In this episode, Catherine shares powerful testimonies from her Encounter class where people experienced physical healing and deep peace through prayer. These moments show that God is still actively working and healing today—not because of perfect words or special people, but because of simple obedience and saying “yes” to Him. The episode encourages listeners to step out in faith, trust the Holy Spirit, and believe that God can use them too. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
If you’re reading along, just know this has been slightly shortened to fit the space, so it might not match the audio word for word—but you’re not missing anything important. Today I would like to talk about some amazing things that have been happening during my Monday night class. Sometimes, during praise and worship, the Deacon leading the class will sense that the Lord wants to perform healings or show His personal love for us. He asks if anyone needs or wants prayer. If you do, you raise your hand, and those around you pray over you. We may not all feel comfortable praying for others, but the point of the class is to step out in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let’s step forward, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us.
In this class, we’ve been taught to assess the situation before and after prayer so we can see how God is working. Even asking how someone feels is an act of faith. When you pray, you want healing, but asking if anything has changed takes courage because they might say no. And sometimes they do. God always answers prayers, just not always how or when we expect. I’ve prayed for healing and not seen the result, but I trust God was still working. Asking what is happening is stepping out in faith.
When I begin to pray, I ask what they need and, if there’s pain, what level it is from 1 to 10 so we can compare later. After praying—maybe just a couple of minutes—we ask what they feel. Any change? Any warmth? What is the pain level now? We also ask them to share anything they notice from the Holy Spirit.
We do this because we pray with expectant faith. We expect God to show up. Jesus said in John 14:12-14 that those who believe will do the works He did, and more. If we ask in His name, He will do it. That doesn’t mean it always happens how or when we expect, but we can trust He is moving. One thing I love that we were taught is to say, “Don’t be nice.” Don’t pretend something happened just to make us feel better. God is the one doing the healing—He doesn’t need false praise. All the glory belongs to Him.
A few weeks ago, the Deacon felt the Lord wanted to heal that night. A woman in front of me raised her hand. Two of us prayed over her. She had severe stomach pain for months and couldn’t even enjoy a recent cruise. That night, her pain was a 10. After just a few minutes of prayer, it dropped to a 2. Praise God—He is so good!
The next day, I visited a friend with breathing issues. Doctors had found something in her lungs and needed more testing. I asked if I could pray for her, and she said yes. After praying, I asked if she felt anything. She said she felt peace come over her. Praise God! We didn’t see everything right away, but I know God is taking care of her. He knew she needed peace in that moment.
This past week, another woman asked for prayer. I didn’t hear her need, so I prayed in tongues. When asked how she felt, she also said she felt peace. Thank you, God—I love it!
Later, the Deacon said God was healing again and invited us to pray. I saw a woman raise her hand and went over. She had tightness and pain at about a 5 or 6. After prayer, it dropped to a 2. Praise God! She then mentioned feeling heavy pressure that kept her from standing.
We are also taught to invite an act of faith—trying something they couldn’t do before. I asked her to try standing, and she did, feeling a little better. We prayed again, giving all glory to God, and she improved even more. Later, she gave me a thumbs-up—and I saw her not just standing, but dancing. Praise God—you are amazing!
These things are incredible—and they are happening every day. God wants to do this in your life too. These miracles didn’t happen because we said the perfect words or did everything right. We’re just learning. They didn’t happen because we’re special. They happened because the Deacon listened and was brave enough to say yes—and we were brave enough to respond.
We stepped out, even when unsure. Even when afraid. Even when we didn’t feel good enough. We believed what Jesus said in John 14.
And here’s the truth—you can too.
God isn’t using us because we’re special. He’s using us because we said yes. We want to be His hands and feet—and so we are. The same is true for you.
You might be thinking this is amazing—but not for you. That’s not true. Anyone can be used by God if they say yes. You may feel too broken, too weak, or not holy enough. But God has already used people just like you to do incredible things.
Maybe you think you’re too old. That’s not true either. God doesn’t need you to change first. He just needs your yes: “Yes, Lord, use me.” He will do the rest.
I pray this witness plants a seed in your heart. Even if you’re not ready to say yes today, I pray the Lord shows you how He wants to use you. And when you see it, hear it, or feel it, I pray you say, “Yes, Lord, use me.”
I love you all so much, and I hope you have an incredible week!