Stop, Hammer Time…U Can’t Touch This.

“Open my senses Jesus.”

I prayed that prayer all summer.

“Show me your heart. I want to see, hear, smell, and taste you.”

 I forgot one sense though. Touch. Jesus has opened up the sense of touch to me and that was something I did not expect. He allows me to feel what people or objects are carrying (for example spirit of happiness, sadness, insecurity, etc). This doesn’t always happen, but it sometimes does. I can’t make this stuff up. It usually just hits me without me expecting it to come. 

 Touch….

 The first time I squeezed the hand of a homeless woman who sits on the sidewalk of the night bazaar  with a nameless 6 week old child in her arms, sadness immediately flooded my body from head to toe. It took me completely off guard because I didn’t feel any sadness looking at her. I asked my teammates who were with me to pray and the sadness left within a few minutes and I was myself again. The next time I saw and touched her the same thing happened but not as extreme as the first time. It was like Jesus let me feel a lot the first time so I could be aware and not be able to deny it; the second time He revealed less because I didn’t need to feel it with as much strength because I already knew what I was feeling and how to deal with the emotion.

 Sometimes when I lay my hands on someone to pray for them, I can immediately sense if they are heavy or carrying something because I tangibly feel their heaviness in my own body. That helps me pray for them in a more personal way.     

    He has opened other senses too….

 When I walked near a bar during a day time “prayer walk”, it felt like someone was standing on my chest. I asked the people I was with to pray it off and it went away. Later in the week we went inside that same bar, but this time at night. I saw pictures of Thai children inside with white males, which means there is possibility children are being exploited there behind closed doors. There are dark things going on there and that’s why I felt the pain in my chest. But that night in the bar, I didn’t feel the pain in my chest like I did on the prayer walk because I already claimed that Jesus had authority over that. As I was sitting at a table talking to a girl in the same bar, I sensed something strong and felt as though something was standing behind me, staring me down. I turned to look and there was a demonic (man made) statue in the shadows behind me with red, glowing eyes. I turned back around and just focused on Jesus, remembering His faithfulness. Even though that statue is still sitting in the bar, the sense that something was watching me went away when I focused on Jesus. 

  In my experience so far, senses come like waves. Feeling of heaviness will come when passing one building and then immediately lift when we keep walking. What is interesting is that sometimes it is past the point of feeling uneasy, my body occasionally physically aches and is in pain, but it will immediately go away with prayer or distance from an area. God is not a God of pain, but I do know He is okay with me feeling heaviness sometimes to give me more insight, warn me, or teach me about a place. He always lifts heaviness and I have had to become reliant on that truth. 

  No matter what we feel, we need to be in constant prayer so it doesn’t go too far and become something we shouldn’t be carrying. We also need to ask why we are feeling that way. Jesus will ultimately lift heavy feelings when He wants and He loves us enough to show us the dark places around us that need hope. At first it was a burden to me, I hated walking anywhere in the city. It’s still hard, but now, it’s making me rely more on Jesus every time I walk anywhere, even if it’s just down the street to McDonalds to get 1/2 priced french fries (best thing EVER!!!) 

Jesus is faithful. 

He will never leave His children alone in battle.