Whenever I preach at homeless meals and love the flock, I find myself praying with anywhere from a few to dozens of people.  These people can run the gamut of faith from strong believers to people with active enmity toward God and no relationship, or positive awareness of Jesus.  When they ask for, or at least allow me to pray, it is usually because the Holy Spirit has revealed them to me as someone in need of prayer.  Typically, I will just roll up on them, look them in the eye, smile and extend my hand in fellowship.  99% of the time they will take it, sometimes even before they realize they have done so.  The believers who really have the Holy Spirit always recognize me as a fellow sojourner and so when we speak then, they immediately get to the purpose for which they want/need prayer.  Now, as I have been doing this for over twenty years and know some of these saints almost as long, we have not only this Kingdom relationship, but also a real personal relationship, so it is not surprising that they feel comfortable going before the Throne of Grace in their time of need with me.   This is also usually true of people I meet for the first time if they are truly walking with Christ.

There are those however, who take my hand almost before they realize it, and then are almost fearful when they realize that they have done so.  These are the lost homeless ones who have been traveling and existing in the darkness of the world for so long that they have almost forgotten what a positive human relationship looks like.  Much like Jesus ministered to the demoniac who lived among the graves and of whom all the others, including the disciples, were afraid, I have been given the gift of fearlessness because of the Love of God which compels this ministry.   Even these somehow know that the Hand of Grace is out to them and when I ask them if they would like prayer for their situation, they say yes (again, almost before they realize they have done so).

With both of these types of people, believers and unbelievers alike, as the Holy Spirit has drawn me to them, they are drawn to the Holy Spirit that resides in me.    I begin by asking simple questions (again as the Spirit leads me) to establish rapport, much as I have done for years as an Executive Recruiter with high level candidates and C-level hiring managers.  This establishment of rapport must be done on an equal footing, with the person that I am ministering to feeling important to me in that moment, and believing that I am not “talking down” to them (which I truly am not).  The fact that they are poor and mostly homeless only increases their value to God and to me.  Jesus said “as we have done unto the least of those among us, we have done so unto Him”.  That then, is how I will relate to each person I meet.  I let them know by my words, but also my demeanor, that it is my privilege to get to know them.

With that rapport established, and Spirit-led questions asked and answered, it is time to pray.  The “interview” has now united my soul and Spirit with God’s intention for this prayer and so when I pray, it is with the Mind of Christ, the purpose of God the Father and the Love of the Holy Spirit as the Son asks His Father for the Will of God to be done in the life of this person.  I rarely pray for what a person asks, but the prayer of the Spirit that comes from my lips answers the deeper need of their heart and THEY KNOW IT!  This is the true power of prayer as the Apostle James said “in faith, believing”.

My friends, I have seen many miracles because of God’s Grace toward the poor (and all who would come to Him in their need).  I know many pastors of large churches who languish to see the miracles among their flock that I see every day!  It is likely because they do not, in many cases, KNOW the flock as a true shepherd must.  When a church has thousands of members, it is understandable.  In the Kingdom, less is more and smaller is likely better for this reason.  I know many GREAT teachers of Scripture but very few tenderhearted and Spirit-led shepherds who take the time to know the flock.  Both teachers and shepherds are needed in every church family, and not only out in the mission field with the poor.

As I have said before, if you have received Jesus the Messiah as your Lord and decided to follow Him wherever He leads you, and then if you are also submitted to Him in real time (because that was what you asked of Him) then you too can do the things that I am doing in Christ.  Jesus Himself said that through the Holy Spirit’s guidance “the things that I have done, you will also do, and greater than these”.

 

With the Love and Truth of Christ,

 

John Henry Raskin

Roadhouse Rabbi