Meanwhile back at the ranch, we met our next speaker and teacher. Ed McClasson was the pastor of the Anaheim Stadium Vineyard. He was a former American football player and a giant of a man. As our time at the Ranch was drawing to a close, he invited certain individuals to come up for prayer. He asked those going on missions with any doubt to stand for prayer. They should clarify if their mission was for God's glory or for men's. I needed to be sure, as this was very important to me.

 

Ed looked at us and immediately turned to me, saying, “You can sit down! It is done! You don’t have that problem anymore.” What a wonderful relief that was! Ed reminded us of Acts 3:19-21; "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus." Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets."

 

As we heard more stories of renewal from Toronto, Ed encouraged us to follow this scripture in Acts. He told us to "Stand up, repent, and turn to God, then receive His wonderful refreshing." We stood in a half circle around him, at least an arm's length away. I was one of the first on his left side, and as he extended his arm towards me, I felt the power of God strongly. His finger touched my forehead. I went flying backwards, out of control. I was grateful that Lloyd walked into the classroom at that moment. He quickly kicked the chair behind me out of the way and caught me. As I hit the floor, I began to scream with uncontrollable laughter and couldn’t stop. I don’t remember ever laughing so much. Everyone in the room, including Mark, the director of the school, was on the floor as well. It felt like there was an unexplainable force keeping us down.

 

Some laughed. Some prophesied. It was a heavenly mess and incredible. I remember dragging a chair with one arm behind my head to prop it up against its leg so I could see what God was doing. I had to lift my head with my hand because I had no strength in my neck to lift it. Ed decided that his work was done and left us there while he went to lunch. We remained flat on the ground under the power of God’s Spirit for about 40 minutes, unable to get up. It was an awesome experience. One student rolled around with laughter and prophesied, “If you rest, I will work; if you work, I will rest.”

 

The next day, all the students gathered to pray for one another. We began with worship, and during this time, a few people went down again. Tara, an eighteen-year-old from Australia with long curly blond hair, was lying on the floor on her side, arms up as if in worship. I thought she must have fallen asleep after going down under the power of the Holy Spirit, so we just ignored her.

As we prayed for Carol, Bruce, who was next to me, also prayed for her. But, he couldn't get past his first word. This happened several times. Eventually, someone asked him, “Are you going to pray Bruce?” “I’m trying!” he replied, “but every time I open my mouth, I speak gobbledygook.” We all burst out laughing. “Oh dear! The Lord just gave you the gift of tongues!” I remembered that earlier at the Ranch, Bruce had doubted praying in tongues. They were good, solid, old-fashioned Anglicans. But now, facing what seemed to be a big problem, we encouraged him to try praying.

As we prayed for Carol, Tara, who seemed asleep, propped up her upper body with her arm. With her long blonde hair covering her face, she began to prophesy. When she finished, she flopped back to the floor in the same position. We all stared at her in amazement. This was something new! We hadn’t seen someone prophesy while seemingly asleep before.

 

We gathered to pray for Janine. To our amusement, the same thing happened with Tara, our "sleeping prophet." What made it truly wonderful was that everyone contributed. They each added a picture, a word, or a scripture. It was very encouraging. Whenever I shared a picture or a word, someone else would share a word or scripture that echoed the same message. I received four words for myself, which blessed me. Even Tara, the sleeping prophet, shared with me saying “God gave her tremendous authority.”

 

At that moment, I felt a burning sensation in my heart and on my top lip. Tara then added, “The authority is so hot, it will be on your lips.” Esther shared a vision of me rolling over and said, “God is blessing you from every side.” Liana had a similar image of a street lamp, symbolizing God’s blessings. She encouraged me, saying, “You just have to move and step into it.” This reminds me of how we have experienced God’s blessings in many ways. The journey hasn’t been easy. We've carried heavy burdens. But, His love endures forever. He has always cared for us and provided for us. Janine expressed that she sensed an amazing presence of peace surrounding me. She remarked that it was so strong that it would also affect those around me.

 

I hope to share this peace, as I don’t always feel like the most peaceful person. Helena instructed me to return my ministry to God, saying, “Let Him do it for you.” This message was confirmed by Liana and Bruce. I often had to surrender our church plant to God. I knew we could not manage it without His help. We present Him with problems as big as a skip full of rubble. Yet, He gives us only a tiny pebble to care for. Overall, we had a wonderful time praying for each other. With God’s gifts flowing among us, sharing in prayer was a deeply uplifting experience. I wish every prayer gathering could be like this. (All these names I’ve mentioned here were fellow students at the Ranch.)