In this post, we’re listing all the people we have been praying for lately who have come into our lives through different circumstances — if you feel moved to join us in holding them up to the Lord:
Various people at our local YMCA
Shamar: He ended up coming over to pray with us after a recent Thursday night prayer group. He received the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and was so happy.
Valerie: Shamar’s fiancée who also came to our place about two weeks after we prayed with Shamar. Shamar shared with her his experience and she was keen to find out for herself. Don water baptized Valerie in our bathtub and she, too, was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Phil & his wife, and the couple they were talking to at a local coffee shop: We pray we will continue to run into them as we have been (particularly Phil and his wife) and that God will build on the words we spoke to them all.
Spirit-filled lady in the fabrics section at Walmart: She said she remembers focusing on the Lord and praying in tongues during the birth of her daughter. Don shared some scriptural encouragement with her.
The group of people we prayed with on the lawn in the civic park while on a day trip to the coast: They were all already water baptized and Spiritfilled except one of them. We pray he will forsake the sin that he hasn’t been willing to give up for Jesus’ sake. We pray he will truly lose his life and empty himself that he can be filled (with the Holy Spirit).
Greg & Vicki: Greg came to get loads from the unwanted dirt pile in our yard after Don felt inspired to advertise it for free. As Don helped him shovel, Greg shared his struggles. He ended up coming in to pray with us all because he had received the Holy Spirit when he was 19 after getting re-baptized in a different church, but he had never prayed in tongues again since then. After going home and sharing with his wife, she ended up coming over for a visit, too. She received the Holy Spirit when Don water baptized her a few days later. Greg and Vicki were so happy to be able to now pray in tongues together and see the Lord continue to work in their lives with healing, peace, etc.
Linda: Another person who came for some of the dirt and was eager to hear some of Don’s experiences with the Lord.
Alan: One of the workers doing our outdoor renovations. He is already born again since 2004, so Don encouraged him to actively pray in tongues every day versus waiting to be moved upon during church worship times.
Three teens outside Columbia restaurant: They had been attending a huge local contemporary-style church for some time, but they had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit. We prayed over one of the young men and he received. We pray that the other two will take God’s calling seriously, forsake any sin in their lives, and diligently seek Jesus for the Holy Spirit anointing.
The couple we met in a local bookstore: We were on our way home after an outing and felt moved not to go straight back to the house, but rather wander around our downtown area which is so lovely of an evening. While wandering around a bookstore, Ethan got chatting with a couple and then a little later, I heard the husband mention a scripture as they walked by us on their way out. I stopped them to say that I love that scripture and this started almost an hour-long conversation right in the middle of the store! It was a wonderful chat, discussing the Word and encouraging the husband to seek for the Holy Spirit anointing. His wife is already Spirit-filled and loves to pray in tongues, and she has been praying for her husband. Our connection that night was so beautifully orchestrated by God and the wife in particular recognized this — she mentioned that they, too, had other plans and it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, too, for them to come to the downtown area.
Christian: While chatting with the couple in the bookstore, a young man named Christian politely interrupted our conversation to say that he was excited to hear us all talking about the Lord. So, we were able to take a pause and chat with him, too. He had recently moved here in order to help with a new church plant. On our way out, we noticed that the managers of the bookstore had even turned down the volume of the store music, to make our conversing easier. “Wow, thank you, Lord!”
Christina & Kris laundromat: Don met them at a local laundromat. He had to go there to wash some things we couldn’t handle at home, and at the same time, Christina and Kris had their washing machine break down on them. While they were all waiting in the seating area, Don got chatting with them which quickly turned into the subject of the Lord. I can’t remember how, but Don always makes one or two comments about the Lord to see if a situation has been set up by God, and if it has, the conversation generally naturally flows from there. After Don spoke with them for some time, Christina in particular could clearly see God’s hand upon their coming together. The couple ended up coming over to visit us all that night, and Christina (who has a Jewish background) got baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. She was excited to be praying in tongues and to start reading the Bible for the first time, in particular the New Testament.
Spirit-filled family at the local lake gardens: During our recent prayer and fast, we all took a walk to the local gardens by the lake. While resting in the little dock area, a family with a twenty-something daughter came to hang out there, too. While talking about why they spend time in this area even though they live quite a ways north, they mentioned it is because of their favorite church. Obviously, the conversation centered on the Lord from that point forward, and Don showed them our latest “Winging It” video. The dad was particularly touched by it all. He shared that he had been seeking the Lord about being more active in service toward Him. Even at church that very morning, he had been specifically praying about how to be a stronger witness for Christ. The family invited us to attend their church, so we are going tomorrow. When God sets up things like this so amazingly clearly, we try to always obey and step out in faith in order to see what God is calling us to do. More than anything, we are praying that we can be of more encouragement to this family, especially the husband — to inspire him to live the Book of Acts life by praying over others, water baptizing, and ministering the Word of God to hungry souls.
Hana: We had found a sofa chair in the clearance section of a store for just $200, but after missing out on a matching one, Don had to go significantly out of his way to a different store, to hunt for a similar deal on a second chair. Don and I both thought that maybe there would be a reason — and there was! Don ended up chatting with a sales rep in a furniture store that he originally had no plans at all to go to. Their hour-long conversation started because her name is similar to Hannah in the Bible. She was so deeply touched by what Don had to share that she came over to our place after work that very night. We prayed over her and she received the Holy Spirit! Later, Hana shared with us that she prayed in tongues all the way home and started to eagerly study the Bible for the very first time, in particular the New Testament, to truly get to know Jesus. It has been a real joy keeping in touch with her and helping her to grow in the Lord!
Jose & others: We ended up going to the church that the Spirit-filled family at the dock invited us to, and while things didn’t go any further with the family, it turns out that the Lord used us to minister to some others instead. There was a Spirit-filled couple that was having some struggles with their daughter, and then a young-ish man that initiated a conversation with us (whom we ended up praying over in the car park after the service). He in particular was inspired by all that we had to share with him, and he was touched by the Lord during prayer. He has been very active in the past, water baptizing people and seeing them filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as proof, but not so much lately. So, we encouraged him to continue pursuing God’s calling for him. Anyway, after this event, we felt inspired to head to a popular area of the city in order to hang out and see who else God might connect us with. Nothing happened until we left the restaurant and wandered around. We had a great chat with Gina outside a small pizza place, and then on our way back to the car, we ran into (for the third time that night) the owner of a classic car that we had all noticed earlier that evening. The third time we saw the man, we knew we were meant to get chatting with him. He was a super bubbly Puerto Rican guy. As we showed interest in his life with lots of love and care, he opened up and shared some struggles he has been recently going through. We ended up praying over him right there in the car park in front of his vehicle. Even though it was a brief interaction, he was deeply touched by the Lord working through us, and as our family walked away, we heard him chuckling and praising God out loud, amazed in a surreal kind of way by what had just happened. We pray and trust that God will continue to water the seeds that He planted in Jose’s heart that night.
