Out team consisted of Donna Napolitano, Jana Lutovsky and myself.
Many of the clues on our Treasure Maps we found including: Red Hat, Candy Isle, Violet, Yogurt, Green Shoes, Pink Scarf, Right Knee, Lower Back, and Jean.
Our clue was green shoes and this young girl with her mom and dad was wearing them. I approached the father who was named James and told him about the Treasure Hunt and that we had Green Shoes as a clue. I pointed to my list and asked if he had a knee problem (right knee was a clue on my map) or a lower back problem (another clue on my map). He said he had a lower back problem and his wife had a right knee problem. James motioned for us to pray for her but she didn't want any part of this at first. I showed her my Map and that we had the clues Green Shoes, Lower Back and Right Knee. She was then more responsive to our requests to pray for her.
Her name was Lina and it turned out she had a tumor on her right knee. She felt hot when we were praying for her but the tumor didn't dissolve. We prayed multiple times for her. Then we prayed for her husband James for his lower back problems. His pain level was at 8.5 (from a scale from 1 - 10) when we started praying for him. After our first couple of prayers he said the pain went down to about a 4. After more prayers he said the pain was down to 0.5 and he was good.
We also prayed for a young girl (Katrina) who was by the Yogurt (Jana's clue) for her shoulder and after a couple of times she said she was completely healed. It turned out we had prayed for her Grandmother two weeks earlier when we were on another Treasure Hunt here at Wal*Mart.
We prayed for Justin who had a broken arm and Donna was able to share Jesus with him. We challenged him to ask Jesus to reveal Himself to him when he goes home and prays. His mom was blessed we prayed for him.
I had Red Hat on my list and near the end of out hunt we found her. Jana spotted her and her name was Geraldine. She had bunion problems and we prayed for her to be healed and after Jana said "bunions be gone" the woman said don't you need a physician to cut them off. We said something like Jesus is the Great Physician and He can totally heal her. She said something like "that can happen"? And we said Jesus can totally heal her. We prayed for her a number of times and she said her feet felt better. A friend with her was name Jean and Jana had her name on her Map. We prayed for God's wisdom for her. They were Christians and we talked about each other's churches. It was a great time talking to Jean.
We ran into a woman with a pink scarf (on my map) as we were leaving. She was an employee who said she didn't want to get fired because of us praying for her so we prayed for her as we walked out. She was naming a number of people to pray for too as we were walking out.
It was a wonderful night and it was a blessing to pray for so many people. God is good and people felt His presence tonight. Praise God.
Bob Holzner
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
First night at the ERs
First stop was West Suburban Medical Center.
Our team, Dan Pietrini, Carrie Rubenking and myself (Bob Holzner), walked up the the hospital and stepped through the doors to the Emergency Room. This was way out of my comfort zone. Each of us eased our way to a seat at different parts of the Waiting Room and blended in. It was very awkward at first as to what to say. What does one say? How do you start the conversation? I sheepishly looked around for the right someone to pray with in my area.
How in the world did I get to this point?
I must say it has been a journey and God was putting the pieces together gradually for me.
I was first blessed to be able to take the three Healing Classes VOP offered. Two things radically set me on a wonderful new course in my life. The first was when we were asked to come up with a healing word for someone in the room. While the directions were being said I had a thought about a particular illness. I first thought it was just me but it turned out to be a correct word about someone's illness. This never happened to me before. This was new territory and God was laying some foundation in my life.
The second exercise was to pray for healing for someone in the group. I was amazed that while I was praying for someone during this exercise the presence of the Holy Spirit fell upon the man and he felt God's healing hand. Nothing ever happened to me like this when I prayed for someone before and it was a break through for me. More foundation work from the Father.
I learned that God does talk to us today and that He heals people today. This was a bit new for me but I was excited to move forward with this new revelation in my life. After this I had been praying for people in church off and on but God was about to take me further still.
I was hanging with Mike McGee around this time and learned about Bill Johnson and Bethel Church. They actually went out and would pray for people on the streets to be healed. If someone had a cane, walker or wheelchair they were open encounters and they would offer to pray for them to be healed. Now that was radical and way out of my comfort zone. Praying for people in church was one thing but people I don't know on the streets was another.
Nonetheless, God was doing a work in me and I saw a woman with a walker and I felt the gentle urge from God to pray for her but I didn't have the courage. I still had fears and I felt bad I didn't pray for her. God worked with me through this and I eventually started praying for people I didn't know while I was out shopping. If I saw a cane I would ask them if I could pray for them. Remarkably nearly all of them let me pray from them. It wasn't that bad either after getting over the initial fears.
The downside was I felt a bit like a lone warrior for Christ. I wanted to be part of a team.
My desire to pray for people continued to grow and to be part of a team doing this. Then I heard about the Healing Seminar at Bethel Valparaiso and I joined the Prayer Team soon after. I was able to go to that seminar and we went on a Treasure Hunt and many people were healed miraculously (See Dan's post My Power Week # 1 & 2).
Great things were happening at VOP now with many people getting healed and I was stoked. Dan talked about his encounters on one Sunday and I talked to him briefly after church. The excitement was growing. The next week Dan dropped the bomb and said on Tuesday they were going to the ER to pray for people to be healed. After church I mentioned to Dan I would like to come too. God was moving, something beautiful was starting, and I wanted to follow.
So here I am. I turned to the young man with a small baby on my left and asked if he was waiting on the doctor? Seemed like a good starting conversation. He said no and someone he was with was inside getting taken care of. That seemed to end the conversation but I stumbled further and asked what they were being treated for if you don't mind me asking. Then I felt I needed to tell him who I was and what I was trying to get at. I said something like I wanted to pray for their loved one and I believe Jesus heals today. He said yes and that she might be having problems with the pregnancy. I prayed for her to be healed and there would be no problems with the pregnancy and the doctors would be amazed at her recovery. He thanked me and seemed very blessed.
I breathed a sign of relief as I began to get a feel for how things were unfolding this night. This was new ground for me and I am still learning. I looked around and I saw there was one small boy with a white identification wrist band. I made my way over to him and his mother. He had a rash on his chest and was waiting to see the doctor. I asked his mom if I could pray for him and she said yes. I asked the rash to be supernaturally healed and gone and when he went in to see the doctor the doctor would say "what rash." He seemed very happy to receive prayer. This wasn't so bad after all and to tell you the truth it was addicting. What we have been freely given we should freely give.
We went through the room and prayed for those who wanted prayer. It was still early so we decided to go to another ER to pray for people. We decided on Loretto Hospital in the Austin neighborhood.
As we walked out of the hospital a young man called out to us. It was the young man with the baby that I prayed with. He thanked us again as we were leaving and we blessed him again. That really felt good. Praise God.
Continued in The First Night - Part Two.
Our team, Dan Pietrini, Carrie Rubenking and myself (Bob Holzner), walked up the the hospital and stepped through the doors to the Emergency Room. This was way out of my comfort zone. Each of us eased our way to a seat at different parts of the Waiting Room and blended in. It was very awkward at first as to what to say. What does one say? How do you start the conversation? I sheepishly looked around for the right someone to pray with in my area.
How in the world did I get to this point?
I must say it has been a journey and God was putting the pieces together gradually for me.
I was first blessed to be able to take the three Healing Classes VOP offered. Two things radically set me on a wonderful new course in my life. The first was when we were asked to come up with a healing word for someone in the room. While the directions were being said I had a thought about a particular illness. I first thought it was just me but it turned out to be a correct word about someone's illness. This never happened to me before. This was new territory and God was laying some foundation in my life.
The second exercise was to pray for healing for someone in the group. I was amazed that while I was praying for someone during this exercise the presence of the Holy Spirit fell upon the man and he felt God's healing hand. Nothing ever happened to me like this when I prayed for someone before and it was a break through for me. More foundation work from the Father.
I learned that God does talk to us today and that He heals people today. This was a bit new for me but I was excited to move forward with this new revelation in my life. After this I had been praying for people in church off and on but God was about to take me further still.
I was hanging with Mike McGee around this time and learned about Bill Johnson and Bethel Church. They actually went out and would pray for people on the streets to be healed. If someone had a cane, walker or wheelchair they were open encounters and they would offer to pray for them to be healed. Now that was radical and way out of my comfort zone. Praying for people in church was one thing but people I don't know on the streets was another.
Nonetheless, God was doing a work in me and I saw a woman with a walker and I felt the gentle urge from God to pray for her but I didn't have the courage. I still had fears and I felt bad I didn't pray for her. God worked with me through this and I eventually started praying for people I didn't know while I was out shopping. If I saw a cane I would ask them if I could pray for them. Remarkably nearly all of them let me pray from them. It wasn't that bad either after getting over the initial fears.
The downside was I felt a bit like a lone warrior for Christ. I wanted to be part of a team.
My desire to pray for people continued to grow and to be part of a team doing this. Then I heard about the Healing Seminar at Bethel Valparaiso and I joined the Prayer Team soon after. I was able to go to that seminar and we went on a Treasure Hunt and many people were healed miraculously (See Dan's post My Power Week # 1 & 2).
Great things were happening at VOP now with many people getting healed and I was stoked. Dan talked about his encounters on one Sunday and I talked to him briefly after church. The excitement was growing. The next week Dan dropped the bomb and said on Tuesday they were going to the ER to pray for people to be healed. After church I mentioned to Dan I would like to come too. God was moving, something beautiful was starting, and I wanted to follow.
So here I am. I turned to the young man with a small baby on my left and asked if he was waiting on the doctor? Seemed like a good starting conversation. He said no and someone he was with was inside getting taken care of. That seemed to end the conversation but I stumbled further and asked what they were being treated for if you don't mind me asking. Then I felt I needed to tell him who I was and what I was trying to get at. I said something like I wanted to pray for their loved one and I believe Jesus heals today. He said yes and that she might be having problems with the pregnancy. I prayed for her to be healed and there would be no problems with the pregnancy and the doctors would be amazed at her recovery. He thanked me and seemed very blessed.
I breathed a sign of relief as I began to get a feel for how things were unfolding this night. This was new ground for me and I am still learning. I looked around and I saw there was one small boy with a white identification wrist band. I made my way over to him and his mother. He had a rash on his chest and was waiting to see the doctor. I asked his mom if I could pray for him and she said yes. I asked the rash to be supernaturally healed and gone and when he went in to see the doctor the doctor would say "what rash." He seemed very happy to receive prayer. This wasn't so bad after all and to tell you the truth it was addicting. What we have been freely given we should freely give.
We went through the room and prayed for those who wanted prayer. It was still early so we decided to go to another ER to pray for people. We decided on Loretto Hospital in the Austin neighborhood.
As we walked out of the hospital a young man called out to us. It was the young man with the baby that I prayed with. He thanked us again as we were leaving and we blessed him again. That really felt good. Praise God.
Continued in The First Night - Part Two.
What to do with rejection…
So the stories of people getting healed and having power encounters with God are awesome but what about those times when people reject you? What do you do when someone says no but you know that God wants to heal them or pour out his love on them? If you are going to seriously go out and “spread the love” I guarantee you that you will be rejected. I don’t say this to scare you but instead to prepare you.
So Nathan and I were out on a treasure hunt and we walked into a Home Depot. As soon as we walked in the lady at the paint counter caught both of our eyes. She was obviously in physical pain. You didn’t have to be prophetic to see this. After walking around the store we went up to her and offered prayer.
In a voice that sounded pretty offended she said, “Oh no. I pray for myself and I have family that prays for me. I don’t need your prayer.”
We made sure that she really didn’t want prayer and left her.
Another time I was at the bank and saw that the security guard had a limp. So I went over to him and offered prayer. His response was to tell me that if I wanted to I could pray for him when I said my prayers at night. But I said that I wanted to pray for him right now. He still said no and kind of gave me that signal that said, “If you don’t leave I will make you leave.”
After these kinds of encounters it is easy to just say, “Forget it. I don’t want to do this anymore.” Or “This must not be something that I am supposed to do. God would have made it easier if it had been.” After all, who wants to be rejected anyway?
We have to push through these thoughts. Something that helps me to get past this is to know that they are not rejecting me…they are rejecting God. The two most common reasons that I have found that people don’t want receive prayer are that they have been hurt by the church in the past or they don’t want to call attention to themselves. They don’t want to look silly. There are ways to get around the walls people have set up and maybe I will go into that in later posts but the main thing to remember is that if you were to stop doing something because you were rejected once, the only thing you would ever do is sit at home doing nothing…and I mean nothing. Even the TV can make you feel rejected at times.
You might have heard the theory that if you want to see people healed, you should make it a goal to pray for a thousand people if that is what it takes to see one person healed…and pray for a thousand more if that is what it takes to see a second person healed. It is all but a guarantee that if you pray for two thousand people to be healed you will see some very powerful acts of God and will see many healings. I propose that if you don’t want to be afraid to approach people and ask them for prayer then you should prepare yourself for being rejected a thousand times. I can all but guarantee that after a thousand rejections they will just bounce off of you.
My advice is just do it. What is the worst that can happen? They say no. They don’t get healed. Your prophetic word was wrong. Remember it is not your responsibility to heal people, it is God’s.
Rock on for Jesus!!!
So Nathan and I were out on a treasure hunt and we walked into a Home Depot. As soon as we walked in the lady at the paint counter caught both of our eyes. She was obviously in physical pain. You didn’t have to be prophetic to see this. After walking around the store we went up to her and offered prayer.
In a voice that sounded pretty offended she said, “Oh no. I pray for myself and I have family that prays for me. I don’t need your prayer.”
We made sure that she really didn’t want prayer and left her.
Another time I was at the bank and saw that the security guard had a limp. So I went over to him and offered prayer. His response was to tell me that if I wanted to I could pray for him when I said my prayers at night. But I said that I wanted to pray for him right now. He still said no and kind of gave me that signal that said, “If you don’t leave I will make you leave.”
After these kinds of encounters it is easy to just say, “Forget it. I don’t want to do this anymore.” Or “This must not be something that I am supposed to do. God would have made it easier if it had been.” After all, who wants to be rejected anyway?
We have to push through these thoughts. Something that helps me to get past this is to know that they are not rejecting me…they are rejecting God. The two most common reasons that I have found that people don’t want receive prayer are that they have been hurt by the church in the past or they don’t want to call attention to themselves. They don’t want to look silly. There are ways to get around the walls people have set up and maybe I will go into that in later posts but the main thing to remember is that if you were to stop doing something because you were rejected once, the only thing you would ever do is sit at home doing nothing…and I mean nothing. Even the TV can make you feel rejected at times.
You might have heard the theory that if you want to see people healed, you should make it a goal to pray for a thousand people if that is what it takes to see one person healed…and pray for a thousand more if that is what it takes to see a second person healed. It is all but a guarantee that if you pray for two thousand people to be healed you will see some very powerful acts of God and will see many healings. I propose that if you don’t want to be afraid to approach people and ask them for prayer then you should prepare yourself for being rejected a thousand times. I can all but guarantee that after a thousand rejections they will just bounce off of you.
My advice is just do it. What is the worst that can happen? They say no. They don’t get healed. Your prophetic word was wrong. Remember it is not your responsibility to heal people, it is God’s.
Rock on for Jesus!!!
Pizza anyone???
So at work we decided to have an office lunch party once a week. The first week we ordered pizza. I happened to be coming back from a showing just as the pizza lady was walking up to the front stairs. I said hi to her and asked if that was the pizza for us. She said it was and I let her in and told her that our office was on the third floor. (By the way, there are no elevators.) At this she looked at me and I could see pain in her eyes.
She said, “Can you call them to come down here. I have arthritis and it is very painful to walk up stairs.”
My heart sank at this and I gave our office a call to bring down the money. As we were standing there waiting for someone to come down with the money I was debating the best way to ask her if I could pray for her.
When the money came down I told her that we are Christians and that we believe that God heals people today and offered to pray for her. What was interesting to me was that she wanted prayer but not for healing. She proceeded to tell us about how her husband had died and she saw him everywhere and how she could not let go. Her heart was broken and she wanted it to be fixed.
So we prayed for her heart and that God would bring her comfort and peace…and of course we prayed for her arthritis. After we were done she said she felt good. I asked how her arthritis was and asked her to check it out to see if it was any different. She tested it on a few steps and looked up in amazement.
“Oh my goodness! It doesn’t hurt any more.” She said.
I said one more quick prayer for her and blessed her and she left…with no pain. Go God.
Rock on for Jesus!!!
She said, “Can you call them to come down here. I have arthritis and it is very painful to walk up stairs.”
My heart sank at this and I gave our office a call to bring down the money. As we were standing there waiting for someone to come down with the money I was debating the best way to ask her if I could pray for her.
When the money came down I told her that we are Christians and that we believe that God heals people today and offered to pray for her. What was interesting to me was that she wanted prayer but not for healing. She proceeded to tell us about how her husband had died and she saw him everywhere and how she could not let go. Her heart was broken and she wanted it to be fixed.
So we prayed for her heart and that God would bring her comfort and peace…and of course we prayed for her arthritis. After we were done she said she felt good. I asked how her arthritis was and asked her to check it out to see if it was any different. She tested it on a few steps and looked up in amazement.
“Oh my goodness! It doesn’t hurt any more.” She said.
I said one more quick prayer for her and blessed her and she left…with no pain. Go God.
Rock on for Jesus!!!
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