My Mom Healed, A Friend Encouraged, & God Speaking Through Dreams

Wow. I've got a few testimonies to share already since the Encounter ended, and I'm so pumped for what God's doing; it's awesome. When I was home yesterday evening, my mom was still dealing with a really bad migraine that she'd got after taking a nap. I've prayed for her to be healed before, but she hasn't really been healed any of those times. This time however, very soon after I prayed for God to heal her, she was completely healed. Her migraine was entirely gone and she felt completely better. So that's a huge praise report right there.

Another thing that happened last night was when a close friend of mine called who was (and is) going through a really tough time in their life. As we were talking I prayed that God would speak through me, and that my words would be His words. Shortly after I'd prayed, God gave me Psalm 93 for my friend:

"The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty! Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore."

God spoke a lot to my friend, and one thing was that God is mightier than anything he can go through; that God's power, and God's love is bigger than any situation or circumstance. No matter how tough life can get, God is always bigger and stronger than anything that we can endure. A lot of what God spoke to me during the Encounter also came to mind in talking to my friend, such as how God created the human heart with different desires that God wants to fulfill. It was really cool for God to bring me this opportunity to grow, and to give Him glory. I know He's going to move in a huge way in my friend's life, and though it sucks that they had to hit a sort of "rock bottom" for God to show them something important, God is still faithful nonetheless and I know that a lot of good is going to come out of the situation that my friend's going through.

Last night I had an insane dream, and I've never had God really speak to me through a dream, let alone give me Scripture in my dreams, but last night He did. In my dream, my friends Jennae, Ashley, and I were sitting at a table during lunch. Next to us was a table of kids, one of which was an atheist kid that I ran cross-country with and is also in my AP stats class. In my dream, God told me to go speak to him. I was kind of nervous about doing it, but before I knew it, another friend of mine, Amber (who doesn't even go to my school) walked up to that table and said, "Hey guys, I'm really freaked out to do this, but I feel like God has a word that he wants me to share with you." In that instant I jumped up, walked over to the table and told Amber, "I'm so glad you did that, because God told me to speak to them but I was really nervous." She then said back to me, "Here, you can read this then." So I started reading Psalm 105, what God had given her to share (in the dream), and before I even got a couple of lines in, the atheist kid got really mad, and did something to get himself in trouble. He ended up going and sitting down by himself, and I think the dream ended with me going up to him and talking to him.

When I woke up this morning, I read Psalm 105, and it's really good. I shared it during prayer today at lunch, and it kind of gave me a vision and encouraged me as well as my friends that while there weren't many of us showing up for prayer and Youth on Fire (a ministry at lunch on Wednesday's to build up believers), God still had plans for us to take us into the "Promise Land", and while we may not see that in the natural, in the supernatural things were changing and as long as we pursue God wholeheartedly, He'll be faithful just as he was to Joshua and the Israelites, despite having to wait many years to get into the Promise Land due to the previous generation's unbelief in what God had for them.

I pretty much felt like a lunatic today at school... I hardly made it through all of my classes because all I wanted to do was be with God--whatever that looked like. Fortunately, God's with us wherever we go, and we don't have to go to a youth retreat or youth group to meet with Him. Although it is nice to be away from the distractions of the world so we can completely focus on Him. :)

For a bit of encouragement, I'll put some of my favorite parts from Psalm 105:

"Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!... (v. 8) He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac... (v. 12) When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation... (v. 14) he allowed no one to oppress them... (v. 43) So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!"