THURSDAY
(Reynosa, Mexico – June, 2007)
Our last morning, during ATL, God directed me to Covering Prayer. I asked why and Linda came to mind. David had just told us that the other group was not able to go that morning, so there would be another chance. Thus, Linda would be able to give her testimony to the girls at the detention center as she had really wanted to do, but not yet been told to do in ATL. I had a minute to share with her that God had told me to pray for her. I also offered some words of encouragement. This was actually one main thing God had me doing consistently on this mission trip. It happened about 15 times. I would find myself in a position to give just the words that a person needed in order to better accomplish what God needed them to do. It may not sound as glorious as bringing a new Soul to Christ as others did, but that is the purpose He had me fill so that others could more effectively do the tasks He had set for them.
On the way to our covering prayer room, I got an incredibly nauseous feeling in my stomach at the same time I was thinking about Linda. I thought I would be sick which was really bizarre for me since I typically have an iron stomach. Once I got into the prayer room I did say a prayer for her, but it was nowhere near the most powerful prayer that God had me say in there. So it seemed strange until I talked to Linda again that night. She said that her conversation with me had really eased her and everything had flowed smoothly for her when she was with the girl. She had felt really queasy at first, and then all of a sudden, this feeling left her and she was at perfect peace in sharing with these girls. She was surprised at just how serene she could be in this situation.
I didn’t understand what was happening at the time, but our feelings and emotions transferred to each other so that I took on her nausea, and she took on my calmness (I had been incredibly serene every since the Covering Prayer experience involving my mother the day before). Linda was able to take this calmness and have an incredible conversation with this young girl which really touched both of them.
Meanwhile, I was praying for them while feeling a strange nausea. What I’ve learned over the last few years is that sometimes we are thrown into a spiritual battle that we don’t know anything about. He assigns us to pray for a person or a thing and we experience emotions or feelings that really don’t belong to us. This is called Travail. We must keep our wits and pray in the way that He is calling us to. We may find out soon what this was about, as I did in this case. Or we may not find out until the afterlife, but you can be sure that if He is leading you to pray through this situation, He will bless your prayers and others will be blessed through them.
Ever experienced something similar? Share with others by commenting – and send this post to someone you care about.