Changed By Love

Last Thursday night was a special night for Anna and for me.

We had just started attending meetings of a special group of people who minister to people on the streets of York. They have meetings for Bible study and worship on Thursdays. The first time we went, God highlighted Anna to the leader of the ministry. He asked her to open the meeting in prayer. I was surprised that he asked and surprised that she did it with such poise and ease. He asked her if she played guitar, and she said she did, and he told her to bring it next time. The next week she couldn’t play guitar because she had sprained her pinkie. The ministry leader, Edgar, asked her to read Psalm 91. This was something else that surprised me, because she hasn’t been very confident in her oral reading at home. But she was very clear and fluent and read it very well. And once again she was anointed and there were some who said they were touched by her reading.

By the third meeting, her pinkie was well, and she took her guitar, ready to do whatever Edgar and God asked her to do. He saw her as soon as we walked in and asked her to lead worship that night.

Now I didn’t know how Anna would handle this, but I had told Edgar that she just plays and sings what the Lord gives her. So I prayed like crazy while she tuned her guitar and started to play. She played a song that a friend taught her, the first real song she ever played on guitar. It went really well. Then she strummed whatever the Holy Spirit led her to strum. The anointing was great. People sat still and listened and worshiped silently. Then one man read a scripture while she strummed, then another prayed. Everyone recognized the sweet presence of the Lord and that there didn’t need to be a song that everyone knew or could sing for worship to be happening.

The Spirit was obviously there and ministered to hearts during the time of worship. Then we heard a message from the Word.

Then Edgar asked Anna to play again. I got nervous because I didn’t think Anna knew any other songs. And she had been having a hard time getting words to sing like she usually does. But God helped her to play some songs that she had just started working on the week before. And she strummed and let the Lord just have His way.

The whole group was so excited about her gift. The teacher had prayed for her after she sang the first time and asked me to come up, too, and he prayed for our whole family and affirmed me as her mother for the work I had done in her life. He didn’t know me at all. He had to ask, “Where are her parents?” before he prayed, because the Lord prompted Him to pray for her parents and family, too. It was like being in the Prophecy Rooms at IHOP again. The Lord gave me a kiss, letting me know that He’s still proud of me, and I’m still doing a good job of raising my children. It was so good for me to hear that. It was like cool water to my spirit.

The outpouring of love and admiration of what God has given her made Anna feel humbled and exhilarated at the same time. The response was almost overwhelming. But she kept it all in perspective. She knows that it’s all from God and that He gets all the praise. That it’s not about her, it’s about glorifying Him.

I was extremely proud of her and thankful for all that God is doing in her and through her.

Here’s a link to a video of her singing.

Anna singing at wHoly Chicken