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Monday, October 12, 2015

Make It a Matter of Prayer

Pocket Full of Quarters Journey 2015
Make It a Matter of Prayer

Written In Sedona, Arizona
By Cheryle M. Touchton
The Pocket Full of Quarters Lady

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18


Does prayer matter to you? Do you believe it changes things? Is it as essential to you as your food and water? Is it your first response to everything? One of the things I like best about evangelizing with Kathy Hollenberry is how much she depends on to do the work of evangelism. It is absolutely why we lead so many people to Christ when we are together.

In 2015, Kathy and I have evangelized together in Tennessee, Washington DC, Virginia, New York, Washington state, and Arizona. I have lost count of how many we've led to Christ together but I know that in the last 7 days, 43 people prayed with us to meet Jesus. We bounce back and forth between taking the evangelism lead while the other prays. We stop between salvations to pray. We pray over stores, people, ambulances and fire trucks. We do devotions and prayer in the morning and pray at every meal. We stop and pray aloud when something scares us, breaks our heart, or inspires us. Basically, during our time together, we make everything a matter of prayer.

We'd evangelized in Sedona, Arizona before so we knew we were entering a spiritual battle ground. Beautiful Sedona is a New Age hub for the world. Shops selling crystals, readings, aura photographs, vortex tours, and the like are everywhere, sometimes 3-4 in a block. This week, we stopped and prayed as we passed these shops and went inside to pray and evangelize at many.

The first day in Sedona was hard. We talked with many, locals and tourists, offering the same loving approach we always use but were shut down for various reasons at every encounter. No one smiled and some glared or stared as we walked past, without even knowing what we were doing. The spiritual darkness was thick enough to feel and when it grew dark outside, we simply couldn't take it another minute.

We decided to return to the hotel and as we walked back to Hallelujah, Kathy stopped and prayed, "Lord, send us a Divine Encounter. We really need something uplifting."

I added, "Yes Lord. We're going back to our hotel room feeling the darkness of this place. It would be a favor to us if you would send us something uplifting."

We began walking again and God answered our prayer a minute later when a woman said, "Why don't you come into my store?" It was a toy store, so you didn't have to ask me twice. We went inside and laughed as we both bought toys for grandchildren. That by itself was uplifting enough. However, God wasn't done blessing us. We offered the woman a Gospel bracelet, which pleased her. The good news the bracelet represented pleased her even more. In just a few minutes, this woman happily and joyfully prayed to receive Jesus. She was having knee pain so Kathy offered to pray for her knees. During the prayer, the woman felt a healing tingling from God pass through her knees and when we left the store, she was feeling good spiritually and physically. Prayer matters!

Kathy and I immediately sent out texts, social media posts, and e-mails requesting prayer for the next day in Sedona. The response was instantaneous as people wrote back and reposted our requests. Below is a portion of what our friend and prayer warrior Julie Airis wrote:

"John 8:12: Jesus said I am the Light of the world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the Light of Life. Lord cover Kathy and Cheryle with your glorious light! May the darkness flee away from them and not harm them in any way. May the glory of God illuminate them and cause your opposers to fear you and be delivered from their great darkness! Make your invitation to forgiveness and to inherit heaven irresistible and grant they will put their faith in you Lord."

Kathy and I praised God for such a direct answer to prayer. We slept well and woke up the next morning ready to go. Before we left the hotel, 4 workers had met Jesus. The entire day was filled with light. When we pulled back into our hotel at 9 PM, 21 people had met Jesus in a single day. Yes, we still had dark and disturbing encounters but prayer had protected and empowered us.

I encourage you to make everything a matter of prayer. When something disturbs you, stop immediately and pray. Praise God when good things happen. Be bold and pray aloud as you walk down the sidewalk and through the grocery stores. Pray while driving, sitting in church, and in the shower. Hang out with people who think that kind of praying is normal and will stop and pray aloud with you no matter where you are. Text your friends to ask for prayer about everything - just don't do it while you are driving.


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