Let It Rain!

Sarah Talbert (Palmetto, FL)

Last Saturday, I heard a snap, a rumble and a roar, and then saw a rush of water begin to fall from heaven. God was speaking to me as I was falling asleep--it was as though we as the body of Christ had finally reached the breaking point, the tipping point and God released the waters of heaven to flood the Earth. (I think this was God; I’m still learning to hear His voice.) The next morning at church, the “Let it Rain” song we sang over and over seemed incredibly appropriate and prophetic in view of what I had seen the night before. Sunday and Monday night I continued to pray for more of God and for more of God's manifestations in my life.

Tuesday, I was at work at MCC, and the rain began to fall in the physical realm. A woman limped in the back door on crutches. She had a brace on her ankle and someone was carrying her backpack for her. Although I didn’t know it at the time, she had four fractures. “I want you to pray for her,” God told me.
 

I protested, “God, I don’t want to! What if she doesn’t get healed?” You can tell I had a lot of faith. :)Shortly after that, my job put me in contact with her twice, and at an appropriate time, I asked, “Hey, can I pray for you?” She gave me the strangest look and proceeded to tell me that her ankle would heal naturally in a few months. “I know,” I countered gently, “But can I pray for you?”  “Well, OK,” she said. “But what do I do? Stand up? Concentrate on my ankle?” I didn’t exactly know what to tell her to be honest, but I answered no; she didn’t have to concentrate on her ankle or stand. She could do whatever she wanted, and I was going to pray. So I did.
 

After I prayed, she asked me about my religion and I was able to speak a portion of the gospel to her. I also told her about my crazy friends in California who recently see everyone they pray for healed. As we talked, I remembered that Redding people generally ask newly-healed people how their [insert previously broken part of body here] now feels. Once again, I protested, “I don’t want to ask her that! What if she’s not healed?” But I once again mustered the courage and asked her how her ankle felt. She began to move it around. “Actually,” she said, “It’s feels a little better! It’s not all the way gone, but it feels better!” I told her we could pray again—sometimes it takes more than one prayer—but she didn’t seem to take me up on the offer.
 

I came back to see her later. “So?”
 

“This is so bizarre!” she told me. “I took my brace off and walked to the bathroom and back. And it’s gone! This is so bizarre! I was in the shower this morning wondering when this was going to end! Can we pray for my mom’s high blood pressure too?” We did.
 

She ended up walking out on crutches that day—she still had some pain and didn’t take me up on my offer to pray again. But when she came in two days later, she came in without crutches, told me that her mom’s blood pressure is so low that her mother asked herself, “Am I dead?” when she first saw it, and asked me to pray for her ankle again. Her mom came in to pick her up later in the day and we got to lay hands on her and pray for her arthritis to be healed.
 

I can’t tell you that she has come back to me to announce that she is totally healed yet. But I can say this. I was spending some time with God later in Thursday evening, and He showed me a picture of a bone. I couldn’t figure out why, but when I saw it for the second time, I remembered before too long that I had prayed for this woman’s ankle bones and her mother! So may she be healed in the name of Jesus!

When it first happened, my heart was surprised by the fact that God would use me to bring healing. I knew it was in His word, but I had felt subconsciously that God wouldn’t ever use me in that realm. But the rain of heaven is falling and healing is definitely not the only thing supernatural thing God did in my life this week as I sought Him and His heart! He gave me favor in my schoolwork and the new business endeavor I’m exploring, and He continued opening up the supernatural to me. He healed me too! The new information I have been receiving is finally leading to new beliefs and behaviors! And these results are most definitely leading to the entrenchment of my beliefs and a militancy to take the heart of God and the Kingdom by force! Praise the Lord!