina texted me this morning and asked if I could come over and pray with them for healing. We were able to preach to her, and the Holy Spirit moved. Thank you Lord! This made my day!!!”

3) A few weeks ago, Don heard some dogs barking out the front of our place, so he went outside to see what was going on. He ended up chatting with the owner of a gorgeous golden retriever. The owner was a super nice guy and our whole family ended up coming outside to meet him and his sweetheart (yet a little rambunctious) of a dog.

We all got along so well, so we ended up connecting again (here at the house) for coffee a week or so later, this time with his lovely wife. We chatted lots about our common interests, but God clearly directed the conversation toward Him and His Word. We had faith that this is what would happen when we invited them over!

Both the husband and wife are very passionate about the things of the Lord, each having had their own unique experiences growing up. But, as we do with everyone, we drew their attention to Acts 19:2, asking if they had been filled with the Holy Spirit since they believed. We chatted lots about the Bible and shared testimonies, but in the end we encouraged them to leave it up to the Lord to “give increase” to everything we shared with them.

It was great that they were both open to praying, to see what God would do. The husband received the Holy Spirit very quickly, speaking in tongues for the first time ever — and with the most clarity and ease that I’ve ever heard anyone speak! The wife struggled a little, mainly because of her inhibitions of praying openly around a group of people, so I offered for us to go somewhere more private and comfortable to seek the Lord together, just us two gals. It was then that she also began to speak in tongues fluently and confidently. We were both very relieved and so very joyful!

Praise God that our family has learned not to give up quickly, rather to fight through obstacles as they arise with patience, faith, love, and a peaceable confidence that the authority of Jesus Christ will bring about victory! It’s a spiritual battle for the souls of men and women on this earth, and we (and you, our born again brethren!) have been called to be soldiers in God’s army. What privilege; what power!