It's not just about the music

G'day Leon Joplin, this is Don Taylor from the land down under. I was recently at the CCA convention, but now I’m back in Canberra, Australia. I wanted to write and share with you about the effect of your prayer on Thursday Nov. 6.

As you may recall, as I entered the Maxwell House with some sandwiches in a bag for lunch, you seemed to appear from nowhere in the lobby asking if you could pray for me. Now let me say, that generally I have problems with this sort of thing, particularly after a woman prayed for me and said “God told her that we should be married!”

But earlier that day, I went forward at Steve Bivin's invitation to increase my faith to see more of God operate in my life, and that I should step out of the boat with boldness and not hang on to its 'security'. Paula Slow came behind me and prayed powerfully for me.

Leon, you appeared at lunchtime, and I accepted your ministry. Thank you for your prayer for my physical health, my spiritual health and what was happening in my life.

What you didn't know was that I have an L4/ L5 disc problem, which a couple of years ago left me almost unable to move. I had to be lifted bodily from the car into the emergency department. Since then I have been on anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers and osteopathic massage and manipulation to keep me moving.

Recently I've had to take time out from my work as an IT consultant because sitting in the wrong chair or for prolonged periods rapidly regenerates the symptoms. So I was not looking forward to the long flight from Canberra to Nashville (the longest leg is 14 hours non-stop Sydney to LA). About three hours into that long leg, I felt my back go, so I started swallowing combined painkiller and muscle relaxants to get me through the flight. Lugging a heavy suitcase through Customs and Immigration at LAX airport did not help either.

For the major part of the CCA convention I was suffering from the combined effects of jet lag and painkillers. At one stage on Tuesday night while MC'ing the artist’s showcase, Sherrye suggested that I should take a seat. What she didn't know is that I might not have gotten up from the seat again, so I stood for most of the 3 hours, out of fear. I missed a lot of the daytime convention activities because of the physical problems I was encountering. And then you prayed for me. That Thursday afternoon, all the pain in the back left me. I thought it was just the painkillers, so I stopped taking them to see.

I played tourist on Friday in Nashville. On Saturday I flew 20 hours back to Canberra and have been back 1.5 days, and there is still no sign of pain in the lower back.

Praise God! Leon, I thank you for your obedience and to the ministry God has called you to. I don't claim it to be a 'miracle' but God has started something in me through the work of the Spirit in you, and I am grateful to Him and to you that the long sort for healing has started. "This one thing I know,” John 9.

Bless you, and be encouraged in Him, Don Taylor, Jemimah Media