Excerpt from Chapter 10 of New: Wineskins and the Simple Words of Christ

A few years ago, a college group I was leading felt led to do a water bottle ministry every Saturday at a large park in our hometown. The park was filled with thousands of walkers and joggers every day, but especially on Saturdays. We would bring about 100 iced-down water bottles in coolers and ask passers by if they would like a free bottle of water. If they agreed, we would come alongside them, hand them the water, and ask if there was anything we could pray for them about.

If they declined prayer, we would say, “God bless you,” and go back to passing out water. If they asked for prayer, we would ask if we could pray for them right then. They could continue to walk, jog, or stop. We would pray with them however they felt comfortable; they didn’t even have to close their eyes. Then we would begin to pray as God led. God did many miraculous things through that ministry, and we established some good relationships with both Christians and non-Christians.

Before we would go out, we would meet at church for a brief devotional and prayer time. During one of those times, as we were praying for the folks we would encounter, a picture suddenly flashed into my mind. I saw a fit, blonde woman in blue athletic attire who had body image issues—and then the picture was gone. I shared the vision with the others, and we asked God to bless the woman and demonstrate His love to her.

We arrived at the park, and God blessed many people. However, after an hour of passing out water and praying for folks, no blonde woman in blue had come my way. I was starting to become downcast, as there was only one bottle of water left. But just then, seemingly out of nowhere, the woman came walking right toward me.

I asked if she’d like some water, and she gladly accepted. Then I asked if there was anything I could pray for her about. She looked me in the eye, then looked away and said, “Peace.” I asked, “Would it be okay if I prayed for you right now?” She agreed. I thanked God for His great love for her, for His faithfulness to His Word, and that He is near to the humble. I thanked Him that she was humbling herself right then and believing in the power of prayer. I then asked God to demonstrate His nearness to her.

I asked that she would stop trying to find peace in things of this world, like beauty, wealth, and human approval. I asked that she would be healed from the fear that people would reject her. I asked that she would come to believe in the depths of her soul that the One who truly sees her as she is— the One who knows her best, loves her most, and demonstrated that love by sending His Son to die and rise again for her. I prayed that the Lord of peace would give her His peace at all times and in every way.

When I closed the prayer, she was in tears but was smiling. She asked how I knew to pray that. I told her that God knew her completely and was giving her a sign that His way for her was the best, that he would be with her through whatever changes He was calling her to make, and that He was giving her a sign to believe in Jesus. She walked away overjoyed, knowing the Lord of heaven and earth cared immensely about her and loved her more than she had ever realized.

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