Prayer Insight: The Flow
Brian Norman
Something was different. I could feel it the moment I stepped into the auditorium. It was beyond the music, beyond the praise and beyond the worship. Faith had risen to another level. The Word had taken root in the people. God was going to do something mighty.
Pastor Don Martin had kindly invited me several weeks prior to come and minister at Metro UPC in Tulsa. There God graciously had been smiling upon the meeting. But as good and blessed as the other services had been, that night would prove to be the crescendo.
The singing was in full swing as I entered the auditorium. Not desiring to cause even the least bit of distraction from what God was doing I slipped into the front row and began to praise and worship the Lord along with everyone else. And as our praises went up the undeniable presence of God could be felt coming down and moving among the people.
Upon opening my eyes I noticed the altar area was crowded as apparently the sick where coming forward to be prayed over by the Elders. The meeting had been billed as “Healing & Miracle Campaign” so I felt the need to pray for some people. Upon stepping forward to pray for the closest person to where I was wanting prayer for their sickness the Lord highlighted someone to me. Later after service I would learn her name was Trissella Scanlan.
Following the leading of the Lord I moved towards her and the group of people surrounding her. After only having taken a step or two towards them the Lord informed me what I was to tell her. So upon reaching where she was I stretched my arm over the people and laid my hand on her head and boldly declared what God told me to, “Rise up and walk”.
I had not known Trissellla Scanlan was dealing with what the Doctors had diagnosed as a severe stroke. I did not know she was constantly off balance and thus had a walker or else she would fall. I did not know that her speech was slurred at all times. All these symptoms had started several months prior when she, as the Doctors diagnosed it, had a stroke. All I knew is what God declared to her.
It would be after the praying for the sick was over, after the crowd parted and while she went back to her seat carrying the walker that I recognized what God had did.. God had healed her! I still remember how that once the service was turned to me I singled her out in front of the congregation, asking her openly if she heard what God had told me to declare to her? Her response left no doubt about what God had done.
She affirmed she had heard what had been spoken to her and that God had done that very thing. Then she went on to inform the whole church that she had already told her husband they would be putting the walker on sale immediately. What I did not recognize right then, not knowing her, was that from the moment God’s Word had been declared her speech had cleared up. Our God is an awesome God. He had done the miraculous and allowed us to witness it.
Notice what the Bible says in Luke 5:17, “And it came to pass on a certain day, as he (Jesus) was teaching…the power of the Lord was present to heal them” (emphasis added). Certainly God’s ability to heal was not relegated or confined to just that moment. For that matter God’s ability to heal cannot be relegated to any specific moment or set of moments, as if we could exclude God from healing at any point. God is always a healer. God is always a miracle worker. What than does Luke 5:17 reveal?
Luke 5:17 does not show that God could not heal at other times. It shows that though God can do the miraculous and heal at any time it was God’s primary focus at that moment of time. God chooses at times to put the spotlight on certain parts of His ability and character. It is the flow of the Spirit for that moment. We must be careful to not become so preoccupied with what we know about Jesus and His ability that we do not notice His will for the moment.
Every service has a flow. A vein of God’s Spirit that once we tap into it we must flow with it. Whether it is healing, regeneration, miracles, renewal or deliverance we must follow the flow. Doing so does not exclude God from doing the other things that are not emphasized at that moment. Quite to the contrary, going with the flow may well serve as the springboard for those other things to take place.
Consider Peter and Johns dealing with the lame man at the gate of the temple called Beautiful in Acts 4. They could have preached salvation to the lame man. Who could argue with proclaiming the good news of the Gospel? Yet instead Peter and John discerned the flow of God’s Spirit for the moment and stepped into it. The result was a miracle that served as a springboard to proclaim salvation to thousands instead of just one. Ultimately it not only led to the conversion of those thousands but also placed them in front of the religious leaders of the community to be able to openly an miraculously witness of the Messiah in a way that none could deny.
In the midst of our programs, promotions and agendas it is never a disservice to the goal of the Kingdom to step into the flow. In fact following the flow is a means of opening up something much bigger than we can imagine. This is the reason my prayers no longer emphasize asking God to use me in certain ways. Instead I focus simply on asking God this, what do you want me to do?
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” – Zechariah 4:6
Brian Norman is a full-time ordained evangelist with the UPCI. He resides in Florissant, Missouri. Website: briannorman.org Phone: (636) 544-0627
The article “Prayer Insight: The Flow” written by Brian Norman was excerpted from www.briannorman.org web site, January 2010.
This article may be copyrighted and may be used for study and research purposes.
