But, Lord, I'm A Southern Baptist

Deliverence

Sunday, February 9, 1997, is a day that I will never forget. I walked to church that day with much anxiety. Yet I also felt a boldness that I�d never felt before. There wasn�t a doubt in my mind that I was going to share my testimony. But I was somewhat uneasy because I knew I would be sharing some things that were very foreign to my congregation.

God helped me to speak with boldness and power. After my testimony, I invited people to come forward for prayer. In shock, many of the people came forward, prompted by the Holy Spirit. As I prayed with the people, God moved in an incredible way. Two people fell under the power of God, and many others received powerful touches from Him. Some were physically healed, and about half the church body experienced genuine personal revival.

Of the two who fell, one was a 53-year-old woman who had been living with deep-rooted scars. As a child, she had been physically and sexually abused by her father. She suffered from emotional trauma brought on by years of codependency, alcohol abuse and personal degradation. She�d also had an affair with a leader of the denomination to which she belonged. This woman had died inside, and for 17 years she stayed away from church, living with the terrible darkness of her past.

She had been attending Pythian Avenue for three years. During this time, I attempted to counsel her, but the scars were too deep. She couldn�t get past the pain that had caused her to become so angry at God. She needed a touch from God, not intellectual psychology.

God flooded her life on this morning. The moment I began to pray for her, she fell on the floor, where she remained for 25 minutes. Finally, two deacons picked her up and carried her to a pew. I wasn�t sure whether to be happy or concerned, because for the next 20 minutes she sat and stared straight ahead without uttering a word. I hadn�t had any experience with services like this before, so I didn�t know what was happening or what to do! All I knew was that God was blowing through that place in a glorious way.

Eventually, I approached her and asked, "SISTER, ARE YOU OKAY?" She looked up at me and her eyes filled with tears. In a trembling voice, she exclaimed, "FINALLY I�M FREE!" Fifty years of pain and scars had been melted away in an instant with one powerful touch from the Holy Spirit.