Step out of the boat Armadillo Man!

Barry calls me "Armadillo Man", because I talk about Bill Johnson's method of praying to the sick outside the church walls... giving encouraging words to strangers at the mall, but rarely act upon doing it because of fear. It is true... actually, I have a hard time giving encouraging words to people at church... fear, rejection and feeling inadequate come to mind... then he always tells me... if your like that I'm pill bug man... and if I'm like that, how do you think the others in our church feel? So true... sigh.
This past Saturday I had a break through experience (on the Cafe Fuego blog) and I felt really good... God had given me a special anointing.
After the meeting I went out to go for a walk and eat at Jack's for breakfast with Gary... as we were walking I told him what happened to me this morning at prayer... I shared with him about how I wanted to be able to step out and heal people in natural settings... when we got there the hostess put us right next to a man in a wheelchair... at that moment I knew I was supposed to pray for him... I started to sweat and feel weak... armadillo man began to want to hide... here was an opportunity for me to act on what Bill Johnson talked... I told Gary and he looked at me and tells me to go ahead and do it... my head and heart are pounding... I edged out and took a drink... stop and asked Gary what I should say to the family... "just tell them your a Christian and you felt like God wanted you to pray for him..." simple... I thought, that's why God gave me that special "anointing"... He knew I would need it in order to break through my fear of approaching strangers outside of the safety of a church setting... my first one to pray for on my own in a natural setting that was not part of a planned outreach... that's if Armadillo Man actually peeks out of the shell and goes over there... I edged out of my seat and stop... took another sip of my coke... the caffeine should help... Gary smiles and says... "Hey, the worst thing they could say is no thanks and your can sit down and eat breakfast in peace." So true... I edged out as far as my butt could go without falling off the seat, take one last sip... I rehearse what I was going to say... Gary's praying for me... I am out of the boat! As I stand there is no going back now... I walk over to the family... I tell them I'm a Christian and if it would be O.K. to pray for the man in the wheel chair... they don't speak English! But the woman says she will ask the man... they speak in Korean... they tell me they are strong Christian and wonder if I am a minister... I tell them I am a lay person... they look disappointed... undeterred I prayed that God's kingdom would come in this man's life and heal him...my prayer was short and simple... I asked if he could do anything he couldn't before... he smiled and said no... no matter... I felt really really good... you would have thought I would be discouraged that the man did not get out of his wheelchair and walk... I got out of the boat and did the will of God, prayed that the man would see heaven on earth in his life... I was glad "armadillo man" peaked his head out of his shell and did what Jesus would have done... my breakfast tasted real good that morning... better than it usually did... baby steps...
Smell the coffee!