By Chris O’Dell, serving with Envision in Tapei, Taiwan
As we finished a recent Sunday service at The Aroma church, Caleb, a partner in ministry who manages our coffee shop, turned to me and said, “Can you let everyone know that if they have pain in their bodies, Jesus wants to take care of it? Tell them they can come up and we’ll pray for them after the service.” I love it when we get a specific word from God—a sense that He might do something special in a given moment of time. It’s exciting to be directly involved in God’s redemptive work that extends to our hearts, minds, and bodies.
Earlier that evening, we had focused on the theme of forgiveness and healing from Isaiah 53: “By His wounds we are healed.” As I prayed a blessing to close the service, I extended an invitation for those who wanted prayer for healing. “Jesus wants to take care of that tonight,” I said.
Several people stayed, and we prayed for them, one at a time, inviting the Holy Spirit to come and release God’s healing power. Following Jesus’ example in the gospels, we commanded pain to leave and spoke blessings over each person. Four excited women testified that the pain in their bodies was gone and that they were reminded of their identity in Christ as God’s children, who are appropriated to receive His healing in their lives. I was reminded of the vision God has given us,The Aroma Church, to help everyone “smell,” “become,” and “spread” His aroma. 