Norman Community Church - STORIES FROM OUR COMMUNITY

STORIES FROM OUR COMMUNITY

We will be regularly updating the page below with stories of how God is moving
in the lives of people inside and outside of our community.

If you have a story to share, please send it our way by clicking HERE.
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4/27/09

“When my wife and I found out we were pregnant, I contacted our insurance provider to find out more details about our maternity coverage. I was told that we didn’t have maternity coverage even thought I specifically remember requesting it. They basically said sorry there is nothing we can do and that it would be fraud on their end if they retro-actively gave us coverage. We felt completely helpless and decided that all we could do was ask for our Father’s help and His favor with someone in the company. We took the necessary steps to file our case and waited. Months went by with no response while we paid out of pocket for all of our expenses. Then I received a call from our insurance provider. Our Father had given us favor with this kind lady. She told us that they would retroactively give us coverage and even said that they owed us money! God is sooo good! He provides for us in abundance!!!”
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“A couple of months ago, the Lord led myself and another person to make a hard decision. This decision would be really awesome, but really hard. We knew it would make several other people upset and we knew they would not really understand because of previous conversations. We set a date to tell the most important person our decision and to begin to put our decision into action. We began praying for this. We spent the whole day in fasting and were supposed to meet this person that night. We had a couple of hours before we met her. We were really anxious and nervous, so we decided to go on a treasure hunt to distract us. All of our clues had been a yellow car and a red t-shirt. When we arrived at our meeting place, we saw a yellow car and the girl we were meeting was wearing a red t-shirt. We prayed over her and began to share our hearts regarding our decision. As it turned out, the Lord had completely broken her and shaken her world just that morning! She told us “If you had tried to tell me this yesterday, this conversation would not have gone well, but today, I’m okay with it. I understand and I’m happy for you!” Praise God!!!!!”
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“When I was pregnant, I started hearing stories about women who wouldn’t fell their babies move for days at a time and whether that ended up being serious or not. Hearing that gave me anxiety and made me really fearful. So, I asked the Lord to make this baby move at least daily. It makes me laugh now, because I have had several people comment on how active he seems to be in my belly. Needless to say, I’ve felt him move many times a day since I prayed that! I’ll take it!”
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“I went on a Treasure Hunt with my D-group a few months ago. We went to Wal-mart with a huge list of clues. There was one clue that we all had, which was a “braid”. When we got there, we immediately saw a woman with a braid in her hair and asked if we could pray for her. She agreed and told us she had a back problem. We prayed for healing over her. Nothing seemed to happen at that moment, but she said she was confident Jesus was going to heal her. I left feeling pretty discouraged that we didn’t find any more of our clues... A couple of months later, my roommate was telling me about a treasure hunt she went on where they had the clue “braid” and found a lady and prayed for her shoulder. After praying, the woman told my roommate that she was confident she would healed because a couple months previous a group of girls from Norman Community Church prayed for her back and she was healed. It turns out it was the same Wal-mart, the same clue and the same woman! The Lord really showed me how faithful he is and to truly trust in his words and have faith that He will move. Yay Jesus!!!”
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“Last week the Lord put Isaiah 55 on my heart to read. As I was reading, the Lord’s words saying “Your ways are not my ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts”. I felt the Lord clearly saying to me, “Your plans are going to change.” I smiled in anticipation to see exactly how the Lord was going to change my plans and make them His. I had been planning on doing an internship this summer but knew that I hadn’t put much prayer into it because that was just part of “the plan”, my plan. Over the next few days, the Lord worked in such amazing unbelievable ways to line up a job for me this summer in Colorado. I felt like it literally landed in my lap because before they even received my application, they called and offered me the job. The Lord clearly showed me that His plans are bigger and better and that all we need to do is let go of our own plans and listen.”
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“I discovered the comfort, goodness and grace of Jesus in a new way because I was going through a really tough “breakup” a few seasons ago. Jesus showed me genuine love and compassion through faithful community. I grew in faith and the knowledge of truth on this time more than any other time in my life. Through this, my mom and dad both came to know and believe in the Lord in new ways as well. I truly believe God has in mind all along to use me in a time of tremendous brokenness. He is really awesome in that way!

Now, my mom is the biggest prayer warrior. She is even wanting to lead a “Bible study” of her own. She has even further softened my dad’s heart to the Lord as well. Praise Jesus!!!”
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“My roommate in my fraternity house had a kidney infection. He was ordered to drink a gallon of cranberry juice by the doctor before his next checkup. I asked him if I could pray for him. He agreed and we prayed together. When he went to the doctor the next day he was completely clear of any infection. The Lord had helped him.”
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“I lead a small group of 9th grade boys. It has been unbelievable watching them mature and become hungrier for God. When we first started meeting, they wouldn’t even sit still for 3 minutes. Now, they are very excited to dive into God’s word for a 30 day challenge that we are doing. Praise God!!!”
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“In the fall, we went on a treasure hunt to Wal-mart. We got to pray over a few people. Then, I ran into a girl in my sorority and she was wearing a brace on her foot. She is a ballet major so this injury greatly affected her. A few of us prayed over her foot. It wasn’t until after we prayed that we realized that one of clues was “right foot” and her name was on our list too! The next day when I saw her she said that he pain was gone and she can walk and dance fully now. The Lord truly does care about His people and wants to bring healing and mend broken hearts! The Lord always wants to pour out His love and its amazing how he wants to use us to share of His faith, hope and love. We just have to have a willing and obedient faith.”
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4/23/09

This whole semester I had been really stressed out about finances more than I ever had been before. I let thoughts of over-due bills and upcoming expenses consume my mind. I would get frustrated at my boss for not scheduling me enough at work and I worried all the time. Then one week a few months ago, a friend of mine reminded me of the story of the Israelites in the dessert relying on manna from heaven everyday to survive. They couldn’t hoard extra or it would rot, so all they could do was rely on the Lord’s provision everyday in order to survive and be sustained. When my friend shared this story with me, thought I had heard it a thousand times, it really hit home. I knew that I was not trusting in the Lord’s provision for my life, especially in the area of finances.

A few days later in my house church, my leader said that in Morning Prayer he felt like he was supposed to pray for someone for financial issues. I knew it was me that needed the prayer. My house church prayed for me that morning.

Well, literally a few hours later on that same day, some friends of mine that didn’t know the extent to which I was struggling, gave me a $100 check! Four days later, I received a letter in the mail from my old youth pastor who I hadn’t talked to in a couple months. Included in the letter was a $200 check! That same night, I got home and there was a $100 anonymous check laying on my computer. So, in the course of five days after receiving prayer, I randomly got blessed with $400 that I did not earn or deserve. WOW! God is so good! I realized that I do NOT need to worry about finances because my Father has ALWAYS provided for me in every situation in my life. I don’t know why I would choose to worry and believe lies of the Enemy, when my Father has never let me down. He is so good and loves so extravagantly!!! He is my Provider.”
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4/22/09

During college, I developed an allergic reaction. Throughout the year, I would come down with sneezing fits and become extremely congested. I never had allergies before that and always had a sense that I was not supposed to have them.

Last summer, while at House Church, I felt the Lord telling me I needed prayer to be healed from these allergies. I had had a particularly difficult few weeks with them. However, I told the Lord that it was normal that people have them and that I would just have to deal with it. Besides, my allergy pills seemed to work most of the time. The truth is, I was afraid to ask this of the Lord out of fear that I would not be healed.

A couple of weeks later, at celebration, while having another attack, the Lord told me I needed to get prayer at the end of service. Since I regretted not getting prayed for at House Church, I was a little more open this time. I made a deal with God. I said that if someone up front specifically asks for people to be prayed for healing, I would go up. The Lord obliged my request and I found myself at the front of church at the end of the service.

I went down to the front during ministry time and told them what the Lord had been impressing on my heart. They began to pray for me, and my sinuses immediately cleared. It was the most amazing feeling. I knew at that moment, that I was healed.

However, as I went back to my seat, I started to wonder if it was some kind of fluke. I began doubting, and by the time I went to bed, a small hint of an allergy attack began to return. I became frustrated because I had had this amazing encounter with God the Healer and I could not understand why it was not complete.

I talked to my D-Group about it and they encouraged me to hold on to that moment and continue ask the Lord to complete his work that he began in my life.

Nine months later, I realized that I have had no problems with allergies since that day. I even quit taking my allergy pills months ago. I am so excited that the Lord has delivered me! I cannot wait to see what else he will do in my life.
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04/05/09

“God used me in my marriage to remind my wife and I of Jesus' romance with the church and his washing of her with scripture. It was so encouraging to my wife who hasn't felt truly loved in a long time.”
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“My wife's sister has severe colitis, and she was told she couldn't have another child. She really wanted another child. So my mom and a few others gathered around, laid hands on her and prayed. She recently had a healthy beautiful baby girl.”
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“Our D-group prayed for God to give us clues to who his treasure was. We wrote down the clues that came to our minds on small note cards. Each little card we wrote on had one word on it. Four cards said "ice cream" and the other had "Italian ice cream parlor." Other written words were "dark cloth jacket", "yellow scarf", and "James."

Since several clues were “ice cream” and one was "Italian ice cream", we went to the an Italian ice cream store. We found a lady wearing a “dark cloth jacket” and a girl wearing a “yellow scarf”. There was a man sitting with them and his name was "James".

After talking for a while, we found out James was scheduled for a heart operation in 4 days. He explained it as very serious. He soon asked us, “Are all you fellows here because of me?" We said yes, assured him that God loved him, knew about his heart and asked him if we could pray for him.

His daughter, who was at the next table, overheard each of us talking with him. She walked up to the table we were at, dropped to her knees, and got face to face with her dad. She explained to him what God had done on the cross. She looked at us and then asked him if he understood. He then said, "It clicked! Yes, I should let you pray for me.” We did, and as we left they thanked us and were filled with "wonder" about the timing of our interaction.”
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"We got together for a treasure hunt and had lots of clues. Some of the clues were the name Bryan, Braums, and overalls. So we went to Braums and immediately saw a man in the parking lot wearing overalls. He was with his family, so we approached them and let them know what we were doing. The man was intrigued. We asked him his name and discovered that his name was Bryan. We showed him our list and he was totally into it. We asked him if we could pray for him and he said yes that his family needed prayer because his uncle had died recently. He gathered his family together and we all prayed for his family. They left really excited and thankful for us talking to them and praying for them.”
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“I crossed paths with a friend who I hadn't seen in over twenty years. We went to dinner and had some great conversations about the Lord. The Lord brought me a new person of peace.”
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“I unexpectedly had to have a C-section three weeks early. Thankfully the Lord provided a very quick and easy recovery!! He also completely healed my 5-week old son of RSV, which included a hospital admittance. This made going back to work easy! Praise Jesus!”
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“God has provided a counselor that both my parents like!”
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“God gave me the grace to be kind and gracious to my husband in a very busy, trying season in his life.”
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“While pregnant, I asked the Lord for a safe and healthy delivery-- but also that he would make it so that I could continue taking care of my family. He did! No sleep lost, an unusual and unbelievably quick labor and recovery, a super healthy baby, and the ability to "keep rolling" as a mom. It has been clearly a gift from the Lord and an answer to my prayers!!”
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“I recently prayed for a friends knee to be healed and the Lord healed it!!”
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“I prayed that God would intervene in a financial situation with my dad and He did more than I even prayed for! God is good!!”
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“The Lord has provided community to us through this cluster and individual families in this cluster reaching out to us in specific tangible ways. We feel loved and included.”
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“When I was dating the man who would become my husband, God gave me a vision for who He intended for him to be. My husband had suffered a difficult, painful childhood and carried a lot of those wounds and burdens with him. I have prayed for several years for the Lord to heal these hurts and bring him freedom. I saw some small ways that the Lord healed and changed him, but he still remained trapped by many of the lies of the enemy. Well, in these last couple of months the Lord has totally captivated my husband and he is a different man. He is becoming the husband, the father, and the man that God created him to be. I am so thankful that God is faithful, and that he will complete the worked that he has started in my husband.”
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04/04/09

“I would like to thank God for healing me of my lower back pain. I have been having it for quite a while now. Even though it was not very painful, it was very uncomfortable to me especially when I had to ride the bus to Oklahoma City. Last semester, during one of the D-groups, I asked my D-group to pray for my back and they did. God instantly healed my back and I have no pain in my lower back now. Even now, if the pain does come back it goes away in a very short time and I feel better. Thank you God for healing me!”
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“I recently met a man while I was running. Our encounter took a serious turn when he started revealing how he had been suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts. In our conversation, he told me he had been studying paganism and explained some of his views. I shared that I believed God could take depression from people. I prayed for him and spoke the truth that Jesus had taken his suicidal thoughts and his depression. I then explained that it was his job to walk in that and take it for the truth. We exchanged phone numbers and I continued with my run.
A week later, he called me and told me that he had not suffered from any depression or any suicidal thoughts. He also told me that he had become bored with paganism. He said he wanted to study Christianity and mentioned how he didn’t think he could get bored with Christ!”
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“I tore my MCL twice a year and a half ago and had not been able to play basketball since. I got prayed for at D Group and was immediately healed. Some of my friends kept asking me to go to the doctor to get confirmation. I didn’t feel like I needed to because I was experiencing the benefit of the healing. Honestly, I didn’t want to go the doctor because of what he might find and I started to doubt that I was healed.

I finally went back to my doctor 3 weeks ago and had him check me out. He ran his tests and confirmed that I had definitely torn my MCL and meniscus disc but “somehow” it had been put back together. He said my knee was fine, and that I didn’t need to come back and see him!!”
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“A friend of mine fell last week on some marble stairs and hurt her tailbone. We went hiking on Saturday and she was in a lot of pain. It hurt her to bend, sit, and walk. To pick up anything off of the ground, she had to squat and keep her torso upright.

On Sunday at mini-cluster a few of us began praying for her. I placed my hand on her tailbone and prayed first. While praying I began to feel heat in my finger tips, another girl started praying and our friend began laughing because she began feeling the heat in her back too. She started to describe what she was feeling, and she hopped up and was able to bend over sit and move WITHOUT ANY PAIN. She was able to do things she literally couldn’t do 10 minutes earlier.
Amen! “
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“A couple of months ago I was on a treasure hunt with some friends. We were not encountering a whole lot of people who were open to what we were doing. Some of our clues were fountain, red shirt, jeans, and heart. When my group arrived at the fountain there was no one there. We did however, notice someone sitting on a bench off in the distance. Everyone noticed him but since he was not at the fountain we did not approach him. We waited and no one came to the fountain so we decided to approach the guy sitting on the bench. As we walked in his direction we noticed he was also wearing a red shirt and jeans. He was getting up and leaving so we caught up to him and explained what we were doing. We asked him if there was anything that we could pray for him. He said he needed us to pray for his heart because it was recently broken by his girlfriend. He began to cry as we prayed for him explaining that this was the craziest thing that has ever happened to him. He was also wearing a red shirt and jeans.”
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04/03/09

“My mom had a dream where she was reading a piece of paper, and on the margins of the paper it said “doxo” and “doxology”. She asked if I knew what it meant. It was crazy because in one of my classes, the professor a few days before had written “doxo” and “doxology” on the board and explained how the words meant praise and thanksgiving. I told my mom and she said she thought the Lord was saying that she needed to return praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.”
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“We’ve been praying that my dad would get a permanent job for a long time. Recently, the Lord answered our prayers and opened the doors f or my dad to get one. This has a been a huge burden lifted off of our shoulders. ”
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“My co-worker and I prayed for my boss recently. He told us he had been mourning the loss of his daughter and had been dealing with it with drinking alcohol. He said he felt like he was on the brink of depression and falling into alcoholism. We prayed for him, and asked the Lord to provide love and restoration for him.

At the end of the week, he came up to me and hugged me. He told me had not had a drink since we prayed for him. His daughter’s birthday was that week and instead of falling into depression he gave God thanks for her and for restoring his life. Praise God!”
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“My roommates and I were hanging out in our apartment and our Indian friend was over. We had just recently taken her to cluster and had really been praying that the Lord speaks to her and opens her heart to His mighty love. As we were talking to her, we realized that she really needed some prayer over some issues in her life. She was really struggling with worry and anxiety about the upcoming season in her life. We offered to pray for her, and she accepted. We prayed the Lord’s love and provision over her life. We also prayed that that Lord would reveal himself to her.

After we prayed for her, she had tears streaming down her face. She was sincerely touched that we had taken the time to pray for her. As a Hindu, she rarely has anyone pray for her, and throughout her struggle, she said that we were the only ones who had prayed for her. In that moment, it was amazing to see how the Lord comforted her and gave her a peace that can only come from His amazing love. How precious is the Lord to His children!”
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3/5/09

“My mother had surgery recently and was supposed to be recovered in 2 weeks. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks she was still in pain. I prayed that God would heal her and she would be pain free. Randomly, her doctor showed up at her work, she explained how she was feeling and the doctor said she needed to get back to the hospital. They did some tests and found an abscess in her stomach. The doctor said if they had not found it, it could have been fatal. They removed it and she was pain free! God sent that doctor to see my mom, and answered our prayers!”
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3/3/09

“While treasure hunting one night, we ended up at Wal-Mart. Our clues we had were the name Beverly, toilet paper, two braids, trigger, blue hooded sweatshirt, and brown jacket. We immediately went to the toilet paper aisle and saw a guy walking off with some toilet paper in his hand. We stopped him, and told him what we were doing and that we thought that the Lord wanted him to be His treasure that night. He said that he needed prayer for his tuition to come in time for school—otherwise he would have to move back home to Burundi, Africa. After we prayed he said it was really weird that we stopped him because his parents and friends had all been telling him to pray to God for the money. He was really amazed and said that he had been struggling to pray for it, but now he had encouragement and words to pray for the money.

We then went to the hunting section, searching for something with a “trigger” and saw a woman with a long braid. Since two braids were our clues, we stopped to talk to her. Her name was Christina, and after we told her about our treasure hunt she laughed and said that a few months earlier the exact same thing had happened to her. In a previous treasure hunt, she had received prayer and the Lord had physical healed her! Christina then started preaching to us about God’s love. How awesome!! We then prayed for her and she received it and felt very grateful.

When we showed Christina the list of clues to see if she recognized anything, she pointed out a woman named Beverly (a name on the list!) shelving items right behind us. She also pointed out that Beverly usually wore a braid in her hair as well (there were 2 braids on our list!). We then went and talked with Beverly and told her what we were doing. She was surprised that Beverly was actually a name on our list and we soon had her attention. She asked for prayer for her children. After we prayed, Beverly looked physically touched. We felt the presence of the Lord while we were praying and told her that the Lord wanted her to know that He loves her, and that the Kingdom of God was very near to her. She was tearing up and thanked us and left.

Finally, on the way out of Wal-Mart, we saw a guy with a blue hooded sweatshirt with a brown jacket over it. We chased him down and talked to him about our treasure hunt. He said that he was a believer and said he wanted prayer for guidance in his life. After we prayed for him, he said to us, “I needed that!”

The next day, my roommate found out what had happened the night before on our treasure hunt, and she recognized the description of the student from Burundi. He was a friend that she has known for awhile. Immediately, she called him to tell him that her friends were the ones that had prayed for him the night before. When she asked him what he was doing, he said he was in the bursar’s office paying his tuition!!!! The Lord provided for him the very morning after he prayed!
Praise the Lord for His provision and love!
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2/27/09

“I work on Sunday mornings and some of my co-workers and I have started gathering and talking about God regularly. Since we started doing it we’ve actually seen a lot of healings take place.

We prayed for one of my co-worker’s sleep apnea a month ago. For several years, she had been using a machine, every night, to help her with it. Since we prayed for her she has not had a problem and she returned to work thanking all of us.”
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2/25/09

“At the end of last semester, my roommate was just short of passing a class he needed to continue with his degree. He was anxiously waiting to go beg his professor the next morning for grace with the few decimal points he was lacking. I asked him if I could pray with him. He’d never heard a real prayer to Jesus before and was a little apprehensive. We prayed for mercy from his professor and that my friend would find peace and satisfaction in the effort he’d put in. That he’d realize what he’d accomplished and be willing to let go of what was out of his hands. Afterwards, my friend said that he felt a lot more calm once we prayed.

The next day, his professor relented and bumped up his grade, also adding that he never did that for his students. I had lunch with my roommate later that day and he seemed genuinely moved.”
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2/24/09

“The Lord is restoring relationships in my life. One lie I have continued to believe is that I am bad at any sort of relationship including my relationship with the Lord. He is breaking that lie and is restoring my relationship with some of my friends and since then my relationship with Him is so much better!”
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2/18/09

“One day at work, a co-worker of mine felt like she broke her right big toe while doing something at work that day. I said, "I hope you're joking" because we had already been short-staffed and I knew it'd be really tough if she couldn't work for the next several weeks. She said "No I’m not joking." So I asked if I could pray for her and she said yes. So I laid my hand on her right big toe and asked for Jesus to heal her. After I finished praying for her, I asked her if she would like to stand up and walk on it to see if Jesus healed her. She said "No, I'll wait a minute because I want to enjoy a few more minutes of being pain free because it hurts when I walk on it." So I said "Okay" and went and sat down on a couch across the room and began watching TV.

About 5 or 10 minutes later, I heard my co-worker behind me in the distance say really loud "Oh my gosh!! No way!!" I turned around with great anticipation and saw her walking just fine and she said her toe was 100% better. I even asked her after work if her toe was still perfect and she said "Yes." Then I got to affirm the Lord's love for her and tell her that it was because God loved her so much that He healed her. Praise Jesus!!”
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2/15/09

“This summer I am going on a missions trip to share the good news of Jesus. Three of my team members and I got together to pray. We were praying for God's supernatural provision financially. We were asking the Lord for Him to show us His promises for this summer. I got a picture of one of the girls on our team running up to me with a big bag that said BANK on it. It was a huge bag filled with money. We both were so joyful and laughing.

That night when I got home I walked into my mom's closet and there was a bag sitting on the ground that said BANK on it. I opened the bag and found 42.65 ounces of silver, which is worth over $600.00. My mom said I could have it for my trip. I was overwhelmed with joy!
Praise the Lord! He always fulfills his promises!”
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2/7/09

“A couple of months ago, I went into work at to find that one of my patients felt like he was about to have a seizure. We'll call my patient Andy for privacy's sake. Andy said his vision was blurry, and that usually means there's a good chance he's going to have a seizure. A few minutes later, his arms began involuntarily raising up and Andy began getting worried. In the past when his arms start raising, he always has a seizure. It's just a matter of minutes before it happens.

I asked Andy if I could pray for him and he said yes. So I prayed for him, but nothing happened. Se we put Andy in his bed and I then asked his brother if he would like to pray for Andy. His brother said "sure." So his brother put his hand on Andy's knee and I put my hand on Andy's shoulder. His brother prayed first and then I prayed.

After we finished praying, we both looked up at Andy and he said with much excitement "I feel good!!" And then I asked him, "So while we were praying all the pain went 100% away?" And Andy said, "Yeah!!" Then I explained to him why Jesus healed him and that it was because He loved Andy. Then Andy said "Thank you Jesus!!" a few times after that.

Also, several hours later, Andy again felt like he was going to have a seizure and began having the pre-seizure symptoms. But we prayed for him again and put him in bed and he never had a seizure for the rest of the day. Praise Jesus!!”
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1/30/09

“Fear has been my constant companion my entire life. Jesus really spoke to me yesterday and said that not only was fear my companion but that the spirit of fear had built a throne over my body and spirit. He said it was time to throw that spirit and his throne in hell where they belong and that Jesus would establish his throne over me, which can never be overcome. Nighttime is usually a dark time for me. Last night I was praying like crazy fighting off the spirit of fear. The Lord was kept reminding me what He had already won for me, and offered me His peace. I walked up to my front porch and two birds started flying at my head. It felt so distinctly like a spiritual attack. I started screaming and ran in my house feeling depressed that fear so easily overcame me once again.

Thirty minutes later I looked at my entry way and there sat a dead bird. I walked over and saw that his neck had been snapped perfectly. I believe the Lord gave me this prophetic sign to clearly show me that He would allow me to crush fear and satan underneath my feet! If he isn’t going to let a bird in my house, he sure isn’t going to let a demon or anything else in! I was filled with joy for the rest of my night and will continue to crush fear underneath my feet every time it comes my way!”
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1/27/09

“I was talking with a friend of mine who used to go to church years ago, but doesn't walk with Jesus. We have talked about spiritual things, but, it always seemed he was just not interested. Recently, I asked him how things were going and he said, "not very good." He went on to explain to me that he hadn't been paid for two months worth of work he had done for his client, and now was borrowing money from relatives, and that there had been some other hard things going on in his life as well. I listened to him explain everything and told him I would pray for his money situation.

We parted ways, and I immediately took a few minutes and began asking God to release my friend's finances. That the person in charge of writing checks at his client's office would be attentive to my friend's name and the work he had done. Also, I prayed that his name wouldn't slip through the cracks, but that his check would be sent and God's blessing would be poured out on his life.

The next day I asked him how he was doing and he said, "way better considering I have a check in my pocket." I said, "that's awesome!" He didn't openly attribute anything to the Lord, but this has brought a deeper level of openness between us and I'm continually praying for more!
Even the little things matter to Him.”
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1/20/09

“I have had a significant struggle with my weight since I was 6 years old. I dieted for the first time in the third grade. I dieted all through middle school and high school but could never control my eating habits. It has been like a prison and a battle with no end in sight. Since I started following the Lord two years ago he told me to stop dieting and trust him and wait on him to set me free.

In the past two years I have prayed everyday for freedom and seen no fruit and no change. This last season the Lord spoke to me about demonic strongholds and how to break them. My whole life I have heard demonic voices in my head telling me what to eat. They would not cease until I gave in and they would cruelly torment me.

The other day I went running, and the Lord spoke to me on the run. He told me that those demons were lying to me. They had convinced me that they had control over me. The Lord told me to declare the power and control that I have over them in Jesus. The voices left. I always thought those voices were my own thoughts but now I know that they were not. They are gone and have yet to return. I am free. Praise Jesus, the one who breaks all chains!”
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1/15/09

“I recently had a special encounter with an old friend of mine. She had strayed from the Lord, and had been living this way for an extended period of time. This had caused some tension in our friendship, because I had confronted her multiple times about it. However, our friendship somehow weathered the storm and we stayed friends even though she chose not to follow the Lord. The interesting thing about her is that she never became atheistic or anything, but she chose not to live the life she knew she needed to be living to be a true follower of Jesus.

I recently invited her to a weekend with a bunch of my girlfriends (which I know surprised her), but I wanted to spend some time with her. One night, people started sharing about how some of the girls had impacted their lives. After a few people had shared, my friend spoke up. With tears streaming down her face, she told us that she couldn't say all the wonderful things other people were saying because she wasn't following the Lord. But she wanted me to know how much my friendship meant to her. She couldn't say anything else after that because she was crying so hard. I knew something was going on deep inside of her. Then a little later, she told me she had to leave. I was worried, because she was visibly upset, so we left the room to talk.

She told me that she couldn't run from God any longer. She was tired of it and wanted to make some changes in her life. She decided she was going to move out of her boyfriend's house because she knew that was the next step she had to take. We talked a little longer, and I prayed for her and then she left. I called her the next day and she had moved out! I was so impressed with how quickly she followed through with her decision. She told me on the phone that being around all those holy women had an effect on her, and she was so thankful that she was able to be with us that weekend because of the work the Lord did in her heart. Praise God!”
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1/10/09

“An old friend and I randomly decided to start training together for a half marathon. It was a really great opportunity to meet with her almost daily. The second that we committed to running together, I knew that the Lord was going to do something... it was really cool!

During our training we became better friends and hung out more outside of our runs. At first she said she was open to going to church to meet people, but that she didn't want to give up certain things in her life like drinking and partying. I didn't pressure anything on her but I told her that she could still come even if she was not ready to give up her way of life, because she didn't want to be a hypocrite.

One of my roommates and I started meeting once a week to pray for our people of peace. We started praying that nothing would satisfy my friend. That drinking and partying and guys would all leave her empty. That nothing would fulfill her. Later that week we were at the gym and she said how she wasn't happy. That she is tired of drinking, that it seems like every night is like the night before and that college wasn't everything she thought it would be. It continued on like this for a while, sometimes we would talk about Jesus other times we just hung out or went running. And then a couple of weeks ago we went on a run and she told me how she wants to turn a new corner and really figure this "church stuff" out. She said she called her old youth pastor and is meeting with him over the break. She said that she is giving up partying and drinking completely and is really going to search for God.

I got to share so much truth with her that night! It was amazing!! She didn't really feel comfortable praying because she didn't think God would care about something like her happiness. She couldn't get past all the things that she had done and felt that God wouldn't want her. She kept saying things like "maybe when I've gone awhile without drinking"...or "Its going to be a long process (talking about her relationship with God). So I told her about Peter and how he wanted to wash Jesus' feet but Jesus wouldn't let him because he came to serve and not be served. I told her how Jesus wants her just as she is, that he'll meet her where she's at, and how much he loves her. Her eyes were watering and I could just tell her heart was opening to the Jesus.

The next Thursday she came to D-Group and loved it! She participated and didn't feel awkward and was completely honest about where she stood with God. She said that she thought it would be a long process but it had been really easy. She wished she would have run to the Lord sooner, but thought it was going to be too hard. Amen!

She said she feels comfortable talking to God, like he was another person. We got to put our hands on her and pray for her. Basically she is so hungry for God. Her roommate in the dorms told me that she gets so excited when she is about to hang out with people in our community. She said she feels so loved by them. She is so amazed that we can have fun without alcohol!

She is seeking and she will find! She is asking and she will receive!!! It's been so great to see Jesus pursuing her throughout the entire semester. I have been blessed to see Jesus completely redeem and restore her!! Praise Jesus!!"
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1/5/09

"In November 2008, my friend’s dad went into a near fatal heart rhythm on Thanksgiving Day putting the turkey into the oven. The ambulance came and they had to administer CPR. They had to shock him several times to get his heart back into rhythm. He had gone without oxygen for some time before the ambulance came, and his heart actually stopped on more than one occasion. They had to shock him about 10 times total, some at his home, and some at the hospital. When he got to the hospital he was posturing, which looks a little like a seizure, and is an indication of severe brain injury.

They tried a new procedure which cooled his body temperature down for 24 hours in an attempt to preserve his heart and his brain function. He was in a coma and couldn’t breathe on his own without a ventilator. My friend asked if we could come pray for him. So I sent an email to several people who I thought wouldn’t be intimidated by a brain damaged person in a coma…I told them I needed a “dead raising team”(a reference to a teaching we heard)… to pray over him and stand for healing.

There was only one man that could come since it was Thanksgiving. We went into his room in the ICU where he was cold and comatose. We felt God’s presence in the room when we prayed we declared that he would live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. I had a picture in my mind of an angel standing next to my friend’s dad, pouring out something on him, and I felt God told me that angel came in response to my friend’s prayers. So it was my prayer that when we anointed him with oil that the angel would pour out his oil on my friend’s dad. I was hesitant to mention the picture of the angel to my friend because I didn’t want to give her false hope, just in case nothing happened. But she kept praying about angels coming to her dad, so I told her about the picture I had of the angel. We left there pretty encouraged and had an unusual joy considering how grave the situation appeared.

That night, the man that come pray with me had a dream that he was standing next to my friend’s dad’s bed that he opened his eyes! The next morning they were going to warm his body up and see where we were. The man who had the dream anxiously called me wondering if the comatose man had opened his eyes, but the news was very grave. When he was warmed up, he had only the slightest evidence of ANY brain activity…his brain stem was unresponsive, his eyes were dilated, and he wasn’t breathing at all on his own, nor could he respond to pain or move at all. The doctor said it would almost certainly end in a fatality, and to be ready to make some tough decisions about taking him off the ventilator. They had decided to leave him on the ventilator for at least 24 to 36 more hours before taking him off. They thought he had just too much time without oxygen. This was terrible news to us, and the doctor sort of tried to discourage any expectation of recovery. But we agreed not to lower our expectation until my friend’s dad breathed his last breath.

They brought his 93 year old mother in that evening, presumably to say goodbye…he seemed to try to turn his head toward her when she spoke. And he seemed to be trying to open his eyes a bit. So they brought the neurologist back in for a re-evaluation. When the neurologist asked for a penlight to check his pupils for a response he said, “oh! I don’t need a flashlight…I can see his response without one!” He went on to say that he had never in his career seen someone come back like that. But he also said my friend’s dad was unconscious and that he needed to wake up. So we brought our team into pray again the next day, and when we were praying for him, he opened his eyes and looked at his daughter, then at me, and then the other man who had been praying with us, and they stayed open for a couple of minutes, just like the man praying with us had dreamed.

He later began breathing on his own, then remaining conscious much more, responding to verbal stimuli, and by the next weekend (the big 12 playoff weekend) he was taken off the ventilator and he looked at the tv and said, “I want to watch OU football”. Every day he was more and more aware, and he has since moved out of ICU, and he is interacting with his family, and all 3 of his doctors call him their “miracle patient”. One of the doctors said, Sir, you died! But the good Lord brought you back! Now my friend’s dad tells anyone who will listen that he died! But he is alive and well. He still has some recovery left, and has some memory loss, but each day he is a little better.

Please continue to pray for complete restoration, but he is truly a miracle."
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12/29/08

"A few weeks ago I wrote down a Treasure Hunt list to carry around with me as I went to work, class, etc. One of the items I had on my list was "broken bones". Later in the week I found out that my boss had broken his leg over the previous weekend. He was only coming into work a few hours a day so I didn't think I would have a chance to see him. I told another co-worker about it and he prayed asking God to give me wisdom and for an opportunity to pray for my boss's leg. At the end of that day, the same co-worker and I ran into our boss by the elevator. He was sitting in a wheelchair. He told us that he had an appointment in the next few days to determine whether or not he would have to get surgery. I got nervous and didn't say anything. As we walked away, my heart began to race and I knew I was supposed to pray for him. I ran downstairs and into the parking lot to catch him as he was leaving. I asked him if I could pray for his leg, and he said yes, that would be wonderful. I explained that I had a list of things I was looking for in order to pray, that one of them was broken bones, and then I prayed for his leg. This week I ran into my boss again and he told me that he went to the appointment and doesn't have to get surgery! He said he needs to rest his leg for two weeks, and then he told me, "you did good." Praise Jesus!"
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12/15/08

We were going to go on a treasure hunt and prayed asking the Lord to direct us and these are the clues that we felt we heard from God: Hastings, Blue Windbreaker, Braces, the name Sam, and someone in need of God’s Financial Provision. We went to Hastings and didn't find any of our clues. We were just about to give up and leave the store, when we saw a woman wearing a blue windbreaker. We looked at each other, he said, “Blue Windbreaker?” I nodded and walked toward the woman. We introduced ourselves and explained to her what we were doing at Hastings. She was very open to receiving prayer. She told us, after we introduced ourselves, that she had a friend who she and her husband had taken into their home. She had been in remission from cancer for four years but there were signs of cancer again. They had been struggling financially to try and pay for all of her medical bills and were praying that God would do something. She asked us to pray for them: This woman, our new friend with the blue windbreaker, her family, and her friend, the woman diagnosed with cancer. Before we started to pray, I told her that the one think that I had felt the Lord asking me to pray over the person with the blue windbreaker was financial provision. I showed her my list and she began to cry. We prayed over her and over her friend and asked the Lord to come through with healing power over her body and to provide for them financially.

After a short prayer,my friend told her that before we went out, he had a sense that God wanted the person we talked with to know that he was going to answer the prayer that this individual had been praying. Once again, tears welled up in her eyes as we shared.

I told her the other clue on my list was the name Sam. I told her that I felt like the name was a spiritual name over her. I told her a brief summary of the story of Samuel in the Old Testament and how even from a young age he heard from God. I told her that the Lord wanted to tell her that, even from a young age, she could hear from God, that she has a sense of God’s presence. As I shared with her, it was obvious, through openness and watery eyes, that these words were touching her deeply. I prayed the words over her, asking God to reveal himself to our windbreaker-wearing friend in this time of her life. I asked the Lord to bring his goodness to her and to use her to speak the goodness of God into the situations involving her family and friends. Once again, we continued talking and I smiled as I told her that the only thing on my list of things from the Lord that did not fit her description was “braces.” She went on to tell me that she had braces as a child, and laughed it off. It was a sweet time as we exchanged phone numbers and all hugged goodbye. What an amazing time! The Lord brought strangers together in a moment and through his goodness, touched all of our lives. Amazing. Thank you Jesus that you have come for us all."
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"My d-group and I met to go on a treasure hunt and one of us felt really strongly that the Lord wanted us to go to the Wal-Mart on the east side. Another girl in my d-group had a word for a woman with a single braid in her hair. When we got to Wal-Mart we found a woman working that fit the description. The girl in my d-group went and started explaining what we were doing. The woman turned away like she was trying to get away from us, but she actually put down what she was doing and pulled us into an isle. She said, "I completely believe in the power of God and will absolutely take your prayers." She asked us to pray for her shoulder, she has been having problems with it and her job is manual labor so she knew God was going to heal her. We gathered around her to pray and afterwards she told us she knew God was going to heal her. She said, "He completely healed my back previously and my shoulder already is better!"
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12/11/08

“My friend and I took our 6 children on a treasure hunt for Kingdom Treasure--people’s hearts. We prayed and asked the Lord to give us clues as to who he’d like to speak to today, to bless.

We read a story called The Treasure Hunt from The Jesus Storybook that tells the parable of the treasure in the field. It ends by talking about how God is our precious treasure...and that the hearts of his people are his treasure. So when we asked the kids what we were looking for on our treasure hunt, they all responded with things like “People’s hearts!”. It was great. We gave each kid (Ages 9, 7, 6, 4, 2, 2) a piece of paper and some markers and crayons and turned on some worship music for about 5 minutes. We prompted them to listen to what God put in their hearts and minds and draw pictures or write down what he said to him. My friend and I also asked the Lord to give us specific details to lead us to his people. We asked for places, specific details about what people look like, and physical or emotional sickness or difficulty.

After the 5 minutes, we compared notes and made a master list, including all the pictures they drew. There were a bunch of details we had in common- amazing.

We set out to follow the clues and ended up praying for 3 different people. Each place we went was confirmed with the details the kids’ provided. One of the kids drew a picture of a leaning oak tree with a person in a red shirt and blue jeans. My friend had a picture of a certain doorway and so we drove a little bit and found the doorway, knocked on the door and a man (and friend of ours!) came to the door in a red shirt and blue jeans, and there was an oak tree leaning over the front yard. The kids kept seeing the things they’d drawn, and so our response was to pray for these people the Lord pointed out to us. One of the kids had clues that included smoke detector, turquoise shirt, and motorcycle. We found this person smoking outside a tattoo parlor, standing beside a motorcycle. We showed him the picture one of the kids had drawn of him and the smoke detector and the motorcycle and asked if he had any lower back pain (our one strong physical ailment clue). He said yes and proceeded to allow all our children to lay hands on him to pray for complete healing. There is nothing more precious than watching your children lay hands on a stranger to pray for their hearts and bodies! We asked afterwards if he felt anything and he said, "Yes!" and then changed his mind to a "probably not". We’re still believing, though!”

The kids’ were enthusiastic about the whole thing--to them it seemed like the most normal thing to do, and just a fun afternoon activity. When we finished up, one of the kids said, “We can’t stop, Mom! I’ve still got more clues!”. I was so struck by the truth of that statement--that there is no stopping the treasure hunt for believers! This is an exercise in something that we should be pursuing all day at all times--the great Kingdom Adventure we’re privileged to be on as we seek to draw hearts to Jesus!
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“A group of women and I met to go on a treasure hunt. We gathered to pray and asked the Lord for clues to lead us to who He wanted to speak to. Some of the clues that the Lord gave us were, Hobby Lobby, paint, christmas decorations, the name Sarah, blonde hair, lonely and breaking up with boyfriend. We decided to head to Hobby Lobby. Once we got to the store we decided to go to the paint isle because of the "paint" clue. There was a lady who worked at Hobby Lobby putting a paint brush up at the end of the isle and then she left. We didn't think much of it because we thought we were searching for customers. As we walked around the store we noticed that there were hardly any customers in the store. We went to the christmas isle because of the "christmas decorations" clue.

When we got to the Christmas decorations isle we noticed that the same lady from the paint isle was on this isle too. The lady asked if we needed help and my friend said no thank you. After walking around the store some more we realized that we were supposed to ask that lady that we kept seeing that works at Hobby Lobby if she needs prayer. We begin searching for the lady but couldn't find her. She ended up finding us and we explained to her what a treasure hunt is. She introduced herself and her name was Sarah (one of the clues). Sarah said that she is a Christian and did missions for ten years. Lately she had felt a separation between her and God and has been crying out to Him but hasn't felt like she could get through to Him. My friend asked if she had been feeling lonely or had recently broken up with her boyfriend because those were two of our clues. She began to tear up and confirmed that she had just broken up with her boyfriend and was feeling lonely. I said " I know this might sounds weird but can we pray for you?" Her response was "others may think it is weird but I don't." We prayed for Sarah and spoke truth into her life letting her know that God loves her very much and he knows exactly what is going on in her life. We prayed blessing and assurance. At the end of her conversation Sarah said "I felt like I couldn't get through to God but He found me."
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12/5/08

“My “little sister” in my sorority is a modern dance major and hurt her ankle at a dance work shop this summer. She tore ligaments in her ankle and had to wear a boot for a month. When she got permission to stop wearing the boot her ankle was not fully healed and it was incredibly painful for her to walk on it. Some girls and I had prayed for it several times and it was getting a little better, but she still was not able to dance on it. At house church we prayed over her ankle again. Someone had a word for her that the Lord really wanted to heal her ankle, but He wanted her to claim the healing and declare it because He wanted His glory to come to the people in her life. While praying for her, her foot started tingling as if it had fallen asleep. When the tingling stopped she said it felt the same as it usually does. The next morning, she woke up and began stretching her ankle. Normally her ankle hurts the most when she first wakes up, but that day, as she began walking on it there was no pain! She couldn’t believe it so she stepped on it even harder and there was still no pain, she began jumping on it and still no pain! She went to dance classes and danced fully on her ankle and still there was zero pain! Since that day her ankle has been 100 percent healed!! Praise Jesus!”
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“A few people went on a treasure hunt and we ended up at Walmart. As we were walking around, me and another girl saw two sophomores that are in our sorority. We stopped to talk to them and realized that one of them has a walking boot on her foot. She said the doctor thinks that she has a crack in her bone. This is especially unfortunate because she is a ballet major. We asked if we could pray for her right there. After praying for her we realized that her name was one of the names on our clue list. She was really impacted that the Lord saw her and wanted to heal her. Two days later I saw her and she was really excited to tell me that the day after we prayed for her foot that she was feeling good enough to walk on it. The next day she was able to dance on her foot! She was so excited that she had been healed by Jesus!”
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“In my sorority a few of us from Norman Community make an announcement at chapter inviting anyone who needs prayer to come find us after chapter. We have had the chance to pray for several people through that and it has been really sweet. A few weeks ago, I received a text message from a girl whose sister had just been in a horrible car wreck with a couple of her preschool kids that she teaches. One of the little boys was in critical condition and was not supposed to live. She asked us to pray for him because she knew that we were in a “prayer group.” We began praying and claiming healing over the little boy. The next day she reported that the little boy was breathing on his own and that it was a complete miracle! I saw her a few days later, and she said the little boy was walking and she was in complete amazement of the Lord’s power. Since then I have been able to meet with her and talk to her more about the goodness of Jesus!”
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“My sister and I went on a treasure hunt one day and the Lord gave us a list of clues but we were both given the same clue of orange hoodie and finger. On the treasure hunt we were on we did not use the clues orange hoodie and finger so we decided to keep an eye out for them that week. A few days later I was at Classics with a girl in my house church and I saw a girl inside wearing an orange hoodie with her fingers taped together. I freaked out and began trying to figure out how to talk to her. We asked someone that worked there if she would come and talk to us. When she first came out she seemed intimidating, but once we told her about the clues and how she matched the description she became really soft and warm. She told us that she has JUST hurt her finger a few minutes before and just taped them. She quickly told us that she needed money for a car and a house. We prayer for her and then proclaimed the Lord’s goodness and nearness to her!
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10/15/08

“My aunt came into town and had an open wound on her leg that hadn't healed for many months. She had been to a number of specialists and a wound care clinic but nothing had helped. If the wound didn't close she was in danger of eventually having part of her leg removed.
My aunt is a believer but prayer for healing was not normal for her. My wife and I prayed for jesus to heal her. (and our 8 yr. old son) About 3 days later she called and said that her leg had started to heal. She called back about 3 weeks later saying God had healed her. Praise Jesus!”
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10/11/08

“We asked God to give us clues to who he was reaching out to, and asked him to use us to communicate with them. We wrote down the clues he gave us. They included, “Blue shirt, black high top tennis shoes, a fountain, and a sense that God wanted to lift a heaviness someone had been feeling. We walked went to several of the fountains around OU’s campus. We saw a guy with a blue shirt, black high top tennis shoes, near one of the fountains. We told him what we were doing and explained how he matched our clues and asked him if he was feeling the heaviness we had written down. I showed him what we had written down and he kept shaking his head in astonishment, saying “I can’t believe this.” He went on to say that, If this were any other day, week, or month I would have just blown you guys off. I’m a pretty strong skeptic. He said in the last year he had really started doubting God existed, and that just today he had been feeling really overwhelmed with his grandmother’s health. We prayed for healing for his grandma and spoke some encouragement to him. He told us before we left, that we should “keep doing this” and thanked us. Praise God!”
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10/10/08

“While playing Ultimate last Saturday at Church League Ultimate, one of our players was telling me about this intense pain and tightness in between his calf muscle and knee. It hurt so bad he couldn’t run, and therefore couldn’t play. We didn't formally pray for it, but I started declaring healing in Jesus' name after every point in our game. Several points passed without much change, but by the last point he was able to run outright! Yeah Jesus!”
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“We prayed and asked God if there was anyone we could go pray for. We wrote down the things that came to our minds and hearts. They included, “Hobby Lobby, IBC Bank, Signs Now, male, blue hooded sweatshirt, a list of needs and the name Michael.” So we realized that the 3 locations we got almost shared a parking lot. So we headed that direction. Almost immediately after we parked and got out of the car, I saw a guy wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt walking between Hobby Lobby and the Signs Now store. We approached him, explained to him that God sent us here to pray for him and asked if there was anything he needed prayer for. His first answer was for his friend Michael. I showed him the list that we had, and explained how he matched all of our clues, even his friend’s name. We told him how much God loved him and prayed for him right there. He wept almost the whole time and as we walked away he thanked us, and told us that he loved us.”
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10/9/08

“I've always had back issues. My bad back causes ankle swelling and pain. Whenever I have gone to any chiropractor or orthopedic doctor, they've told me, my hips are offset by way more than they should be, meaning one of my hips is higher than the other.
Whenever I am on my feet for long extended periods of time, especially just standing in place, I get terrible swelling in my ankles and I can hardly walk. I came to church on Sunday right from an extended time on my feet. I went to ask for prayer, and asked that my hips would return to even and my ankle pain would go away. When I was prayed for, my hip began to twitch. He asked if I was making it move, and I said no. As soon as he got done praying for me, my hip and ankles were a good amount better, but still had some pain. As the night wore on, they continued to get better, but I knew that usually my pain is the worst the next morning. When I woke up the next morning, I could get right out of bed and hardly even had a limp at all. I was able to walk fine all day and I have had no ankle pain. Praise God!”
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“I prayed for a guy at Celebration last month. He said he's heard stories about people getting healed, but never really thought about it for himself. He said that he had been having pain in his shoulders. So we prayed for healing. I asked him how it felt after we prayed and he raised his arms up. He said that he was able to raise them a little higher than he normally could. We prayed a second time and he said he would let me know how they felt the next day. HE went to his physical therapist and his range of motion was a lot better!”
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10/1/08

“This morning when I woke up, my lower back was hurting. It hurts often; usually when I'm sitting for a long time. It is a minor pain but it often bothers me.

I saw a physical therapist and he said that the muscles on the left side of my back were stronger than those on the right side and where they should be aligned one vertebra is higher than the other. It isn’t a major problem, but causes discomfort.

Last week someone at cluster stood up and said that while they were praying the Lord put on their hearts someone with lower back pain. I thought to myself, well I have lower back pain, but it's not that big of a deal. Right then I felt the Lord say to me, “It is a big deal to me.”

So I asked some girls to pray with me at the end of cluster. I didn't feel anything significant at the time, but my back was not hurting right then. I went home that afternoon and started studying. Every time I study my back hurts. But after a couple hours of sitting, I realized my back wasn't hurting. I wanted to test it out, so I did something that normally I cannot do. I bent down to touch my toes. I was able to touch my toes more so than I have in a long time. And without any pain! Praise Jesus! Even the things that may seem little to us, mean so much to Him!”
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Treasure Hunts:
The following stories are from friends gathering together and asking God to use us them in those moments to extend His love and healing to people in our city. All the stories include the group quieting their hearts and asking God to give them clues or insights for who He wanted to speak to, what they looked like, what their names were, where they were, and what they needed prayer for. They made a list of the places, names, appearances, needs, and unusual things that came to their minds and responded to the Lord by going out and looking for their clues.

“We gathered to pray and asked God to give us clues to who he wanted to reach out to. Some of our clues were “Wal-Mart, Pharmacy, Arches – maybe McDonalds, Knees, Anxiety, A wife who had father issues, an African-American woman with short hair, a female in a yellow shirt, gold jewelry, 9 o’clock, and a sense that God wanted to take a hard situation and turn it into to something good”

We decided to head to Wal-Mart because; it hit 3 clues, Wal-Mart, Pharmacy, and McDonalds.
We had two significant interactions.
We went to the pharmacy section first. We walked around for a while trying to get a sense of who God might want to touch. No one met our description but before we moved on I saw a guy by the knee and ankle braces, so I reluctantly decided to go ask him if he was having knee problems. He responded cordially that actually he had a fractured shin, a torn rotator cuff, and no cartlidge in either knee. He wanted to go play flag football with some of his friends but was afraid it would hurt too bad without a brace.

I told him about our clues: Wal-Mart, pharmacy, and knee problems. We asked if we could pray for him, and he said that would be great. We prayed for him right there in the aisle. I opened my eyes during the prayer and I saw a stack of “arch supports” just behind us. He thanked us afterwards and we all moved on.

As we walked away, he caught up to us and consulted us about buying a brace. He decided he wanted to give God a chance to heal him and walked away not purchasing anything. As he walked away, Jason mentioned when he put his hand on the guy’s shoulder he felt something in his arm and hand during the prayer. We took a moment right then and prayed again that God would respond to his not buying a brace as a step of faith. We all felt pretty encouraged by the interaction.

Later that day we got a call from a random friend. He asked if we had been out “healing people”. He explained that a close friend of his called him, and said some guys from Norman Community Church had prayed for him at Wal-Mart. He went on to say that he took a nap that afternoon, and when he woke up his knees felt better. He said he had to call someone because he was so excited!

I was ready to leave Wal-Mart after our interaction in the pharmacy. I thought we had already prayed with the person we were supposed to find. But for some reason we continued to wait around. Just before we were going to leave we saw “an African-American woman with short hair”, with “gold hoop earrings”, wearing “a yellow shirt” walk in.

We all sat there but didn’t do anything. She walked past us, grabbed a cart and went shopping. We decided to give it a shot and go talk with her. When we caught up to her, we found ourselves, in the clock aisle. (We mentioned the 9 o’clock clue later)

We told her that although this might seem strange, we were praying and asked God who he wanted to reach out to. We told her how we were led to Wal-Mart and she matched the description of the person God was looking for. She started freaking out, saying in amazement, “I can’t believe this”.

We showed her the list of clues God had given us and asked her if she needed prayer. She kept shaking her head in amazement, and started to cry. She made it clear that she needed Jesus to intervene in her life. She described some of her hardships to us and mentioned her father. We showed her the list again, and pointed out that “Father issues” was one of our clues.

She began to cry again and explained how she had witnessed as a child, her mother shoot and kill her father. This had brought up a lot of issues for her and had been something she had been dealing with her whole life.

We told her about the clue that God had given us, “To turn a hard situation into something good.” It felt like it resonated. We prayed for her right there. We told her to pay attention in the coming season because God wanted to bring restoration to her life and the situations she had shared with us.

She kept saying, “This is unbelievable!”
She shook her head in amazement again, wiped her tears, and thanked us for coming and praying for her.”
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9/24/08

"My d-group and I were praying together one night and one of the girls in the group asked us to pray for a rash that she had all over her body. It was even on her face. She was so fed up with the itching and discomfort that she made an appointment with a specialist to get it checked out. She had already had another doctor look at it and he could not figure out where it came from or even what it was. We prayed for her that night and the rash was still there but she said that when she woke up the next morning the rash had completely disappeared and she never had to go to that doctor appointment. Praise God!"
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"Our clues included the shape of shark teeth, candy cane, picnic tables, the name Ashley, and a list of injuries and needs. We began by walking around where we knew picnic tables were. The first place we went was abandoned, and the second place was empty too. We shrugged and started walking to the third and last place we knew there were picnic tables. About 200 yards in front of us we saw a girl walking. Strangely, I remembered seeing her walking around when we started walking and thought we needed to ask if we could pray for her. So we headed her direction, and she turned and headed ours. I was pretty nervous because I had never done anything like this. We walked by some red and white triangular flags and thought these could be the shark teeth and candy cane clues. As we approached her I asked if her name was Ashley, she enthusiastically responded, "No but my name is pretty close." We told her what we were doing and read to her our list of needs and injuries. She smiled tentatively, and said we could pray for her but she didn't want to tell us what for. We told her we understood that we were strangers and that this was a little weird, but we wanted her to know that God thinks she is beautiful, is thinking about her, and considers her a treasure. We prayed, and walked away. We prayed again when she left and thanked God for the encounter. When we split up and headed to our cars, one of our group members saw a girl sitting on a bench, crying into her hands. As he got closer he noticed it was the same girl we had just prayed for. He asked if she was okay, and she looked up, obviously moved and said, "Yes, these are happy tears!" He shared again that God loved her and would be found by those who seek after him. When he called to tell me I got goosebumps all over!"
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9/8/08

“Our 3 year old son had been waking up and asking us to make sure Captain Hook was not in his room. We soon realized this was becoming a fear in our son. We sat down and explained to him that we didn't have to be fearful of things because we know Jesus and He is our protector. He started walking around the house started saying, "Captain Hook, I'm not afraid of you, I know Jesus! He is my protector!" This summer we went to Disney World, and were eating lunch with the different Disney Princesses. His favorite princess from Beauty and the Beast came by our table to talk him. He stood up in his chair and said, "Belle, you are beautiful." She was immediately grateful, and treated him really kindly. She started telling him what a brave boy he was, and that she thought he could probably fight pirates. His whole face changed. But before we could say anything to stop him, He stood up in the middle of the restaurant and said, "I'm not afraid of pirates, I know Jesus!"
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"My cousin had some dental work done a few weeks ago and had been having jaw pain since then. Last month she came to Celebration with me. I asked her if she would like to get prayer with me for migraine headaches (we both get them) at the end of the service, she said "Yeah. God healed my jaw while I was sitting here tonight." She said that the pain had vanished. When I spoke with her later that week she said that the pain returned a couple of nights ago, but that she asked God to make it stop hurting again and that the pain went away.
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"A small group of us have been meeting every Thursday for several months now to go out into our city to pray and share Jesus with people who do not know him. This last Thursday, around 50 people showed up with out an invitation from those of us who were leading these time."
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“Last month, our 13-year-old niece called us and asked if she could come to church with us. We were both surprised and thrilled that she wanted to come. During worship that evening, I had a strong impression to pray for her, and had picture in my mind of her in white, being baptized. When I opened my eyes, my wife and a friend were sitting on either side of our niece, who was crying. After worship, I stayed in the service, while my wife and our friend took our niece to the foyer. She cried during most of that time and said she felt nauseated, hot, conviction from the Holy Spirit. She said she knew she needed a savior. She said that she recognized that she needed His help as she went into high school. But she said she felt she wasn't worthy of God's love and that she could never worship the way everyone else does in our church. During this time my wife and friend gently asked her if she was ready to take a step toward Jesus with prayer. My niece said she felt she wasn't worthy, but knew she had a need for His love and grace. After praying and talking with her for about half an hour, she excused herself for a moment and when she returned she wanted to pray. She said a sweet, simple prayer asking Jesus to be part of her life, to love her, and she admitted she her need of a savior to Him. After her prayer, the nausea ceased. She later said she felt the presence of the nausea was trying to keep her from praying. This last week my mother-in-law, our niece's grandmother, tearfully told a friend she could see a difference in our niece's behavior and outlook on life.”
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“A couple weeks ago a girl at my work said that she had a kidney stone. The CAT scan revealed that it was 4mm in diameter. That morning I said to some of my friends that we should pray and ask God to dissolve that thing. On our afternoon break, a few of us (believers and non-believers) prayed for Jesus to dissolve her kidney stone. A week later she announced that it started hurting again. On our way out of work, my friend and I prayed over her a second time. Three days later she came in and said that she passed the kidney stone. At first I was really disappointed that she wasn't healed. She then went on to explain that she had no pain when she passed it, and the stone had dissolved from 4mm to 1mm. We all knew that Jesus had dissolved the kidney stone! My friend exclaimed, "Praise God!" and another guy in my work said, "Just another testimony of the power of prayer." She is a believer and was really touched that we prayed for her and that God healed her!”
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“One friend pictured a bullseye, so determined to start somewhere, we headed to the Super Target store. Another clue we had written down was a “new parent with cancer”. As soon as we pulled into the Target parking lot, we saw a woman with a bandana on her head walking with a two or three year old child. She clearly was a cancer victim. As soon as we saw the, the group of us in the car got quiet as adrenaline surged through us. We got out of the car and approached her. We told her we wanted to pray for her and she seemed disinterested. I tried to explain to here that we had asked God for people to pray for, and felt God wanted to reach out to a new parent with cancer in this very location. The atmosphere changed, and she started to get emotional. We prayed, and nothing super dynamic happened, but you could feel that, in a gentle way, this woman experienced that God was thinking about her. Later we prayed again, for her healing, as her situation really impacted our hearts.”
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“We gathered, prayed, and made a list of what we heard from God. The list included a Blue Shirt, Depression / Hopelessness / Despair, the Laundry Room at a local apartment complex, and Peacefulness. We walked to the laundry room first. Immediately we saw a woman walking toward us on the sidewalk directly across from the laundry room. She was wearing, a blue shirt. We chatted with her, told her about the location thing and the shirt thing. Her eyes beginning to water, and her arms shaking with goosebumps, she asked us to pray for her post-partum depression (she was there with two young boys). When we explained that one of our specific senses related to God healing depression/hopelessness/despair, she began to tear up again. We prayed for her, and she left smiling and excited about telling her husband about what had happened.”
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9/1/08

“A girl came down at ministry time for prayer. She said that there was something that happened in her past that has caused her to never feel clean. We prayed for her and asked the holy spirit to come and cleanse her, the girl said she felt clean for the first time, she fully received God’s forgiveness, and that it felt like she had just taken a shower! “
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“In ministry time after celebration we prayed for a friend of mine who had a fractured disk in her back. She's a gymnast and this had been really holding her back and keeping her from tumbling because she was physically unable to arch her back. We prayed and her back got hot and then the pain left. She keeps sending me messages and letting me know that she's tumbling and arching her back all the time and all of her pain is gone. She also says that she and her mom are freaking out... in a good way!”
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“After Celebration, a friend and I went to visit our friend who is Hindu. She has chronic migraines and was dealing with one when we went over. We prayed for her and her headache left, she hasn't had one since! Praise Jesus!”
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8/29/08

"My friends and I met a man with chronic arm pain, we prayed for him and when we layed our hands on his arm it got warm, and when we finished praying he said "the pain had left his arm!"
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"The Lord has transformed my emotions. Everything I've felt in the past that would've been hurtful or bad is gone. The peace of the Lord has overcome me, and not even my emotions are bigger than the Lord."
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"God helped me survive and stay alive, and now I ask him for forgiveness."
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"My sister was delivered from a deep pain that had been oppressing her for a year and a half. The power of Jesus healed her. Two days earlier she said she didn't believe in Jesus any more, but now she does and knows that Jesus was the one who helped her."
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"I've had to wear special orthopedic shoes for a long time, but one of my friends got a word that we were supposed to pray for someone with foot problems. I explained to them I didn't have arches on the bottoms of my feet. They prayed for me and I felt the Lord give me arches. I ran for the first time and wasn't in pain. I even went to a special shoe store for them to test me feet and they confirmed that Lord had given me arches!"
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"I was raised in a non-christian home, but found God. I gave my life to Jesus and decided to spend my life following him, and it's been really awesome."
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"The Lord has been replacing my fear with faith. two people have my work were healed of physical pain and my brother was also healed from pain after I prayed for him over the phone. Praise God!!!"
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"For the last 2 years every time I would start to run I experienced pain in achilles tendon. I was hanging with some friends and one of them asked if anyone had been having trouble with their heals. They prayed for me and I went running after a couple of minutes and I was pain free!"
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"My ankle had been hurting all day and night because I had pulled something in it the night before. My friend prayed for it and when we got up to go into the other room it felt better, so I started jumping around on it."
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"While listening to a Bill Johnson podcast, the Lord healed my back. Bill asked people with back pain to stand up, so sitting alone in my room I did. Immediately all the pain in my back was gone. I had made an appointment with a doctor that same day, because it hurt to even stand or walk. I went on a rigorous run that day to check it out and make sure I was healed, and I was!"
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"I was at the mall and saw a guy on crutches. He had a soft cast on his leg, and after much deliberation, I went up to the guy and asked to pray for him. He said he had broken his leg and torn ligaments in his knee and ankle. I prayed a simple prayer and asked him how it felt. He said surprisingly better. He tested it out and could move his foot and ankle, and began to walk without his crutches. We prayed again and he said his leg got really hot while we prayed, and the Lord healed him."
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8/25/08

"I was sitting at home and a dark presence came over me, and filled my mind with accusing thoughts and isolating lies. A friend came over and prayed for me, and I was totally released from teh dark presence. This has never happened to me before and was as significant as God healing me of a broken arm or something!"
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"God has healed me from depression and taken away my daily anxiety. I have struggled with this for a year and a half."
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"I don't like to think about finances much, but one of my friends encouraged me to look at my budget and ask God to provide whatever I still needed. It turned out to be around $3,200. So I did it. That same day I found out that I had received more scholarships to school for $3,500."
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"Two of my friends prayed that God would heal me of my shin splints and they completely went away. I haven't had any problems since."
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"I prayed God would use me to heal someone. I asked God to give me some insight in who I should pray for. The phrase "Jason with a knee problem" came to my mind. That week me and some friends prayed for a guy named Jason who had torn his MCL, and needed surgery. He was 100% healed!"
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1/6/08

“During a time of intercessory prayer, someone received a picture from the Lord that He wanted to heal someone with pain in their hips. During ministry time at the end of Celebration, prayer was offered for anyone who fit that description.

A woman went down to the front to be prayed over. She had experienced pain in her left hip everyday for the last 10 years. While receiving prayer, this woman felt a strong sense of heat in her hip. The woman praying asked for full salvation of not only the soul but the body as well, including the healing of this hip. After receiving prayer, the woman returned to her seat with optimism. That first night, she did not feel any pain. She went a week without any pain before she told others that she had been healed. Now, months later she has not felt any pain in her hip since being prayed over!! Our God is so good!”
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