[violent prayer and walmart; changing the atmosphere where you work]

it is no great secret that i am currently working at walmart to help to build my finances to move on to the next phase of my life. what happened last week, no one could have seen coming.

what began as regular customer-associate interaction quickly became something greater. a customer had a keychain with a leather cutout of africa and i asked her if she had ever been there. she said she had. and not just to any part of africa, she had been to tanzania- the very place i have just returned from three months ago. we talked for a few minutes in english and broken swahili and then she left.

the next customer walked up to the counter and asked me why i had gone over there. after i told him, he had all sorts of questions: do you miss it? would you ever go back? did you witness any miracles? why do you think more miracles happen over there than here in america? what do you think about exorcism?

i answered the questions as they came, but that last one took me a bit by surprise. i explained demonic oppression and how people who are set free from it often tend to be healed from diseases.

then he told me about his 4-year-old grandson who was adopted out of a drug-addict home. despite having adhd, whenever the child was told of Jesus, he would shriek and cry Jesus doesn't like me!

and he asked if i would pray for jaime. i told him i would and that we could pray right then too.

i'd like to tell you that he came back that afternoon and told me jaime was set free; but he didn't. i'd like to tell you that the prayer changed the lives of everyone present; but i only know how it affected mine. i'd like to tell you that people were saved that day in walmart; but from what i know, nothing else extraordinary happened.

i know it wasn't a short, sweet and quiet prayer; but i wasn't pacing (i wanted to) and i wasn't shouting (in tongues or otherwise). it was a violent prayer. i know this because it changed the atmosphere in my little section of walmart. other customers had bowed their heads and were praying along. no one who could get me in trouble wandered through. and after he left, walmart felt different. and it still feels different.

the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force

do you feel that you need to separate your work life from your personal life? do you feel that you need to separate your religious life from your secular life? allow me to let you in on a big secret: there is no separation. if you try to separate the two you will be miserable and oppressed.

no man can serve two masters, he will hate one and serve the other; you cannot serve God and [things].

no one's opinions should ever dictate your spiritual life.

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...